I am attached to the Centre for History in Public Health. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. I am on the International Advisory Board of the journal Drugs: education, prevention and policy. I often peer review articles for scientific journals, and book proposals and chapters for publishers; and act as expert reviewer for proposals and programmes applying for funding, for example from NIHR.
I hold a degree in Social Anthropology (summa cum laude) from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Politics from the same university. My research and teaching has been mainly in Sociology and Social Policy, with special focus on issues in public health and addiction studies. I have taught and researched at Edinburgh University, Institute of Psychiatry University of London, Birkbeck, University of London, Goldsmiths, University of London, Middlesex University London and LSHTM. I was a Reader in Sociology and Social Policy and then a Professor of Social Policy in the University of London and Director of Research and Post-Graduate Studies in Social Science, Education and Health at Middlesex University. I have been a Professor of Social Policy at LSHTM since 2003.
Affiliations
Teaching
I have taught courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Social Anthropology, Political Sociology, Sociology of Deviance, Sociology of the Welfare State, Methods of Social Research, Politics and Social Policy, and Health Promotion. I have acted as external examiner for taught undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and research degrees, at UK universities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Brighton, Bristol, LSE, Institute of Psychiatry, Goldsmiths, Sheffield Hallam, and overseas in Belgium and Australia.
Research
My current research investigates drug-related deaths in prisons in England and Wales (in collaboration with Professor Karen Duke of Middlesex University London). I also have a general interest in social history, focusing on 20th century continuity and change in the north west of England, especially utilising the Mass Observation Worktown archive. I am a member of the Social History Society and the International Society for the Study of Drugs Policy.
I was Programme Coordinator for the Department of Health (Policy Research Programme) Drug Misuse Research Initiative 2000-2010 a £3.4 million programme which funded 24 projects. I was a Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health (and Social Security). I was an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Drugs Policy and Secretary of the Social Research Association. I served on three HEFCE research assessment panels and was Chair of the Sociology and Social Policy Panel for RAE2001. I was a member of an ACMD working group producing a report on the Ageing Cohort of Drug Misusers.
I have supervised MPhil and PhD students, conducted research, and held research grants investigating a range of social issues and policies, such as homelessness, poverty, drug misuse, community development, urban change, alcohol misuse, innovations in mega-cities, and social security, funded by ESRC, government departments, (such as Cabinet Office, Department of Health (and Social Security), Home Office), foundations (such as JRF and Leverhulme), and international organisations (such as UNODC, EU, UNDP).
Selected Publications
