- Petra MeierConsortium Director and WS8 LeadGlasgow, UKPetra MeierConsortium Director and WS8 Lead
Petra is a Professor of Public Health at Glasgow University (MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit).
Petra co-directs SIPHER alongside Robin Purshouse. She is also the Lead for WS8, our Evaluation workstrand, which uses ongoing multi-perspective process evaluation to evaluate SIPHER’s scientific contribution and real-world impact.
Email: Petra.Meier@glasgow.ac.uk
- Corinna ElsenbroichConsortium Co-DirectorGlasgow, UKCorinna ElsenbroichConsortium Co-Director
Corinna is a Reader in Computational Modelling at Glasgow University (MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit). Corinna is interested in methodological and epistemological aspects of novel methods, in particular computational methods such as agent-based modelling and social simulation, and has published on aspects of ontology, explanatory power and context validity in modelling. As a computational modeller she has developed models of dynamic social networks of juvenile delinquency, neighbourhood effects of extortion racketeering and collective reasoning in social dilemma situations. She is particularly interested in complexity sensitive social science methods, comprising computational, case based and participatory methods. As a co-investigator in the Centre for Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) she is involved with developing these methods in a policy relevant way. She is currently working on how to combine methods through novel research designs.
Corinna has taken on the role of SIPHER Co-Director in September 2021, alongside Petra Meier and Julian Cox.
- Julian CoxConsortium Co-Director and GMCA PartnerManchester, UKJulian CoxConsortium Co-Director and GMCA Partner
Julian is Head of Research at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The GMCA research team supports policy makers across a broad range of thematic areas – including health, housing, the economy, crime, social services, employment and skills, and the environment – by providing data, evidence and insight to support decision-making. Julian also leads GMCA’s work on cost benefit analysis, helping commissioners maximise the value for money of the investment in public services.
Julian is SIPHER Co-Director and our GMCA Policy Partner Lead, working alongside Jess Smith, Mary Gogarty and Katrina Hann in our GMCA Policy Partner team. - David InnesConsortium ManagerGlasgow, UKDavid InnesConsortium Manager
David is the SIPHER Consortium Manager based in the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences at the University of Glasgow . He is a professional Project Manager with over ten years’ experience working across complex multi-partner projects in education, healthcare and international development sectors. He joined SIPHER from within the University having worked as a Project Coordinator for the Institute of Health and Wellbeing since 2019. He has previously worked in Project Management roles in the University of the West of Scotland and the British Council.
SIPHER Team Members
- Adam KeeleyWorkstrand 3 ResearcherLeeds, UKAdam KeeleyWorkstrand 3 Researcher
Adam is an Analyst with the Data Services Team of the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) at University of Leeds. His work revolves around facilitating research through data transformation and hosting of sensitive data within secure environments. Through LIDA Adam works predominantly with commercial and medical data that are subject to strict information governance standards.
Adam is part of the SIPHER Workstrand 3 team. - Aki TsuchiyaWorkstrand 6 LeadSheffield, UKAki TsuchiyaWorkstrand 6 Lead
Aki is a Professor of Health Economics with a joint appointment between the Department of Economics and the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests include valuing health and wellbeing; incorporating equity concerns into social welfare functions; and normative economics of health and beyond.
Aki is the Lead for SIPHER Workstrand 6, Societal Valuation, which provides insight into how people value different policy outcomes and translates the multiplicity of outcomes that arise from a whole-systems perspective into two common well-being measures needed for economic evaluation.
More Information - Alan BrennanWorkstrand 3, 4, 5 and 7 Co-InvestigatorSheffield, UKAlan BrennanWorkstrand 3, 4, 5 and 7 Co-Investigator
Alan is Professor of Health Economics and Decision Modelling at the University of Sheffield. Alan leads a large group of around 35 academic staff, undertaking methodological and applied research and consultancy using mathematical modelling in public health and healthcare.
Alan is a Co-Investigator on SIPHER Workstrands 3, 4, 5 and 7.
