Meet our speakers
Key Note Speaker: Kieran Walshe
Health and Care Research Wales
Professor Walshe has 25 years of experience in health policy, health management and health services research. He is Professor of Health Policy Management at Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester. Professor Walshe is also a non-executive director of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, and the chair of the Health Services Research UK. He joined Health and Care Research Wales in October 2019 on a four year part-time secondment from the University of Manchester.
Lauren Couzens
@laurenellis109
Public Health Wales
Lauren is a Public Health Practitioner for Public Health Wales, working in the Policy, Research and International Development Directorate on the international health agenda. Lauren graduated with a Masters in Public Health from the University of Manchester’s School of Medicine, where she completed a dissertation investigating the impact of HIV/AIDs Voluntary Testing and Counselling services where stigma reduction interventions were in place. More recently, Lauren has taken part in the Young Gastein Scholarship, which is a joint project of the International Forum Gastein, the European Commission and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe aimed at young professionals from across Europe who are working in the field of health and has given her the opportunity to develop important public health competencies such as the ability to build alliances and partnerships, learn advocacy and persuasion skills and develop presentation and communication skills in a European context. She is a UK Public Health Registered Practitioner in Public Health.
Claire Beynon
Public Health Wales
Claire Beynon is a Consultant in Public Health with Public Health Wales, based in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Local Health Board. She completed her Master’s in Public Health from Cardiff University, and is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Swansea, and an Honorary Lecturer at Cardiff University with a particular interest in leadership and management. Claire is a Member of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) by examination. She was the FPH Chair of the UK Specialty Registrar Committee in 2015/16 and is still involved with several of the FPH Special Interest Groups. Claire has worked in the NHS in the UK for more than ten years in a variety of senior roles. Claire also has an MSc in Sport and Exercise Science, and is passionate about reducing childhood obesity in the UK, and has published several papers on this topic.
Sean Harrison
@sean_harrison2
University of Bristol
Sean is a senior research associate at the University of Bristol, working on a grant from the Health Foundation using genetic data to estimate the causal effects of health on social and economic outcomes. He completed his PhD in molecular, genetic and life course epidemiology at Bristol in 2017, working primarily to understand the effect of obesity on prostate cancer.
Rosalind Reilly
Public Health Wales
Rosalind Reilly completed medical training at Cardiff University in 2005. She undertook Public Health training in Mid and West Wales and developed an interest in maternal and child health. Rosalind has been public health lead for the Child Death Review Programme since 2014.
Charlotte Grey
@Lotte_Grey
Public Health Wales
Charlotte Grey is a Public Health Researcher working in the Research and Evaluation Division of the Knowledge Directorate of Public Health Wales, with experience in mixed methods research and public health spanning a broad range of topic areas. She is currently involved in several diverse research projects that include: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the impact on future homelessness; understanding what individual and community resilience is and what works to build resilience in at-risk populations; the impact of challenges on the wellbeing of farming and fishing communities; and the impact of globalisation and employment on health and health equity. Her broader research background is focused around how the environment we live in affects our health.
Lucia Homolova
Public Health Wales
Lucia Homolova is a Public Health Research Assistant with a strong background in health psychology and the addiction field, and is a valued member of the Research and Evaluation Division of the Knowledge Directorate of Public Health Wales. She is actively involved in several projects that include: the impact of mass unemployment events on communities; exploring approaches to supporting communities facing uncertainty; and the impact of globalisation and employment on health and health equity; harnessing resilience assets in individuals and communities and what works to build resilience; and what works in improving the wellbeing of farming and fishing communities. Her broader research interest is focused on understanding how people and communities respond to and can thrive in spite of adversity.
Zoe Couzens
Public Health Wales
Zoë Couzens is the lead for the Sexual Health Programme of Public Health Wales.
She has recently worked collaboratively with key partners and stakeholders, both from within NHS Wales and non-NHS sectors across Wales, to deliver the requirements of the Sexual Health Review in Wales. She is a member of the Welsh Government’s Sexual Health Programme Board which is overseeing the implementation of the recommendations from the review.
Zoë is also involved, through Public Health Wales, in the implementation and monitoring of the provision of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV in Wales.
Prior to taking up her role in Public Health, Zoë was a Specialist Dietitian for HIV from the early 1990s.
