Reflecting on her tenure, Professor Alissa Goodman said: “It has been a huge privilege for me to lead CLS and to work with such wonderful colleagues and collaborators over these last 10 years. During this time the CLS studies have continued to go from strength to strength, providing vital insights into the lives of people across generations.”
The CLS cohort studies have made a huge contribution to scientific discussion and debate since 2015. Thousands of researchers have accessed cohort study data. There are now over 6,000 publications based on CLS’s studies, and almost half of these have been published since 2015. These have been authored by researchers in more than 100 countries and 500 institutions, generating nearly 25,000 citations between 2018 and 2023 alone.
They are also shaping public policy and helping to improve people’s lives: in the same five-year period, research using CLS data was cited in almost 800 policy documents, including UK parliamentary reports, government strategies, and publications from international organisations such as the WHO, World Bank and UN.
This scientific evidence has directly influenced policy across diverse domains including government strategies on childhood obesity, mental health, bullying, access to higher education, smoking reduction, early childhood development, breastfeeding, health inequalities, social mobility, adult skills, and domestic violence.
“I started working with the CLS cohorts early in my career and I’ve never lost my initial wonder at the way they illuminate how people’s lives unfold. Over the past decade, I have been really proud to help oversee the development of these remarkable studies, which continue to address important questions about society and are vital data resources for researchers, policymakers and practitioners alike.”
Professor Goodman will continue as a Professor of Economics within the centre, and will retain her role as Co-Director of Population Research UK. She will also be a Co-Director of the new UK Early Life Cohort birth cohort study, if it is commissioned by ESRC.
Read more about CLS's development under Professor Goodman's leadership
Read full newsUCL has begun the process of recruiting a new CLS Director. The role advertisement is now live on the UCL website, and will close on Tuesday, 2 September 2025.