More Information - Alison HeppenstallWorkstrand 3 and 5 LeadGlasgow, UKAlison HeppenstallWorkstrand 3 and 5 Lead
Alison is a Professor in Geocomputation at the University of Glasgow. Her research involves developing tools from machine learning and artificial intelligence for solving complex spatial problems. A particular focus of her work is the development of individual-based models. Alison holds an ESRC-Turing Fellowship, where she is developing work ranging from anomaly detection, handling uncertainty in simulations and casual inference modelling.
Alison co-leads Workstrands 3 and 5 of SIPHER with Nik Lomax. WS3, Data & System Monitoring, builds a secure data infrastructure, creates detailed simulated populations and develops a system monitoring function to inform adaptive policymaking. WS5, Policy Microsimulation, models the impacts of environment and policy on the characteristics of individuals and households, showing how policy impacts differ across geographic areas and societal groups.
More information - Alistair BrownWorkstrand 1 ResearcherStrathclydeAlistair BrownWorkstrand 1 Researcher
Alistair is a first year PhD student based at the University of Strathclyde. His PhD project, supervised by Professor Kat Smith and Dr Clemmie Hill O'Connor, is part of WS1 looking at policy processes and evidence needs. Alistair has a particular interest in how health inequalities are conceptualised by policymakers.
- An Thu Ta (Anna)PhD StudentSheffield, UKAn Thu Ta (Anna)PhD Student
Anna is a final-year PhD candidate in applied-microeconomics and a research assistant in the Department of Economics at the University of Sheffield. Her PhD thesis focuses on “Measuring well-being through equivalent income over the life course". Her research interests include valuing health and well-being, well-being measures and individual preferences.
Anna contributes to Workstrand 6 of SIPHER. Her PhD is supervised by Workstream 6 Lead Aki Tsuchiya and Bert van Landeghem. - Anna BrookWorkstrand 2 ResearcherSheffield, UKAnna BrookWorkstrand 2 Researcher
Anna is a Public Health Registrar currently on a part-time placement with SCHARR at the University of Sheffield. During this placement she is predominantly working as part of the SIPHER team leading some work on a causal review regarding aggregate economic activity & health outcomes.
Anna's current research interests are social justice and the connections with human and planetary health.
Alongside working at SIPHER, Anna is continuing to support the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic at the Yorkshire & Humber health protection team and doing a placement at Barnsley Hospital focused on their role as an anchor institution.
- Anne CunninghamWorkstrand 7 ResearcherSheffield, UKAnne CunninghamWorkstrand 7 Researcher
Anne is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre for Public Health Economics and Decision Science at the University of Sheffield. Her PhD project is supervised by Professor Robin Purshouse and Professor Petra Meier. Anne plans to investigate how SIPHER can help policy organisations to produce their own complex systems models and integrate them into their decision-making processes.
With degrees in Statistics, Computer Science and Population Health Evidence, Anne has worked mainly in Policy Research and Public Health Intelligence roles in local government.
- Asif IshaqScottish Government PartnerEdinburgh, UKAsif IshaqScottish Government Partner
Asif Ishaq is a Policy Lead in the Scottish Government’s Public Health Policy Team. Having led the development of Scotland’s first ever set of Public Health Priorities, in partnership with local government, he is now supporting the wider public and third sectors, and local communities, to adopt and implement the public health priorities in order to improve the health of the population.
Asif is our Scottish Government Policy Partner Lead, working alongside Rachel Anderson and Neil White in our Scottish Government Policy Partner team. - Becky FieldWorkstrand 6 ResearcherSheffield, UKBecky FieldWorkstrand 6 Researcher
Becky Field is a research associate at the School of Health and Related Research, Sheffield. Becky has a background in occupational therapy, having trained and worked in the NHS before moving into health related research. She has experience of using qualitative methods, evidence synthesis and health services research. Her interests are focused on improving health and well-being, how to support people affected by dementia and active aging.
Becky is a Workstrand 6 research associate on SIPHER, working with Aki Tsuchiya to provide insight into how people value different policy outcomes and different states of health and well-being.
- Ceri HughesInclusive Growth ResearcherManchester, UKCeri HughesInclusive Growth Researcher
Ceri is a Researcher at the University of Manchester. She was also the lead researcher within the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit, which was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the University of Manchester. Her research focusses on labour market inequalities and poverty in the UK, more recently with a focus on place and the potential to reconfigure employment support to support better outcomes for people in low-wage work.
