IOE academic appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at University of Johannesburg

Professor Oliver is Director of the Social Science Research Unit at the IOE, and Deputy Director of the EPPI-Centre (Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre) in London.

For thirty years her interests have focused on the interaction between researchers and people making decisions in their professional and personal lives. With this in mind she has been developing methods to collate knowledge from whole bodies of research (systematic reviews), not just single studies. Most recently this has been in the area of international health systems and international development, where she has conducted systematic reviews and built up a programme of support for research teams elsewhere conducting reviews.

She works with the UK's Department for International Development and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at the World Health Organisation (WHO) to build capacity in systematic reviewing in low- and middle-income countries.

Professor Ruth Stewart, Director of the Africa Centre for Evidence, said: "As distinguished visiting professors, both Professor Oliver and Professor Lavis will contribute to the academic life at ACE and the wider UJ community through their research activities, publications, seminars and engagement with staff and postgraduate students.

"These visiting professorships were established by UJ as part of a prestigious program of lifting the global excellence and stature of UJ. Core to this initiative is the strengthening of research capabilities, and thus increasing research output, impact and citation. The visiting professorships also augur well with the Vice-Chancellor's resolve to ensure that UJ is on equal footing as a university of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

"With our vision to reduce poverty and inequality in our region by increasing the production and application of research evidence that is both useful and used, ACE is excited to collaborate with these two globally highly regarded scholars."

Professor Sandy Oliver said: "The Africa Centre for Evidence is working very imaginatively with policy makers and academics across Africa to advance how evidence is collated and used in policy decisions. It is an exciting time to join them and John Lavis to develop ideas for such an important vision. I am looking forward to working with staff and students alike in the Faculty of the Humanities."

Media contact

Rowan Walker, UCL Media Relations
rowan.walker@ucl.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 3108 8516

Links

• 'Africa Centre for Evidence welcomes new Distinguished Visiting Professors'
• View Professor Sandy Oliver's research profile
• Social Science Research Unit (SSRU)
• Department of Social Science
• Africa Centre for Evidence