Global Health Community of Practice

Our people

Learn about our academic experts, from their research interests to their contact details.

Professor Kalyanaraman Kumaran

Professor
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Professor Kate Ward

Professor in Global M/skeletal Health
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Dr Lucy Gates

Senior Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Global musculoskeletal health and disease; with particular interest in lower limb mobility
  • Epidemiology of vertebral fractures
  • Epidemiology of Knee and foot osteoarthritis
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Professor Mary Barker PhD, C Psychol

Prof of Psychology & Behavioural Science

Research interests

  • Mary Barker is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science. She has a joint appointment in both the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton UK.  Mary runs a programme of work in both the UK and in low-income countries aiming to engage young people in improving their sense of agency, well-being and mental health, to benefit their health in general but their diets and physical activity habits more specifically. Her team’s approach is participatory and combines social activism focused on engaging young people in the climate change and health agenda and testing methods of one-to-one support and digital resources including smartphone games. Much of this work takes place as part of her NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research EACH-B (Engaging Adolescents in Changing Behaviour). She partners in this activity with the TALENT network of colleagues with interests in adolescent health and well-being based in institutions in low-and-middle-income countries. Her team also ran a five-country, longitudinal qualitative study with young people throughout the pandemic exploring their experience, mental health, well-being and resilience, data from which supported UK local and national government COVID messaging to young people. She is adjunct professor at the University of Agder, Norway, and has honorary appointments at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and University College London.
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Dr Merlin Willcox

Principal Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Global maternal and child health
  • Antibiotic stewardship
  • Systematic reviews
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Dr Michael Head

Senior Research Fellow

Research interests

  • - Health needs of vulnerable populations e.g. refugee and rural healthcare
  • - Vaccine hesitancy in Ghana and Togo
  • - Impact of climate change upon health

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Nuala Mcgrath

Prof of Epidemiology & Sexual Health

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Shane Norris PhD, MASSAf, FAAS

Professor of Global Health
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