SHOES Conference – Bios Key Note Speakers

David Stuckler

David Stuckler, PhD, MPH, HonMFPH, FRSA is a Professor of Political Economy and Sociology at University of Oxford and research fellow of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has written over 170 peer-reviewed scientific articles on global health in The Lancet, British Medical Journal and Nature in addition to other major journals. His book about the global chronic-disease epidemic, Sick Societies, was published by Oxford University Press in 2011. He is also an author of The Body Economic, published by Penguin Press in 2013 and translated into over ten languages. His work has featured on covers of the New York Times and The Economist, among other venues. Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 global thinkers of 2013

Dr Stephen Watkins

Born and bred in Lancashire, England, Steve, a rambler and railway enthusiast, qualified in medicine in 1974, obtained his public health master’s degree in 1982 and has been a Director of Public Health for Stockport since 1990. He was one of the founder members of the Transport & Health Study Group when it was launched in 1989 and became its chair a few years later. In 2013 when the role of chair was split in two he became the Co-chair (Policy). He was a co-author and editor of Health on the Move and of Health on the Move 2. His interests in public health include not only transport but also the health effects of economic policy. He is a Council member of the British Medical Association and a former President of the Medical Practitioners Union (a UK body which describes itself as the medical organisation of the social movements of the people).

Vicki Fitzgerald

Vicki is the newly recruited Chief Executive Officer for Citizens Advice . A leader in the voluntary sector for eight years, she has worked in health and social care for nearly two decades; Vicki started work in communities in the late 1990s as part of a short term programme supporting teenage mothers in Newtown and South Aston in . She went on to lead on the implementation of Sure Start programmes and the delivery of community regeneration programmes across the city. In 2006 she set up a Social Enterprise to provide, commissioned public services aimed at addressing inequalities. She was Chief Executive for 8 years and during that time the organisation worked with over 25,000 families on issues such as employment,training, domestic violence, immigration, behaviour, lifestyle and many other factors that contribute to inequality. Thoroughly committed to diversity, equality and social justice. Both within the NHS and the voluntary sector Vicki has devoted her time to ensuring that services meet the needs of marginalised groups and wherever possible aims to provide services for people who fall through the gaps.

Marina Karanikolos Marina Karanikolos is a research fellow at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her main areas of work include the impact of the financial crisis on health in Europe, health systems performance assessment and the use of health indicators for policy making. Marina is an editor of Health Systems in Transition Profiles and other Observatory series of analytical studies, and a co-author or a number of peer-reviewed publications on the financial crisis, population health, access to healthcare and others.

Dr Claes Belfrage Claes is a political economist with a particular interest in financialisation and the welfare state. He is working on several separate case studies: firstly, the par excellence Social Democratic Swedish case; secondly, the crisis-struck Icelandic economy; and finally, regional financial market integration in Europe and Latin America. He has published in journals such as Politics and Society, Public Administration, Organization Studies, International Politics, Contemporary Politics and Journal of International Relations and Development. He has worked with a wide range of organisations, including the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Brazilian Central Bank, Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission, Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Institute for Futures Studies (Sweden).

SHOES Conference – Bios Workshop Leads

Money Lending Workshop

Nadeem Mahammed

Nadeem Mahammed has been working for since 2003. He has held various roles working as an Area Manager for the Debt Team, managing a team of 8 advisors.

In 2009 Nadeem took up a new role within the council as Assistant Financial Inclusion Champion for West Midlands. This was a government project aimed to build on existing campaigns using the branding and awareness developed amongst financial inclusion intermediaries, continuing to promote demand for appropriate financial services.

Currently Nadeem Mahammed has been working as a Liaise Officer for roughly 5 years covering Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Dudley, Stoke, Milton Keynes and Sandwell. In Nadeem’s job roles he has contributed his knowledge with poverty issues, financial exclusion, community safety, victim support, crime prevention, raising awareness of illegal lending and promoting safer lending. Moreover he has been involved in addressing inequality, and projects that target communities perceived to be culturally, economically or geographically disadvantaged.

Nadeem has a passion for running and runs on a weekly basis. He has completed 2 half marathons and 1 full marathon.

Advice Services, Austerity and Health (CAB)

Vicki Fitzgerald

Vicki is the newly recruited Chief Executive Officer for Citizens Advice Sandwell. A leader in the voluntary sector for eight years, she has worked in health and social care for nearly two decades; Vicki started work in communities in the late 1990s as part of a short term programme supporting teenage mothers in Newtown and South Aston in Birmingham. She went on to lead on the implementation of Sure Start programmes and the delivery of community regeneration programmes across the city. In 2006 she set up a Social Enterprise to provide, commissioned public services aimed at addressing inequalities. She was Chief Executive for 8 years and during that time the organisation worked with over 25,000 families on issues such as employment,training, domestic violence, immigration, behaviour, lifestyle and many other factors that contribute to inequality. Thoroughly committed to diversity, equality and social justice. Both within the NHS and the voluntary sector Vicki has devoted her time to ensuring that services meet the needs of marginalised groups and wherever possible aims to provide services for people who fall through the gaps.

Fuel Poverty and Public Health

Nick Laws

Nick has over 30 years experience of managing operational and strategic services across a range of areas within the Local Authority. During this time he has undertaken various roles and responsibilities, managing teams and services in construction, repairs and maintenance, housing management, private sector housing, service Improvement and performance management

He currently works within the Sandwell Public Health team as the Social Determinants Project Manager where he is responsible for developing and implementing initiatives and strategies that address the wider social determinants of health and improve health outcomes.

Over the last two years Nick has focused his efforts upon embedding public health outcomes and facilitating links with service areas across the Council, Identifying opportunities to develop partnerships and new approaches to health improvement.

Poverty, Austerity and Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshop

Kate O’Hara

Kate O’Hara is an experienced mental health promotion and public mental health practitioner working locally, regionally and nationally for more than 20 years. She is passionate about improving the well-being and mental health of individuals and communities to achieve their ambitions and reach their full potential. She has extensive experience of developing and managing a wide range of public mental health and wellbeing programmes and projects to deliver better outcomes and improve services. She currently works in Sandwell Public Health as Wellbeing Project manager.

Taking a Marmot City Approach to reducing Health Inequalities Workshop

Georgia Faherty

Georgia Faherty is a Programme Manager working in Public Health at City Council and leads Coventry’s Marmot City programme to reduce health inequalities. The programme has received national recognition from Professor Sir Michael Marmot and his team at the Institute of Health Equity, as well as from Public Health England and recently won the 2016 LGC award for Public Health.

Planning, Housing and Wider Determinants of Health

Richard White

Richard is the Wider Determinants Specialist in Public Health at City Council. He works to ensure a whole systems approach across the wider determinants of health with a focus on programmes that cut across planning, education, employment, housing, transport, financial security, living and working conditions as well as the environment. He leads on improving health and reducing inequalities through the development, implementation and monitoring of partnership public health approaches to deliver a reduction in health inequality and an improvement in population-level health in the City.

Prior to his role at Wolverhampton, Richard worked in both Planning and Public Health contexts at Sandwell MBC for 9 years, taking a strategic lead for healthy planning in Sandwell, as well as designing and managing interventions to address the wider determinants of health, particularly from planning, transportation and urban design.

Angela Hands

Angela works for Coventry University and has a specialism in teaching and researching the links between public health and the built environment. She is an expert advisor to both Local Government and Public Health England.

Prior to her role at Coventry University, Angela worked in Planning and Public Health roles for 7 years at Coventry City Council, taking a lead on built environment, active travel and transport matters.