UCL Health of the Public Symposium 2026

UCL Health of the Public is a virtual school that brings disciplines together to improve health for all. As UCL marks 200 years of challenging convention and advancing knowledge, we continue that tradition by working collaboratively across academia and in partnership with local communities, government, the NHS, the third sector and industry, with the aim of achieving real‑world impact.

From showcasing the work of early career researchers, to engaging with people in our broad community, we hope you find this year’s symposium valuable and enjoy the day.

Graham J Hart PhD FMedSci

Director, UCL Health of the Public

Professor Hart's research interests include sexual risk behaviour and the prevention of HIV and STIs, combining structural, behavioural, and biomedical approaches to prevention and the opportunities afforded by new prevention technologies. He has worked with a wide range of populations at risk of HIV and STIs, nationally and internationally. 

Graham is currently: Adviser to the Medical Research Council (MRC) on Global Health Strategy and a Non-Executive Member of the Advisory Board of the UK Health Security Agency. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Dr Oliver Mytton is a Public Health Consultant and Associate Professor at UCL. His research focuses on public health approaches to tackling obesity – particular interests include population level policies, the role of local government, and children.

He is Co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Weight. He holds grants from NIHR and UKRI, including IMPACT-NCMP, which is evaluating the National Child Measurement Programme, and the SHOP study – evaluating the impact of supermarket HFSS offers and promotions. 

Rachel co-manages the secretariat of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, at the Department of Health and Social Care.  

Her role involves leading on SACN risk assessments and committee management as well as contributing to parliamentary business. With 17 years’ experience as a government nutrition scientist, she has also worked on salt and sugar reduction campaigns; dietary surveys; food composition; and dietary advice. Rachel has also worked in the private sector as nutritionist for Brakes Food Service and as a self-employed nutrition consultant.   

Rachel has a Doctorate in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

Clare Llewellyn is Professor of Psychology and Epidemiology and Deputy Head of the Department of Behavioural Science and Health at UCL, where she co-directs UCL-REACH (Research into Eating, Activity and Health).  

She is also Co-Director of the NIHR Healthy Weight Policy Research Unit and leads Gemini, a UK twin birth cohort exploring genetic and environmental influences on growth and eating behaviour across childhood and adolescence.  
Her research focuses on the intersection between obesity and eating disorders, with a particular interest in identifying shared early-life risk factors to inform prevention and public health approaches. 

Dr Adrian Brown is an NIHR Advanced Fellow and Principal Research Fellow (Associate Professor) in Nutrition and Dietetics at the Centre of Obesity Research, University College London, which he co-leads.

He is a Senior Specialist Weight Management and Bariatric Dietitian with over 19 years of clinical experience, and he holds a PhD in Medicine from Imperial College London. His research focuses on obesity, particularly weight stigma, processed foods, kidney failure, food insecurity, and the use of formula based diets.  

He is chair of the Specialist Obesity Group for the British Dietetic Association, a trustee of the Academy of Nutrition Science, and council member for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity and the British Nutrition Foundation. He is also Associate Editor for Clinical Obesity and an editor of the Manual of Dietetic Practice. 

Dr John Rahilly is a Research Fellow at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. His work is primarily focused upon the application of quantitative analytical methods to develop understanding of the associations between public health policy and population health. He has a background in the use of natural experiments and time-series analyses. 

He contributes to the NIHR Healthy Weight Policy Research Unit and co-leads a work package on the NIHR grant funded Supermarket HFSS Offers and Promotions study (SHOPS). 

He obtained his PhD from the University of Warwick and was previously a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge 

Professor Jamie Brown is Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group. He co-leads a CRUK programme of research to:

i)    provide insights into population-wide influences on smoking, smoking cessation and alcohol reduction principally by management and analysis of the major population surveys, the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Study, and 
ii)    advance the scientific foundation, and further the development of, potentially wide-reach digital behaviour change technologies. 

In over 400 publications, a particular focus has been on real-world monitoring and evaluation of national tobacco control and alcohol policies, events and stop smoking treatments. He is a co-author of Theory of Addiction (second edition) and ABC of Behaviour Change Theories, co-Regional Editor at the journal Addiction and an Editor of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group. 

Professor Linda Bauld OBE FMedSci FRSE FRCPE FAcSS FFPH is the Bruce and John Usher Chair in Public Health in the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh and Chief Social Policy Adviser to the Scottish Government. 

