Rate My Professor Sam Norton

Professor Sam Norton, PhD, is Professor of Medical Statistics and Applied Health Research at King’s College London. He holds a joint appointment across the Department of Psychology, where he serves as Deputy Head (Research), and the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases in the Department of Inflammation Biology. Norton earned his BSc in Psychology in 2004, MSc in Research Methods in 2007, and PhD in 2011 from the University of Hertfordshire, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in 2015. He joined King’s College London in 2012 and has since contributed extensively to clinical research, serving as a senior statistician in several definitive trials, leading the King’s Clinical Trials Unit statistics hub based in immunology and microbial sciences, and participating in the NIHR Research Support Service to advise on funding applications and improve research quality and impact.

Norton conducts interdisciplinary research spanning mental and physical health, with a particular focus on chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. He applies robust statistical methods in clinical trials, large-scale observational studies, and predictive modelling to enhance patient outcomes, frequently employing mixed-methods in collaborative projects. His efforts have attracted over £20 million in grant funding and produced over 250 peer-reviewed publications with nearly 12,000 citations. Key publications include “Apolipoprotein L1 High-Risk Genotypes are Associated With Lupus Nephritis Incidence” (2026), “Autoantibodies as predictors of progression to rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis” (2026), “Patterns and risk of cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis: a nationwide cohort study in the UK” (2026), and “Development of a clinical tool to identify patients with early inflammatory arthritis at high risk of employment loss: analysis from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit” (2026). Notable awards encompass the MQ Mental Health Research fellowship in 2016 and the Hugo G. Beigel Award in 2023. In November 2025, he delivered his inaugural lecture titled “Making Mistakes in the Service of Science.” Norton also teaches courses on research methods and advanced statistical techniques to healthcare professionals and mentors the next generation of researchers.