Ceri works across the SIPHER workstrands as a topic expert on inclusive growth, advising on inclusive economy measures and inequalities data and supporting understanding of the policies and policy processes that underpin inclusive growth discussions.
More Information - Chris GibbonsSheffield City Council PartnerSheffield, UKChris GibbonsSheffield City Council Partner
Chris graduated from King's College London with a BA, MSc and PhD in Geography. Following his academic studies he worked at the Peak District National Park Authority before beginning a career in Public Health in 2008 at Bradford and Airedale PCT. In 2010 he completed his PGDipPH at The University of Sheffield. In 2011 Chris joined the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) where he worked for six years, firstly on the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme modelling the uptake of NICE approved technologies, and then as a health economist in the NICE Clinical Guidelines team. In 2017 Chris moved back into public health, and is now Public Health Principal (Healthcare Public Health) in the Director of Public Health Office. Outside of work Chris is an advocate for strength sports and competes in powerlifting.
Chris works alongside Greg Fell and Daniel Chedgzoy in our Sheffield City Council Policy Partner team. - Clare BambraWorkstrand 2 Co-Investigator and Health Inequalities ExpertNewcastle, UKClare BambraWorkstrand 2 Co-Investigator and Health Inequalities Expert
Clare is a Professor of Public Health at Newcastle University. Her research examines the social, political and economic determinants of health inequalities. She is a Senior Investigator in: CHAIN: Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research; Fuse: Centre for Translational Research in Public Health; and the NIHR School for Public Health Research. She works regularly with policy and practice organisations including Public Health England, Eurohealthnet and WHO Europe.
Clare is a SIPHER Health Inequalities Expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to guide and support our focus on Health Inequalities.
More Information - Clemmie Hill O'ConnorWorkstrand 1 ResearcherGlasgow, UKClemmie Hill O'ConnorWorkstrand 1 Researcher
Clemmie is a Research Associate in the School for Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde. She has a background in using ethnographic and participatory methods to understand the ways in which social policy is framed, implemented and experienced throughout the policy process.
Clemmie is the Workstrand 1 Research Associate on SIPHER, working with Kat Smith to understand policy processes and evidence needs with our Policy Partners.
More Information - Colin AngusData Visualisation and Inequalities ExpertSheffield, UKColin AngusData Visualisation and Inequalities Expert
Colin is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on modelling and understanding the impacts of public health policies on behaviour and health and how these impacts vary across different population groups. He also uses quantitative approaches to analyse a wide range of data to explore and visualise patterns and trends in health and health-related behaviours with a particular focus on the determinants and outcomes of health inequalities.
Colin is a SIPHER data visualisation expert with expertise in demographic and socioeconomic inequalities in the UK. He will work across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to exchange information and ideas around the best data sets to be using for Inclusive Economies.
- Craig WatkinsHousing ExpertSheffield, UKCraig WatkinsHousing Expert
Craig is Professor of Planning and Housing in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield and Research Director of CaCHE (the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence) – a multi-institution initiative funded by ESRC, AHRC and Joseph Rowntree that seeks to work with the private, public and third sector in developing a systemic approach to addressing the UK’s housing challenges. Craig’s research focuses on the structure and behaviour of the housing system and in exploring the relationship between public policy and housing markets.
Craig is a SIPHER Housing Expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to shape and support our work in Housing.
More Information - Dan ChedgzoySheffield City Council Embedded ResearcherSheffield, UKDan ChedgzoySheffield City Council Embedded Researcher
Dan works in the Performance and Intelligence Team at Sheffield City Council. He has been involved in various projects including the analysis of the 2019 Indices of Deprivation data for Sheffield. He completed a BA in English Literature & History at the University of Sheffield in 2005. From 2006-18 he worked in a number of roles in Children and Young People’s Services at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, with the majority of his work involving the collection, processing and analysis of data relating to education and children’s social care. In 2010-12 he completed an MSc in Social & Spatial Inequalities in the Department of Geography at Sheffield.
