Alan Emond

Alan Martin Emond (born 1953) is a British paediatrician and clinical academic whose work has focused on community paediatrics, child public health, paediatric epidemiology, child development and health-service evaluation. He is Emeritus Professor of Child Health at the University of Bristol. He was director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health at Bristol from 2003 to 2018 and director of the Scar Free Foundation Children's Burns Research Centre from 2012 to 2017. His research has included studies using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), as well as clinical trials and research into childhood injuries, developmental disorders and community-based child health services. In 2019, he was awarded the James Spence Medal by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Life Emond was born in London. He studied at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Barnet and Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, where he completed undergraduate studies in medical sciences and religious studies in 1974. His clinical studies were completed at King's College Hospital School, University of London, graduating in medicine and surgery in 1977. He received the degrees of MA in medical sciences from Cambridge in 1978 and MD in 1987 for research on the role of the spleen in childhood sickle-cell disease.

Emond trained initially in internal medicine before specializing in paediatrics. His clinical training included posts at King's College Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital in London, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Sydney, Australia.

Career Following resident clinical training in London, he undertook doctoral studies from 1982 to 1984 as an MRC Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Emond joined the University of Bristol in 1986, initially as a lecturer in child health and later as a consultant senior lecturer.

He chaired the British Association of Community Child Health from 2005 to 2009 and the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit from 2009 to 2013. He has also served on committees and advisory groups associated with the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research and the UK Department of Health, including the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. His work has included advising on child-health surveillance, prevention and health-service policy.

Research and scholarly work Emond's research has primarily addressed community child health , paediatric epidemiology, child development, injury prevention and evaluation of health services. His work has combined population-based studies with clinical research and trials, and has examined how evidence can be applied to the delivery of healthcare for children.

A major component of his research has involved the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), also known as the Children of the 90s. His research using the cohort has examined associations between pregnancy and early-life exposures and later child development and behaviour, as well as early growth, developmental characteristics, enuresis, childhood injuries, adolescent risk-taking and resilience. The University of Bristol identifies ALSPAC as an important component of his research and lists more than 150 research outputs associated with his academic work.

His research on childhood injury has included burns and scalds. In a prospective population-based study using ALSPAC data, Emond and colleagues examined developmental and behavioural characteristics preceding burns and scald injuries among children. His subsequent work with the Children's Burns Research Centre contributed to research into the prevention childhood burns, including the national SafeTea campaign in 2019.

Another strand of his research has concerned developmental and behavioural disorders. His publications have examined developmental traits, co-ordination difficulties, speech and language disorders, autistic traits and associated social and emotional outcomes. More recent work has included prospective population studies examining social, emotional and behavioural difficulties associated with persistent speech disorder in children.

Emond has also participated in research concerning adolescent behavior and public health. His work has included longitudinal research using ALSPAC into gambling among young people and young adults.

Health for All Children Emond was the senior editor of the fifth edition of Health for All Children, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. The volume provides an evidence-based review of preventive healthcare, health promotion and community-based child-health programmes from pregnancy through the first seven years of life. It incorporates evidence from international research while considering its application to health policy and practice in the United Kingdom. The fifth edition was launched in 2019 with support from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The college described the volume as an updated review of the evidence underpinning child-health programmes in the UK and noted Emond's role as senior editor.

Awards and honours In 2019 he was awarded the James Spence Medal, the highest honour given by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, for his extensive and wide-ranging research work. Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), 2005.