Kyla Thomas
Dr Kyla Thomas is a Consultant Senior Lecturer in Public Health Medicine at the University of Bristol and an NIHR Postdoctoral Fellow. She is also Clinical Director of the NIHR West of England Clinical Research Network. Her research interests are in pharmacoepidemiology (particularly around the safety of smoking cessation medicines and e-cigarettes), mental health and addiction. She is currently Chief Investigator on several NIHR HTA grants.
After obtaining her first degree at the University of the West Indies Dr Thomas won a Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship which allowed her to complete an MSc by Research Degree in Clinical Epidemiology and an MSc in Global Health Science with Distinction at the University of Oxford. She started the Public Health Clinical Academic Training Scheme in the Severn Deanery as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in August 2008 and was awarded a PhD with Commendation from the University of Bristol in March 2014.
A systematic review and network meta-analysis of the effectiveness and safety of smoking cessation medicines and electronic cigarettes
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of premature mortality and preventable morbidity in the UK and internationally, and the primary reason for the difference in life expectancy between the rich and the poor in the UK (health inequalities). Smoking costs the UK NHS £2.7 billion a year (excludes sickness and invalidity benefits and costs to smokers).
Although not licensed medicines, electronic cigarettes may be used in quit attempts in English smoking cessation services. There is ongoing debate regarding the neuropsychiatric and cardiovascular safety of these medicines and the effectiveness and safety of e-cigarettes.
The aim of this project was to perform a comprehensive systematic review and network meta-analysis to determine how smoking cessation medicines and e-cigarettes compare to each other, placebo or usual care with respect to both their effectiveness and their safety.