HIT’s new leadership team to advance region’s immunisation research and outreach 

One of Bristol Health Partners’ longest-standing Health Integration Teams – Bristol Immunisation Group (BIG HIT) – has recruited three new co-directors to its leadership team.

Dr Sarah Denford, Anne Morris and Dr Rajeka Lazarus join current co-director Dr Marion Roderick. They take the place of Professor Adam Finn and Dr Julie Yates who stepped down from their roles as HIT co-directors in the last year.

In the context of the rise in vaccine-preventable infections such as measles, the new team will focus on vaccine behaviour and uptake in the region, specifically in under-served groups which could include migrants, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, minoritised ethnic communities and socio-economically deprived groups.

The new team will aim to create a network of those working together to support vaccine uptake and maximise opportunities to share learning and good practice.

About the new team

Rajeka Lazarus is a Consultant Senior Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Bristol Medical School and Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Her research interest is in clinical trials to support the development of new vaccines, optimisation of vaccine schedules and vaccine uptake.

Anne Morris is Chief Nurse and Operational SRO for the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Vaccination Programme, with a particular interest in reducing health inequalities.

Sarah Denford is a behavioural scientist with expertise in health psychology. She is a Research Fellow in the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation, based at the University of Bristol. Her research interests include supporting vaccination uptake and improving research and public health inclusion among people from under-served communities.

Dr Marion Roderick is a Consultant Paediatrician at University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust, specialising in immunology and infectious diseases and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Bristol Medical School.