Arielle Tye
@Little_Ari
ProMo-Cymru
Arielle has over 10 years experience in developing digital products and services with young people and communities. Her work has included working within health, housing, information and advocacy. Recently working on a project with Public Health Wales to co-design, test and develop a new approach to delivering sexual health information to young people.
Liz Green
@Lizy_Green
Public Health Wales
Liz is a Public Health Specialist, the Programme Director for HIA at Public Health Wales and the Director of the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU). She is also Visiting Professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre (WHO CC) for 'Healthy Urban Environments' at the University of West of England, UK’. Liz has extensive knowledge, understanding and practical application of HIA, ‘Health in All Policies’ and spatial planning and provides training, advice and guidance about HIA and other IA processes. Liz has worked on approximately over 400 HIAs of varying strategic levels, complexity and topics including the comprehensive ‘The Public Health Implications of Brexit in Wales: A HIA Approach’ (PHW, 2019) and is author of the ‘Quality Assurance Review Framework for HIA’ (WHIASU, 2017).
Laura Morgan
Public Health Wales
At the moment, Laura is working on a project about EU Structural Funding and Brexit. She has previously worked in a number of research, policy and communications roles across a range of issues including education, housing and homelessness, autism and Gypsies and Travellers.
Louisa Petchey
@Louisa_Petchey
Public Health Wales
Louisa works for both Public Health Wales and the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. In her role she has been undertaking policy research and development on the public health implications of Brexit, including the potential implications for young people in Wales. Louisa also leads work on building skill and confidence in using futures approaches and long-term thinking across Wales’ public sector to support their compliance with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Louisa has previously led policy, influencing and change management programmes for a number of national charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Age UK. She also completed a PhD in Developmental Genetics at University College London, where her work was funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
Genevieve Riley
@GenFrorath
Public Health Wales
Genevieve joined Public Health Wales in January 2018 as Senior Researcher for Evaluation and Impact. An experienced researcher, she now leads a small team of evaluation researchers to develop a programme of impact evaluations which contribute towards our organisational approach to measuring value and impact. Genevieve also supports colleagues in the organisation with the development of their evaluation frameworks, as well as building evaluation capability with training opportunities for staff to expand their evaluation and research skills.
Amy McNaughton
@AmyMcNTweets
Public Health Wales
Amy is the Public Health Consultant lead for the First 1000 Days Programme. During her career to date she has worked as a public health professional across a range of NHS and Local Authority settings with experience of commissioning, service design, health intelligence and national strategy development. Previously, she worked as a Public Health Consultant within a large Unitary Authority in England.
Katie Hardcastle
@Hardcastle_KA
Public Health Wales
Katie is a Senior Public Health Researcher at Public Wales with over ten years’ experience designing and delivering applied research and evaluations. She has led on a range of local, national and international projects on violence and associated harms, with a particular focus on the early years and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Her research also includes exploring public health approaches to the prevention of radicalisation and extremist violence. Katie is currently working with Welsh Government and other partners to explore how adults with ACEs can be supported in a range of different health settings, and how a history of ACEs may impact service utilisation and other health behaviours.
Michael Seaborne
Public Health Wales
Mike joined Public Health Wales in March 2019 as the Knowledge Exchange Officer. Mike’s role is to ensure knowledge and discoveries from the National Centre for Population Health and Well-being Research (NCPHWR) are translated and transferred into practice for the benefit of public health and are available for policy development in Wales. He is the link between research in academia and Public Health Wales and maximising their impact on public health policy makers. Mike’s current main focus is on co-ordinating a project which seeks to identify gaps in research knowledge for public health in the early years (ages 0-7 years) across all sectors and to prioritise those needs for research development in the future.
Sara Wood
Public Health Wales
Sara joined Public Health Wales in May 2016 as a researcher in the prevention of injuries and violence. She is currently engaged in a number of European/International projects, including the reduction of health inequalities in the European Union (with a focus on alcohol consumption and related harms) and the development of a practical manual on the implementation of schools-based violence prevention.
Catherine Sharp
@Cas_Sharp
Bangor University
Dr Catherine Sharp is a public health researcher in the Public Health Collaborating Unit, School of Health Sciences, Bangor University. Catherine's research considers how to prevent and protect both vulnerable individuals and whole populations from harm, and to support positive behaviour change to effectively promote and improve health and well-being across different stages of the life-course. She has explored a range of public health topics including physical activity, impact of technology on health and on family interactions, healthy eating, gambling, and public engagement.
More speakers to be announced shortly