People

The Healthy Lifespan Institute brings together a wealth of expertise in multimorbidity and healthy ageing. Our renowned team includes researchers who are considered leaders in their field and ranked among the top 40 researchers globally for the quality of their scientific outputs.

Core team and directors

Professor Alan Walker

Professor Alan Walker

Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology

Ageing, social analysis, social policy, social planning, social gerontology

Contact Professor Walker

Prof Ilaria Bellantuono in a laboratory

Professor Ilaria Bellantuono

Professor in Musculoskeletal Ageing

Multiple age-related disease, preventing or reversing ageing of stem cells, diseases of the musculoskeletal system

Contact Professor Bellantuono

Professor Sherif El-Khamisy

Professor Sherif El-Khamisy

Professor of Molecular Medicine

DNA repair, topisomerase, mitochondria

Contact Professor El-Khamisy

Gemma Stephens

Gemma Stephens

Healthy Lifespan Institute Manager

Contact Gemma Stephens

Executive board team leads

Profile image of Professor Sheila Francis

Professor Sheila Francis

Professor of Cardiovascular Biology

Modulating vascular cell function, experimental models of cardiovascular systems, coronary artery disease

Contact Professor Francis

Elizabeth Goyder

Professor Elizabeth Goyder

Professor in Public Health and honorary consultant in Public Health at Public Health England

Public health, inequalities in health, physical activity, collaboration with practitioners and communities, knowledge mobilisation, evidence synthesis 

Contact Professor Goyder

Renee Timmers

Professor Renee Timmers

Personal Chair, Music Psychology

music and emotion, multisensory experiences of music and sounds, nonverbal expression and communication, Humlab, Music Mind Machine research centre

Contact Professor Timmers

Mari-Cruz Villa-Uriol profile photo

Dr Maria-Cruz Villa-Uriol

Lecturer

Computational imaging, modelling techniques, composition of scientific workflows, cardiovascular domain

Contact Dr Villa-Uriol

Professor Jason Heyes

Professor Jason Heyes

Associate Dean for Impact and Engagement

Employment relations, employment rights, job quality, underemployment, labour administration

Contact Professor Heynes

Liz Williams

Dr Elizabeth Williams

Senior Lecturer

Diet and intestinal health, biomarkers of colorectal cancer, the role of butyrate and folate on colorectal carcinogenesis, nutrition, health and wellbeing of older adults

Contact Dr Williams

Professor Lynda Wyld

Professor of Surgical Oncology

Breast cancer in older women: cancer outcomes, risk prediction model development and validation, decision support, quality of life, outcome modelling. Psychosocial outcomes for women with familial high breast cancer risk. Epigenetic modifiers of the BRCA gene promotor in collaboration with Professor Angie Cox

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Professor Steven Sourbron

Professor in Medical Imaging Physics

Contact Professor Sourbon

Professor Thomas Webb

Professor of Psychology

Self-regulation, behaviour change, motivation

Contact Professor Webb

Dr Tony Ryan

Reader in Older People, Care and the Family

Sociology of ageing, palliative and supportive care, dementia/stroke care practice

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Dr Gareth Richards

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Contact Dr Richards

Professor Suzanne Mason

Professor of Emergency Medicine

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Professor Paul Martin

Sciences Professor of Sociology

Epigenetics, science in social policy, novel biosocial concepts, genomics and personalised medicine

Contact Professor Martin