As a Sheffield City Council Embedded Researcher, Dan works across all 8 workstrands of SIPHER to shape our understanding of evolving policy priorities and to co-produce our models, tools and outputs. He works alongside Greg Fell and Chris Gibbons in the Sheffield City Council Policy Partner team. - Diana BuckleySheffield City Council PartnerSheffield, UKDiana BuckleySheffield City Council Partner
Diana is Head of Economic Strategy and Commissioning for Economic Development at Sheffield City Council. Diana leads on a series of high-impact economic development programmes. Her expertise includes strategy and project development and galvanizing public –private partnerships. She is also proficient at econometric modelling and macroeconomic analysis. She holds a MSc in International Economics and first class honours degree in Finance, Business and Economics.
Diana works as part of our Sheffield City Council Policy Partner team.
- Duncan ChambersWorkstrand 2 Co-LeadSheffield, UKDuncan ChambersWorkstrand 2 Co-Lead
Duncan Chambers is a Research Fellow in public health at ScHARR, University of Sheffield. He has 15 years experience of working in evidence synthesis, including systematic reviews, rapid reviews and health technology assessment.
Duncan co-leads Workstrand 2, Evidence Synthesis, which develops and applies iterative literature search and review strategies that are suitable for supporting complex systems modelling. He works alongside Fiona Campbell, Mark Clowes and Ruth Wong.
More Information - Ellen StewartPublic Engagement Lead & Workstrand 8 Co-InvestigatorGlasgow, UKEllen StewartPublic Engagement Lead & Workstrand 8 Co-Investigator
Ellen is a Chancellor’s Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde. She is a social scientist working at the intersection of medical sociology, health policy and public administration. Her research explores how health systems accommodate and negotiate different forms of ‘lay’ and ‘expert’ knowledge, including demands for public engagement and for evidence-based policy. In past projects she has explored everyday practices of public involvement in the local NHS, new governance arrangements for Scottish Health Boards, how health policymakers use research evidence, and hospital closures as an example of contentious healthcare transformation. Ellen is also Associate Lead for research on public engagement in the Wellcome Trust-funded Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society.
Ellen leads SIPHER's public engagement work, using Lived Experience Panels in Sheffield, Manchester and in Scotland to explore with local people our progress as a research consortium and the tools that we are developing. - Fiona CampbellWorkstrand 2 Co-LeadSheffield, UKFiona CampbellWorkstrand 2 Co-Lead
Fiona co-leads Workstrand 2, Evidence Synthesis, which develops and applies iterative literature search and review strategies that are suitable for supporting complex systems modelling. She works alongside Duncan Chambers, Mark Clowes and Ruth Wong.
More Information - Fraser BellGMCA Embedded ResearcherFraser BellGMCA Embedded Researcher
Fraser is the SIPHER Embedded Researcher at Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and a Lead Analyst in the Population Health Research Team. He arrived at the organisation in January 2020 working as a Lead Analyst for Reform namely focussing on the refresh of the Greater Manchester Strategy alongside a wide range of other projects on topics including the Coronavirus response and HIV.
Fraser has a background of research in theory and policy alike, he holds a PhD in Human Geography at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) at Newcastle University. While, in a policy sense he worked in Scottish Local Government and in the Private Transport sector having arrived in Greater Manchester in late 2017.
As the GMCA Embedded Researcher, Fraser works across all eight workstrands of SIPHER to help to shape our understanding of evolving policy priorities and to co-produce our models, tools and outputs. Fraser works alongside Julian Cox, Jess Smith and Katrina Hann in the GMCA Policy Partner team as well as liaising with a wide range of stakeholders both internal and external to the Combined Authority.
- Gerry McCartneyExpert in Wellbeing EconomyGlasgow, UKGerry McCartneyExpert in Wellbeing Economy
Gerry McCartney graduated from medicine at the University of Glasgow and did his GP vocational training in Paisley. Whilst working as a junior doctor he completed an honours degree in Economics and Development at the University of London. After this he entered the Public health training scheme, based initially at NHS Argyll and Clyde and then at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. During this time he worked on the 2007 E.coli outbreak in Paisley, performed needs assessments for communities in the east end of Glasgow and did his MD at the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU) on the impacts of the Commonwealth Games. He also worked at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH) where he produced the first synthesis of the causes of the excess mortality in Scotland and Glasgow. In 2010 he took up post as Head of the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) at NHS Health Scotland and then Public Health Scotland. In September 2021 he took up post as Professor of Wellbeing Economy at the University of Glasgow.
