Summary
I am the UK's first Asian female Professor of Primary Care, appointed in 2017 and Director of the Imperial Child Health Unit at the School of Public Health, Imperial College London since 2012. The aims of my research are to improve child health and reduce inequalities by strengthening the evidence base for primary care and public health.
Research
I lead the Child Population Health Theme for the NIHR Northwest London Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) and a national work programme for the NIHR School for Public Health Research 'Harnessing data for Child Health'
As elected President of the Child and Adolescent Health Section of the European Public Health Association, I lead a network of 3000 health professionals in a 3 year strategic plan to achieve a WHO ‘Triple A rating (Analysis Advocacy Action) to improve children’s health in Europe (2021-2024). I am a Global Burden of Disease Collaborator, BMJ International Editorial Board Member and Visiting Professor in Europe, Asia and North America
priority areas
Primary care; preconception pregnancy and parenthood
Early years; infection and vaccine preventable disease, urgent care
Health in education; physical and emotional health in schools, IMprOVE cohort
Health of young people; asthma, mental health, inflammatory bowel disease
Teaching
I lead the Child Health Specialisation for Imperial's online Global Masters in Public Health and teach on the Imperial Medical Undergraduate course. I am committed to building academic capacity and widening opportunities in primary care and public health at Imperial (promotions champion and mentor), Oxford International Primary Care Research Leadership Programme.
CLINICAL
I have been a practising GP in Putney, London since 1995. All of my research stems from encounters with patients and the public.
Publications
Journals
Saxena S, Skirrow H, Wighton K, 2022, Vaccinating children aged under 5 years against covid-19, Bmj, Pages:o1863-o1863
van den Akker M, Dieckelmann M, Hussain MA, et al., 2022, Children and adolescents are not small adults: towards a better understanding of multimorbidity in younger populations., J Clin Epidemiol
Foley KA, Saxena SK, Majeed A, et al., 2022, Author response., Br J Gen Pract, Vol:72, Pages:318-318
Saxena S, Skirrow H, Maini A, et al., 2022, Consenting children aged under 18 for vaccination and treatment, Bmj: British Medical Journal, Vol:377, ISSN:0959-535X
Smith HC, Saxena S, Petersen I, 2022, Maternal Postnatal Depression and Completion of Infant Immunizations: A UK Cohort Study of 196,329 Mother-Infant Pairs, 2006-2015., J Clin Psychiatry, Vol:83