Her research focuses on the prevention or treatment of the main modifiable risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases with a particular focus on nicotine and tobacco. She is Co-Director of Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK) funded by the ESRC as a leadership hub for behavioural research. 

Linda is Vice Chair of Diabetes UK and a board member of the Faculty of Public Health, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Academy of Social Sciences. Former roles include as scientific adviser on tobacco control to the UK government and as cancer prevention adviser for Cancer Research UK.

In her Scottish Government role, she serves as senior responsible officer for Scotland's Population Health Framework and works across policy areas to improve the use of data and research. 

Professor Sarah Jackson's work focuses on monitoring population trends in smoking, vaping, and alcohol use and evaluating the effectiveness of smoking cessation aids, interventions, and policies at the individual and population level. To do this, she makes use of large, population-based datasets such as the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Study. 

She has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications relating to nicotine and tobacco, alcohol, and other health-related issues such as obesity and cancer. She has also contributed to influential reports on smoking, vaping, and health by the Royal College of Physicians. The contribution of her work has been recognised by several awards, including the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA)'s Impact Prize and early career awards from the SSA (Fred Yates Prize) and UK Society for Behavioural Medicine. 

Prof Jackson holds leadership positions in associations relating to nicotine and tobacco research. She is Past President for Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco's European Chapter (SRNT Europe) and sits on Action on Smoking and Health’s advisory council. Prof Jackson is also a Senior Editor at the journal Addiction and Social Media Editor for Nicotine & Tobacco Research. She has served as a reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed publications, including large evidence reviews on nicotine vaping in England commissioned by Public Health England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Dr Ranjita Dhital is an Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary Health Studies and Vice Dean Wellbeing at UCL. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), a registered pharmacist and a sculptor.

Her public health research is informed by creative and participatory methodologies to reduce alcohol harm and promote mental wellbeing in high- in low-income countries. 

Ranjita has practised as an addiction specialist pharmacist for the NHS, a community pharmacist and worked in public health. She founded and leads the Creative Health Nepal network and the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) Pharmacy Special Interest Group. She is Editorial Board member for the RSPH journal Perspectives in Public Health and Academic Editor for Global Public Health. 

Dr Harry Tattan-Birch is a Senior Research Fellow and Statistician in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health.

The primary focus of his research is the impact of novel nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches, on cigarette smoking and public health. This includes individual-level interventions, population-level effects of policies, and global market changes.

Praveetha Patalay is Professor of Population Health and Wellbeing at UCL. Her research focuses on mental health through the lifecourse and drivers of health inequalities, with an interest in examining these across different contexts including time and place. She is interested in how we can achieve better health and wellbeing through our lives and the preventive measures and structural changes that might be needed to support this. 

She leads a multidisciplinary research group at UCL, and is working towards improving the diversity of disciplines, individuals and countries represented in mental health science with the goal to accelerate progress in improving population mental health. 

Sarah Brown is the national Head of Children, Young People and Perinatal Mental Health at NHS England. She provides strategic leadership across policy, commissioning and system transformation, drawing on over 20 years’ experience in public sector children’s services.

Her work focuses on strengthening prevention, early intervention and community-based mental health support, aligned with the NHS 10 Year Plan for Health’s ambition to build a prevention led system.

She is committed to reducing inequalities and improving the outcomes for children, young people and their families, and collaborates across government, health, academia and the voluntary sector to expand evidence-based services and advance equalities. 

Prof. Jess Deighton is Director of Applied Research and Evaluation at Anna Freud and Director of the Evidence Based Practice Unit. She is also Director of Growing up in the 2020s – an Adolescent cohort study commissioned by the Department for Education.

Her expertise focuses on:

• Factors that promote or undermine resilience in children and young people;
• The evaluation of interventions to support mental health and well-being, particularly in educational settings;
• The interplay between mental health and educational outcomes.

She has carried out some of the largest trials and research projects mental health and wellbeing of young people in the school context, including leading the DfE funded Educational for Wellbeing programme and the National lottery funded HeadStart Learning Programme, and co-leads the research programme for #BeeWell. 

Dr Gemma Moore is an Associate Professor in Health, Wellbeing, and Communities at UCL’s Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources.

With over a decade of experience as an applied social researcher, her work focuses on the intersections between people, their environments, and decision-making processes. Her research integrates engaged, learning processes into large, complex transdisciplinary programs focused on health, sustainability and the built environment.

Gemma is the programme lead for the MSc Health, Wellbeing and Sustainable Buildings. Between 2022-2025, Gemma was the Faculty Lead for Impact.