Rate My Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres

Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres serves as Professor of Clinical and Social Epidemiology at the University of Exeter Medical School in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. A registered nurse by education and vocation, he earned BS degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in Nursing and Wharton School Health Care Management, along with an MPhil and DPhil in evidence-based research methodology from the University of Oxford, funded by Truman and Marshall Scholarships. He also holds degrees in health economics, social policy, and epidemiology. Joining the University of Exeter in March 2019, he leads the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group, evaluating clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies for the NHS, and the School for Public Health Environments Research at Exeter (SPHERE). Additionally, he occupies the citiesRISE Research Chair in Public Mental Health and serves as NIHR Senior Investigator and NIHR Academy Associate Dean for Research Inclusion.

Melendez-Torres specializes in health technology assessment encompassing large-scale evidence syntheses and randomised trials, child and adolescent health with emphasis on social development and school environments, and intimate partner violence. His research supports NHS resource allocation, tackles inequities in children's life chances from unhealthy school settings, and informs strategies against gendered health inequalities costing the NHS £66 billion annually. Key publications include 'Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection among children and adolescents compared with adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (JAMA Pediatrics, 2020; 1222 citations), 'Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis' (PLoS Medicine, 2019; 695 citations), and 'Shared picture book reading interventions for child language development: A systematic review and meta-analysis' (Child Development, 2020; 539 citations). He has contributed to 'Qualitative Methods for Health Research' and 'Realist Trials and Systematic Reviews'. Recognized with Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (2024) and National Teaching Fellowship (2023), he leads the Master of Public Health programme, implementing a 'co-faculty' model with health inequality-affected communities, and acts as Academic Advisor for Student Health and Wellbeing.