Gerry is a SIPHER Wellbeing Economy expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands.
- Greg FellSheffield City Council PartnerSheffield, UKGreg FellSheffield City Council Partner
Greg is Director of Public Health in Sheffield. He graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in biochemistry and physiology in 1993. He has worked as a social researcher in a maternity unit and held a number of roles in health promotion and public health before joining the public health training scheme. Greg worked as a consultant in public health in Bradford , then Bradford council. In 2016 he was appointed Director of Public Health in Sheffield.
Greg is our Sheffield City Council Policy Partner Lead, working alongside Chris Gibbons and Daniel Chedgzoy in our Sheffield City Council Policy Partner team. - Jen BoydPhD StudentSheffield, UKJen BoydPhD Student
Jen is a PhD student in the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Centre for Public Health, Economics and Decision Science at the University of Sheffield. Her PhD project supervised by Professor Robin Purshouse and Professor John Holmes is investigating the causal mechanisms of the Alcohol Harm Paradox. Jen plans to use theory driven system dynamic models to test whether theories of health inequality can explain the paradox.
More Information - Jennifer LlewellynWorkstrand 2 ResearcherSheffield, UKJennifer LlewellynWorkstrand 2 Researcher
Jenny is a Research and Knowledge Transfer Practitioner for SIPHER, based at the University of Sheffield and working with Sheffield City Council and the NIHR CRN. With a background in life science previously, she has worked in a technology transfer start-up and for a national digital inclusion charity. In her role, she provides research support across the consortium, with a focus on evidence needs and research awareness.
- Jessica SmithGMCA PartnerManchester, UKJessica SmithGMCA Partner
Jess is Principal Researcher for Population Health within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Research Team. Jess manages a team of analysts that work across GMCA and the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSCP) to provide insight into the health of the Greater Manchester population. The team also works with the GMHSCP’s population health programmes, advising on data collection, reporting, analysis, and evaluation. Jess also leads a programme of work that seeks to create a unified system of public health analysts within Greater Manchester. Previously, Jess has worked in research and analysis-related roles within healthcare regulation, the fire and rescue service, an independent research organisation, and with academia. Jess is a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and an External Research Associate for the General Medical Council.
Jess works alongside Julian Cox, Mary Gogarty and Katrina Hann in our GMCA Policy Partner team. - João DuroWorkstrand 7 ResearcherSheffield, UKJoão DuroWorkstrand 7 Researcher
João is an Associate Researcher in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, UK.
He received a Licentiate degree in Engineering of Systems and Informatics from University of Algarve, Portugal, in 2007, and a PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Cranfield, UK, 2013. Before joining the University of Sheffield in October 2015, he was an Interoperability Test Intern at Blackberry Limited (2007-2008), a Research Assistant at Sheffield Hallam University (2008-2009), and a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bath (2012-2015).
Joao is a Workstrand 7 Research Associate on SIPHER, working with Robin Purshouse to accelerate the development of our decision support tool.
- John BrazierWorkstrand 6 Co-InvestigatorSheffield, UKJohn BrazierWorkstrand 6 Co-Investigator
John is a Professor of Health Economics in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield. John has over 25 years’ experience of conducting economic evaluations of health care interventions for policy makers. John was the inaugural Director of the Economic Evaluation Policy Research Unit (EEPRU) which is a joint Sheffield and York Unit funded by the Department of Health in England to undertake applied and methodological research to inform health policy in England.
John is a Co-Investigator on Workstrand 6, which is focused on Societal Valuations of Cross-Sectoral Outcomes and Equity Implications.
More Information - Karen MacNeeScottish Government Senior ChampionEdinburgh, UKKaren MacNeeScottish Government Senior Champion
Karen is Head of the Scottish Government’s Health Improvement Division. The Division has responsibility for policy on alcohol, diet and healthy weight, tobacco and gambling, health inequalities, gender identity and healthcare access, and equalities in health with a specific focus on race. Karen has had a number of roles working in Scottish Government policy and social research and has recently joined SIPHER as the Scottish Government senior champion.
