Nicola Fear

Last updated
Nicola Fear
CBE
Alma mater London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
King's College London
University of Oxford
Scientific career
Institutions Ministry of Defence
King's College London
Thesis Paternal occupation and childhood cancer : an analysis of routinely collected death certification data  (1997)

Nicola Townsend Fear is a British epidemiologist who is a professor and Chair of Epidemiology at King's College London. She is co-director of the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre and director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research. Her research looks at the impact of military service on families. She was appointed a CBE in the 2025 New Year Honours.

Contents

Early life and education

Fear studied pharmacology at King's College London. She trained in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford. [1] Her doctoral research explored parental occupation and childhood cancer. [2] She investigated whether the children of men with contact of many people were more at risk of leukemia, and found that childhood leukaemia was not associated to the amount of social contact of their fathers. [3] After completing her doctorate she worked as a postdoctoral researcher, studying the associations between occupational exposures and cancer risks. [1]

Research and career

Fear joined the Ministry of Defence, where she worked as an epidemiologist in defence statistics. [1] There were a series of inquiries into the deaths at Deepcut army barracks, and the preparation for the 2003 invasion of Iraq at the time.[ citation needed ] In 2004, she returned to academia, joining Simon Wessely as a senior lecturer. [1] In 2011, Fear was appointed Director of the King’s Centre of Military Health Research. [4]

Fear's research considers the impact of military service on service people and their families. [5] Supported by the Office for Veterans Affairs, Fear has studied the mental health and wellbeing of the British Armed Forces and their families. She has shown that veterans who had been deployed in a combat role had a very high rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (17%) compared to those in a service support role (6%). She has investigated the physical ad psycho-social outcomes of battlefield casualties in the War in Afghanistan through the ArmeD SerVices TrAuma and RehabilitatioN OutComE (ADVANCE) study. [6] The UK's world-leading battlefield trauma care increased survival rates of severely injured personnel. She found that injured service people without amputations had higher rates of depression and PTSD compared to their amputated and uninjured counterparts, and that those with amputations had greater rates of post-traumatic growth. [7] Her recent research has studied the impact of military service on families. [1]

Fear was made a Chair of Epidemiology at King's College London in 2011. [5]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fear provided expert advice to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies through the Independent Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours. [8] Fear is a trustee of Help for Heroes. [9] Fear was made a CBE in the 2025 New Year Honours.

Selected publications

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet the Expert – Professor Nicola T. Fear | FiMT Research Centre". www.fimt-rc.org. December 2023. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  2. ↑ Fear, Nicola Townsend. "Paternal occupation and childhood cancer : an analysis of routinely collected death certification data". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  3. ↑ Fear, N. T.; Roman, E.; Reeves, G.; Pannett, B. (July 1999). "Are the children of fathers whose jobs involve contact with many people at an increased risk of leukaemia?". Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 56 (7): 438–442. doi:10.1136/oem.56.7.438. PMC   1757766 . PMID   10472313.
  4. ↑ "King's Centre for Military Health Research". King's Centre for Military Health Research. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  5. 1 2 London, King's College (2022-09-01). "Professor Nicola Fear". King's College London. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  6. ↑ "ADVANCE Study | Military Trauma Rehabilitation Research" . Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  7. ↑ "Findings & Publications - Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome Study". 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  8. ↑ "Professor Nicola Fear". NHS England Digital. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  9. ↑ "Meet our management who proudly lead our dedicated teams". www.helpforheroes.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
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