About Us

The Centre for Health Policy was established in 2014 by Co-Directors Lee Knifton and Neil Quinn, as part of the International Public Policy Institute (IPPI), with support from Alec Morton, Management Science, and Professor Sir Harry Burns as Chair.

Since 2019, the Centre has been based in Strathclyde’s School of Social Work and Social Policy. From 2023 it is co-directed by Katherine Smith and Ellen Stewart, and guided by an Advisory Board of senior policymakers and staff from public sector bodies and charities. The Co-Directors continue to work closely with the Centre’s Founding Directors, Neil Quinn and Lee Knifton, as the Centre moves forward with its strategic goals.

Our activities are nested within a set of world-class initiatives at Strathclyde that offer unparalleled opportunities for Centre for Health Policy staff, partners and students and for external collaborators. The University of Strathclyde is a leading technological university, with a socially progressive ethos, and Health and Wellbeing is one of the Strathclyde’s thriving strategic themes.  

Strengths and Opportunities

Our programmes are nested within a set of world-class initiatives at Strathclyde that offer unparalleled opportunities for Centre for Health Policy staff, partners and students and for external collaborators:

  • Technology: As Scotland’s leading international technology university Strathclyde leads the national Digital Health & Care Institute, and our Technology and Innovation Centre hosts Health Technologies at Strathclyde
  • Engineering and Science colleagues lead programmes addressing food, renewable energy and water availability  in Asia and Africa, including a long-term community health programme with Malawi.
  • Young people: Strathclyde hosts several nationally-funded centres of excellence including The Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children and the Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice
  • Public Mental Health: We are Scotland’s leaders in public mental health including: Editing ‘Public Mental Health: Global Perspectives’ and ‘The Journal of Public Mental Health’; joint programmes with Yale University, New York University, Illinois Institute of Technology, The Scottish Recovery Network, Health and Social Care Alliance, Turning Point, Mental Health Foundation, NHS Health Scotland, NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; and collaboration with the WHO mental health team.