- Katherine SmithWorkstrand 1 Lead and Workstrand 8 Co-InvestigatorGlasgow, UKKatherine SmithWorkstrand 1 Lead and Workstrand 8 Co-Investigator
Kat is a Professor of Public Health Policy at Strathclyde University, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh, where she is an active member of the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy at Edinburgh (SKAPE). Kat employs qualitative methods to study the interplay between public health research and policy, to analyse public policies and policy influence, and to study public perspectives on health inequalities.
Kat leads SIPHER Workstrand 1, Understanding Policy Processes & Evidence Needs, which uses a novel combination of qualitative methods including interviews, system mapping, ethnographic research and documentary analysis. Kat is also a co-investigator on WS8 where she leads the collection of qualitative data for our internal evaluation.
More Information - Katrina HannGMCA PartnerManchester, UKKatrina HannGMCA Partner
Katrina is Head of Research at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The GMCA research team supports policy makers across a broad range of thematic areas – including health, housing, the economy, crime, social services, employment and skills, and the environment – by providing data, evidence and insight to support decision-making. Recently, Katrina led the Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review, which has provided a robust evidence base to underpin the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy.
Katrina works alongside Julian Cox, Jessica Smith and Mary Gogarty in our GMCA Policy Partner team. - Liddy GoyderHealth Inequalities ExpertSheffield, UKLiddy GoyderHealth Inequalities Expert
Liddy is a Professor of Public Health at the University of Sheffield and honorary consultant in Public Health at Public Health England. She is also Director of Research for the National Centre for Sport & Exercise Medicine in Sheffield and leads the NIHR Public Health Research Review Team. She currently leads the NIHR CLAHRC-YH Public Health & Inequalities Theme and is a member of the Executive and Management Committees for the NIHR School for Public Health Research.
Liddy is a SIPHER Health Inequalities Expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to shape and support our focus on Health Inequalities.
More Information - Liz SuchWorkstrand 1, 2 and 8 Co-InvestigatorSheffield, UKLiz SuchWorkstrand 1, 2 and 8 Co-Investigator
Liz is a NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellow and a Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield. A former analyst for the UK government, Liz has worked in multiple social and public health policy fields including employment and health, employability skills and welfare. As a civil servant she managed the Secretariat for the Ethnic Minority Employment Taskforce led by the Minister of State for Employment. She leads the School of Health and Related Research’s Health Equity and Inclusion group.
Liz is a Workstrand 1, 2 and 8 Co-Investigator and is currently leading a systematic review on Health In All Policies.
More Information - Louise BrewinsSheffield City Council PartnerSheffield, UKLouise BrewinsSheffield City Council Partner
Louise was a registered Public Health Specialist and social scientist with BA (Hons) in Applied Politics, MAs in Industrial Relations and Public Health and PhD in Sociology. With over 30 years of experience in health and local government, Louise held national, regional and local roles in: health research, policy and strategy; commissioning; public health; and intelligence and knowledge management. In her last role, she headed up a corporate intelligence unit within the Policy, Performance and Communications Service of Sheffield City Council and managed Sheffield’s SIPHER embedded researchers. Louise tragically passed away in November 2021, and we miss our lovely, dedicated colleague.
- Mark BirkinWorkstrand 3 and 5 Co-InvestigatorLeeds, UkMark BirkinWorkstrand 3 and 5 Co-Investigator
Mark is Professor of Geography at the University of Leeds and Co-Director of Leeds Institute for Data Analytics. He has research interests in spatial modelling and analytics, including micro simulation, agent-based models, geodemographics and spatial interaction modelling. He is also a Fellow and Programme Director for Urban Analytics at the Alan Turing Institute.
Mark is a Co-Investigator on SIPHER Workstrands 3 and 5.
More Information - Mark BryanWorkstrand 4 and 7 Co-InvestigatorSheffield, UKMark BryanWorkstrand 4 and 7 Co-Investigator
Mark is a Reader in Economics at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on health, wellbeing and work, using advanced statistical methods applied to large-scale, longitudinal datasets. He was a theme co-lead at the What Works Centre for Wellbeing and is currently Deputy Principal Investigator of a Health Foundation project investigating the causal impact of health on labour market outcomes.
