Rate My Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres

Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres holds the position of Professor of Clinical and Social Epidemiology at the University of Exeter Medical School, assuming a personal chair in March 2019. Trained as a registered nurse, he earned BS degrees in Nursing and in Economics and Health Policy from the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Nursing and Wharton School. He subsequently obtained an MPhil and DPhil in evidence-based research methodology and social intervention from the University of Oxford, supported by Truman and Marshall Scholarships. His doctoral work examined substance use and sexual risk behaviours among men who have sex with men, employing advanced systematic review methods and latent variable modelling. His career includes a lecturing post in social policy and social intervention at the University of Oxford from 2013 to 2015, health technology assessment at the University of Warwick from 2015 to 2017 where he led a multiple technology appraisal for multiple sclerosis therapies, and a senior research fellowship at Cardiff University's DECIPHer centre from 2017 to 2019, advancing research on child health and intimate partner violence.

At Exeter, Professor Melendez-Torres directs the School for Public Health Environments Research (SPHERE), previously led the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group (PenTAG) providing advice to NICE until 2023, and holds the citiesRISE Research Chair in Public Mental Health. He fulfills key NIHR roles as Associate Dean for Researcher Inclusion in the NIHR Academy, Associate Director for Involvement and Engagement in the School for Public Health Research, and Deputy Director of the Exeter NIHR Policy Research Programme Evidence Reviews Facility. His research specializations encompass clinical and social epidemiology, health technology assessment, child and adolescent health inequities particularly in school settings, intimate partner violence, and mental health promotion for youth. Notable publications include 'Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection among children and adolescents compared with adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (Viner et al., JAMA Pediatrics, 2020), 'Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis' (Hennegan et al., PLoS Medicine, 2019), 'Shared picture book reading interventions for child language development: A systematic review and meta-analysis' (Dowdall et al., Child Development, 2020), and 'Risk and Protective Factors for Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: Systematic Review and Meta-analyses of Prospective-Longitudinal Studies' (Yakubovich et al., American Journal of Public Health, 2018). He was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2024, received NIHR Senior Investigator status in 2024, and was named National Teaching Fellow in 2023. He leads the University of Exeter's Master of Public Health programme and contributed to COVID-19 evidence synthesis as a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours.