Research and measurement advisory group

Anne-Marie Bagnall, Professor of Health & Wellbeing Evidence at Leeds Beckett University

Anne-Marie Bagnall is Professor of Health & Wellbeing Evidence and Director of the Centre for Health Promotion Research at Leeds Beckett University, and a member of the Communities of Place evidence synthesis programme for the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Daniel Black, Director at Daniel Black + Associates | db+a / University of Bristol (Population Health Sciences) / University of Reading (Real Estate + Planning)

Daniel is a research director with 20 years professional experience in a wide range of knowledge domains in urban planning, development and corporate governance. He qualified originally in economics and urban design, specialising in sustainability and health impact assessment methods for large-scale urban development.

Kiron Chatterjee, Associate Professor University of the West of England (Bristol)

Kiron’s research seeks understanding of the way in which people travel and how this is influenced by the transport system and social, economic and technological change. He also seeks to identify how people’s access to transport and use of transport affects their life opportunities and wellbeing. 

Andy Cope, Director of Insight at Sustrans

Andy’s expertise is in research, evaluation and monitoring of active travel. Andy’s work focuses on getting best value from the evidence about the effectiveness of the work that Sustrans and others deliver in support of walking and cycling. Andy’s key skill is the ability to translate research and data to support development of policy and practice.

Jacob Diggle, Head of Research, Evaluation & Strategy at Mind

Dr Carrie Exton, Head of Monitoring Well-being and Progress at OECD

Carrie works on measuring, reporting and analysing data about people’s well-being, including its equity and sustainability. She edits the How’s Life? series, and oversees OECD work on well-being measurement, analytical reports, and policy applications. Carrie was previously a policy advisor in the UK Civil Service, including roles in strategy, private office, and education/research policy.

Richard Harries, Director at Power to Change Research Institute

Richard is Director of the Power to Change Research Institute. Previously a senior civil servant and deputy director of the think tank Reform, Richard is a trustee of Caritas Social Action Network and the Forces in Mind Trust, and a member of the Advisory Councils of NCVO and Volunteering Matters.

Stephen Hilton, Director at Bristol Futures Global 

Stephen is passionate about smart, sustainable, resilient, creative and inclusive cities. He is founder and director of a consultancy called Bristol Futures global soon to be rechristened city global futures. He was formerly director of Futures at Bristol city council where he helped win the title of European Green capital 2015.

Gareth Hooper, Health Economist

Gareth is a health economist with 20 years of experience in local government, the NHS and NICE. He has an interest in the use of wellbeing measures in policy decisions and economic evaluations. He is shortly to take up the position of Assistant Professor in Leadership and Management in Health at Coventry University to lead on health economics and statistics.

Anna Maccagnan, Research Fellow at University of Exeter Medical School – European Centre for Environment and Human Health

Anna holds a PhD in Labour Economics from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). She is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter Medical School. Her research interests lie in the fields of happiness and wellbeing, household economics and labour economics, poverty and inequality. 

Rosie Maguire, Independent researcher and consultant

Rosie is a researcher with over a decade of experience in working with a range of stakeholders including national and local government, NHS organisations, the European Commission and international and local charities. Her work focuses on how evidence can be used to inform the design, management and evaluation of interventions.  

Jessica Pykett, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography University of Birmingham

I am a social and political geographer, researching the influence of neuroscience and behavioural science on public policy and economic thinking. I am also interested in concepts of and interventions in urban stress and urban wellbeing, and am a member of the Institute for Mental Health. 

Emma Robinson, Professor of Psychopharmacology University of Bristol

Based at the University of Bristol, Emma researches the brain mechanisms which control emotional behaviour and how these are disrupted in psychiatric disorders.  Alongside research, Emma teaches across science and professional programmes and is actively involved in public engagement in science including running a biennial Neuroscience Festival in Bristol.

Jonathan Rougier, Statistical Scientist at Rougier Consulting Ltd

Jonathan (Jonty) Rougier is a ‘full spectrum’ applied statistician, although the largest part of his academic work has been in Earth and Environmental Sciences. He has worked with several UK Government departments and agencies, and also with non-profit organizations and SMEs. He is now an independent scientist, but was until recently Professor and Head of Statistics at the University of Bristol.

Greg Fell, Director of Public Health at Sheffield City Council

Tim Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Public Health Economics at University of Exeter Medical School

Dr Tim Taylor is an expert in the economic valuation of health and the environment. He has worked on numerous European projects on sustainability and health issues, including the Bluehealth and INHERIT projects. He has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters including articles in Ecological Economics and the Journal of Happiness Studies. 

Juliet Michaelson, Independent researcher and consultant

Juliet spent eight years at the New Economics Foundation’s Centre for Wellbeing, latterly as its head. She advised the Office for National Statistics on its Measuring National Wellbeing programme and was an author of reports on the Happy Planet Index and Five Headline Indicators of National Progress. Her current work draws on her experience in research, policy-making and organisational development.

Sara MacLennan, Economic Advisor UK Government Economic Service, Defra

Anya Skatova, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow in Digital Innovation and Wellbeing at the School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol.

Anya gained her PhD in Psychology at the University of Nottingham, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nottingham and the University of Warwick. She has extensive network of industry contacts and always open for new collaborations.

Dr Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director at The Equality Trust.

Wanda is Executive Director at The Equality Trust, the national charity that campaigns to reduce social and economic inequality. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of York, a trustee of ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations), Redthread Youth, and Equally Ours and Governor of a primary school. She is a regular keynote speaker and sits on or has advised a range of bodies on inequalities.