Mark is a Co-Investigator on Workstrands 4 and 7.
More Information - Mark ClowesWorkstrand 2 ResearcherSheffield, UKMark ClowesWorkstrand 2 Researcher
Mark is part of the Workstrand 2 Evidence Synthesis team. He works alongside Duncan Chambers, Fiona Campbell and Ruth Wong.
More Information - Mark StrongWorkstrand 4 Co-InvestigatorSheffield, UKMark StrongWorkstrand 4 Co-Investigator
Mark is Professor of Public Health and Dean of the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR). He is an academic public health doctor and a statistician. Mark’s research interests relate to the management of uncertainty and the value of information in decision making, particularly when using mathematical and computer models to predict clinical or policy outcomes.
Mark is a Co-Investigator on Workstrand 4 of SIPHER.
More Information - Mohammad HassannezhadWorkstrand 7 ResearcherSheffield, UKMohammad HassannezhadWorkstrand 7 Researcher
Mohammad is a Research Associate in Decision Modelling and Data Analytics at the University of Sheffield, and an Honorary Researcher at the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre where he has been working with Rolls-Royce and British Telecom for years. Having spent years in engineering and consultancy roles, Mohammad’s research aims at ‘engineering better decisions’ based on development and delivery of ground-breaking analytical-computational models from scratch, with applications in world-leading businesses across aerospace, agriculture, automotive, and telecom industry. He is the recipient of UK Exceptional Talent Visa endorsed by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Mohammad is the Workstrand 7 Research Associate on SIPHER, working with Robin Purshouse to lead our systems mapping and the development of decision support tools for Policy Partners. - Nik LomaxWorkstrand 3 and 5 LeadLeeds, UKNik LomaxWorkstrand 3 and 5 Lead
Nik is an Associate Professor in Data Analytics for Population Research at the University of Leeds. His research utilises existing and emerging data to produce high resolution estimates and projections of populations and their demographic characteristics. Nik is also a Turing Fellow, where he is developing methods to integrate information on human behaviour which are lacking from current demographic models.
Nik co-leads Workstrands 3 and 5 of SIPHER with Alison Heppenstall. WS3, Data & System Monitoring, builds a secure data infrastructure, creates detailed simulated populations and develops a system monitoring function to inform adaptive policymaking. WS5, Policy Microsimulation, models the impacts of environment and policy on the characteristics of individuals and households, showing how policy impacts differ across geographic areas and societal groups.
More Information - Ping LiWorkstrand 4 Research AssociateSheffield, UKPing LiWorkstrand 4 Research Associate
Ping is a specialist in data-driven modelling and system identification. He completed his PhD in control engineering in The University of Sheffield in 2003. Since then he has been working extensively in the areas of state and parameter estimation, complex system modelling and identification, model-based fault diagnosis, and their applications on various engineering problems ranging from condition monitoring of railway vehicle, gas turbine engine and additive manufacturing process to helicopter dynamic modelling, non-destructive testing and evaluation, space weather forecasting as well as medical data processing and analysis for disease detection.
Ping is the Workstrand 4 Research Associate on SIPHER, working with Visakan Kadirkamanathan to develop novel methodology for building dynamic model that describes the causal relationships between indicator variables on the system maps to support decision making of policy partners and the work of wider SIPHER team.
- Richard BentallPublic Mental Health ExpertSheffield, UKRichard BentallPublic Mental Health Expert
Richard is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Sheffield and has previously held chairs at the University of Liverpool, University of Manchester and Bangor University. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the British Academy. Most recently his research has focused on why social risk factors (for example childhood adversities such as poverty, abuse and bullying) provoke the cognitive and emotional changes that lead to psychotic symptoms.
Richard is a SIPHER Public Mental Health Expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to shape and support our work in Public Mental Health.
More Information - Rob ClayWorkstrand 5 ResearcherLeedsRob ClayWorkstrand 5 Researcher
Robert is a PhD student at the University of Leeds in the School of Geography. His PhD is supervised by Dr. Nik Lomax, Professor Alison Heppenstall, and Dr. Patricia Ternes investigating the social determinants of health at the neighbourhood and individual level. Robert plans to work on the estimation of health transition probabilities for dynamic microsimulation using longitudinal data analysis and agent-based modelling.
