Professor Richard Woodman

Professor in Biostatistics & Epidemiology

College of Medicine and Public Health

place Health Sciences (2.09)
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

My current interests include the use of AI and Machine Learning for medicine and healthcare using Python. My epidemiological research focuses include nutrition, hospital mortality and pharmacoepidemiology. I have expertise in the design and analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies and a broad range of biostatistical techniques. I have published more than 300 papers in high-ranking journals, including 150 peer reviewed articles in the past 5 years. These articles have over 11,000 citations. I have contributed to externally funded grants worth a total of AUS$21.0M including AUD$12.8M since 2018. In addition, I have provided published expert commentary on numerous topics including Bland-Altman analysis, 2-sided confidence intervals, propensity score matching, least-squares regression and pitfalls of allometric scaling. My international standing is highlighted by a consistent record of publication in leading medical journals with high impact factors including JAMA (45.5), Annals of Internal Med (21.3), Thorax (10.3), Chest (9.7), Clin Gastro Hepatology (8.5), Am J Clin Nutr (6.8), Stoke (6.0), Br J Cancer (5.7), and Sleep (5.1). Within Australia, I am a recognised expert in the reporting of indicators of patient safety including Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR’s) and am a member of the ACSQHC Patient Safety Reporting Committee tasked with defining KPI’s for patient safety. I am a past president of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) in South Australia and was a Council member for 5 years. In collaboration with the SSA I have organised methodology workshops with internationally renowned statisticians in Causal Inference, Spatial epidemiology, and Data Linkage. I have successfully supervised 11 PhD students, 2 Masters, 3 Honours and 5 MD students to completion, have 3 current PhD students and participate as a mentor in the Flinders University mentoring program and have created and taught Advanced MPH topics in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Machine Learning.

Qualifications

PhD (Medicine) (UWA)

M.Biostats (Sydney)

M.Med.Sci (Sport and Exercise Science) (Sheffield)

B.Sc. (Maths and Physics) (Exeter)

Honours, awards and grants

2013

Co-first author of Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease publication selected for media release by the editor: “Lifestyle holds key to predicting women’s brain health” in IOS Press, Dec 19th 2013. [Link].

Publication: AHY Lo, RJ Woodman, NA Pachana, GJ Byrne, PS Sachdev. Associations between lifestyle and cognitive function over time in women aged 40-79 years. J Alzheimers Dis 2014; 39 (2): 371-83. DOI 10.3233/JAD-130971.

2010

Co-author on Australian Diabetes Society “Best Clinical Poster” at Australian Diabetes Society and Australian Diabetes Educators Association Annual Scientific Meeting. 1st – 3rd September, 2010, Sydney

2005

Pfizer-Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia (BCA) 2005 Annual Award for Excellence

2003

Royal Perth Hospital, Young Investigator of the Year Oral Presentation, runner-up.

1999

Royal Perth Hospital, Young Investigator of the Year Oral Presentation, runner-up.

High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia (HBPRCA), Melbourne

Robert Vandongen Travel Award: Best Young Investigator presentation from Western Australia.

Key responsibilities
  • Supervision of staff in the Flinders Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (FCEB)
  • Biostatistical consulting
  • Lecturing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics
  • Postgraduate supervision
  • Chair of the FCEB Journal Club (2012-present)
  • Statistical reviewer for Southern Adelaide Clinical Human Research Ethics Committee (2007-present)
Teaching interests

Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Topic coordinator
PHCA9522 Introduction to Epidemiological Research Methods
PHCA9525 Applied Machine Learning for Medicine and Public Health
PHCA9527 Advanced Epidemiology for Public Health
Topic lecturer
PHCA9522 Introduction to Epidemiologocial Research Methods
PHCA9525 Applied Machine Learning for Medicine and Public Health
PHCA9527 Advanced Epidemiology for Public Health
Supervisory interests
Biostatistics
Clinical epidemiology
Machine learning
Higher degree by research supervision
Current
Principal supervisor: Research reporting guidelines in paramedicine and prehospital care: implications, current applications, and a novel development (1)
Associate supervisor: An investigation into the feasibility and effect of dietary resistant starch supplementation in HIV-positive adults in India (1), Effectiveness of school nurse-led educational program in preventing T2DM among adolescents (1), Impact of cardiac dysfunction on liver transplant outcomes in patients with liver cirrhosis. (1)
Completion
Principal supervisor: Use of latent class analysis to identify high risk medication use (1), Temporal trends and geospatial analysis of medications amongst patients admitted to FMC (3)
Associate supervisor: Impact of methotrexate on vascular function in rheumatoid arthritis (1), CVD risk factors and cognitive function in middle to older aged women (1), Anticholinergic drug prescribing and risk of falls dementia and mortality (1), Smoking prevention amongst Indonesian children (1), Hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic hepatitis B (1), Advanced care Directives in an e-health environment (1), Cognitive versus exposure therapy for problem gambling (1), Quantification of gender differences in diet using data from the UK Biobank Cohort (1), Risk prediction of Falls and mortality amongst older hospitalised patients (1), Maternal feeding self-efficacy and fruit and vegetable intakes in infants (1), Assessment of the Principles in Dignity of Care (1), Establisihing a coordinated care program for cirrhotic liver patients (1), The epidemiology of Motor Neurone Disease in South Australia, Chronic Disease Management in Liver failure (1), HIV prevention in Indonesia (1)
Higher degree by research student achievements
Ada Lo (UQ)

PhD publication selected for media release by J Alzheimers Dis - DEC 2013

Leena Baghdadi

Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Doctoral Thesis Excellence - APR 2018

Teuku Tahlil

Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Doctoral Thesis Excellence - APR 2014