Robert contributes to Workstrand 5 of SIPHER.
- Robin PurshouseWS7 LeadSheffield, UKRobin PurshouseWS7 Lead
Robin is a Professor in Decision Modelling and Optimization at the University of Sheffield. His research interests include modelling, analysis and optimization for supporting decision-making. Robin leads the interdisciplinary ‘CASCADE’ project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which aims to build systems-based, theory-driven models of alcohol use dynamics in the US. He also develops methods for robust and distributed multi-objective optimization applied to the design of complex engineered products.
Robin is the Lead for WS7, our Economic Evaluation & Decision Support workstrand, which uses distributed, robust multi-objective optimization to develop a cross-sector economic evaluation tool that identifies those strategies that perform well across key policy outcomes and for different assumptions about future developments.
Email: r.purshouse@sheffield.ac.uk
- Ruth LuptonInclusive Growth ExpertManchester, UKRuth LuptonInclusive Growth Expert
Ruth is a Professor of Education at the University of Manchester, where her research interests centre around education, disadvantage and place. She also works more broadly in the field of social policy, focusing on poverty and inequality in the UK and particularly on spatial inequalities and policies to address them, including neighbourhood regeneration and city-region devolution. She currently heads the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit at the University of Manchester (IGAU), funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the University. As interest in ‘inclusive growth’ emerges in the UK, IGAU is exploring what can be done locally to ensure more even distribution of the benefits of economic growth.
Ruth is a SIPHER Inclusive Growth Expert, working across the 8 SIPHER Workstrands to shape and support our work on Inclusive Growth.
More Information - Ruth WongWorkstrand 2 ResearcherSheffield, UKRuth WongWorkstrand 2 Researcher
Ruth is part of the Workstrand 2 Evidence Synthesis team. She works alongside Duncan Chambers, Fiona Campbell and Mark Clowes.
More Information - Shreya SonthaliaPhD StudentGlasgow, UKShreya SonthaliaPhD Student
Shreya is a first-year PhD student at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on applying system dynamics modelling to understand the impact of social determinants on mental health. She is supervised by Professor Petra Meier and Dr Corinna Elsenbroich. Her work sits within Workstrand 4.
- Tara WickramasekeraWorkstrand 6 Research AssociateSheffield, UKTara WickramasekeraWorkstrand 6 Research Associate
Tara is research associate at the School of Health and Related Research, Sheffield. Her research interests include measurement and valuation of health outcomes using discrete choice experiments (DCEs) and economic evaluations of health and mental health interventions.
Tara is a Workstrand 6 research associate on SIPHER, working with Aki Tsuchiya to provide insight into how people value different policy outcomes and different states of health and well-being. - Victoria JohnsonPhD StudentSheffield, UKVictoria JohnsonPhD Student
Victoria is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering. She is studying dynamic decision-making under the supervision of Robin Purshouse. Victoria graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2019 with an MEng degree in Systems and Control Engineering.
Victoria is a SIPHER PhD Student contributing to Workstrand 7. - Visakan KadirkamanathanWorkstrand 4 LeadSheffield, UKVisakan KadirkamanathanWorkstrand 4 Lead
Visakan is a Professor in Signal and Information Processing at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on complex systems modelling and control with applications ranging from aerospace, biomedical and social sciences. A key area of his research is developing data driven dynamic and spatio-temporal modelling methods. He is also the Director of Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Control, Monitoring and Systems Engineering.
Visakan leads Workstrand 4 of SIPHER on Causal System Dynamics Modelling. WS4 models the dynamics and feedback effects of higher-order causal processes, for example the relationships between unemployment, poverty and mortality.
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We are always keen to develop new links with interested research centres, local and national governments, as well as health- and social justice-focused charities and interest groups. We want to ensure our new methods and findings are helpful to everyone who may use them. Please get in touch!
Please contact Consortium Directors
Professor Petra Meier
Petra.Meier@glasgow.ac.uk
Corinna Elsenbroich
corinna.elsenbroich@glasgow.ac.uk
Julian Cox
julian.cox@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk