Executive committee
Centre director
Professor Gary Macfarlane
Chair in Epidemiology / Director, MRC/Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work (CMHW)
University of Aberdeen
Honorary Consultant (Public Health)
NHS Grampian
Professor Macfarlane has been Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Aberdeen since 2005, having previously held the same post at the University of Manchester. He trained in Statistics/Computing Science and Medicine at the University of Glasgow, and completed his PhD at the University of Bristol. He has led a programme of musculoskeletal and pain research spanning epidemiology, clinical trials, disease registers, and health services research, and is Deputy Clinical Lead for Pain at NHS Research Scotland. He is a Chartered Statistician of the Royal Statistical Society, a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine.
Deputy centre director /
Research area lead 4: Preventing ill-health at work
Professor Rosalind Searle
Chair in Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology, Adam Smith Business School
University of Glasgow
Rosalind Searle is Professor of human resource management and organisational psychology at the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on organisational trust, HRM processes, and the psychology of employee behaviour and wellbeing. She is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Royal Society of Arts, and the CIPD. She directs the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology’s Impact Incubator, and is a member of Project GLOW, a 26-country initiative on living wages and decent work. Her work has appeared in leading journals and she has co-edited major volumes on trust in organisations.
Research area lead 1: The changing nature of work
Professor Gerard McCartney
Chair in Wellbeing Economy, School of Social and Political Sciences
University of Glasgow
Professor McCartney graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow and holds an honours degree in Economics and Development from the University of London. He undertook public health training across NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and produced the first synthesis of the causes of excess mortality in Scotland and Glasgow. He served as Head of the Scottish Public Health Observatory from 2010, before taking up his current professorial post in September 2021.
Research area lead 2: Healthy working lives throughout the lifecourse
Professor Wendy Loretto
Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Head of School, Adam Smith Business School
University of Glasgow
Professor Loretto has thirty years of experience teaching, researching, and leading in higher education. She holds a PhD in social psychology from the University of Edinburgh, where she served as Dean of the Business School from 2016 to 2024. Her research addresses healthy ageing at work and labour market challenges arising from demographic change, with funding from UK Government, industry, charity, and EU sources. She is Chair of AMBA & BGA (one of three global business school accreditation bodies) and sits on the boards of the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and the Society for Advancement of Management Studies.
Research area lead 3: Support for workers with long-term conditions
Dr Rosemary Hollick
Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology
University of Aberdeen
Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist
NHS Grampian
Dr Hollick leads an innovative programme of applied mixed-methods health services research focused on improving care for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions, with a particular emphasis on rural communities and geographical inequalities. Her interdisciplinary work combines routine health data, epidemiology, and qualitative methods, with patient and public involvement at its core. She and her patient partners won the Health Services Research UK 2022 Innovation Award for their approach to patient involvement.
Centre members
Professor Keith Bender
Jaffrey Chair of Political Economy
University of Aberdeen
Professor Bender is an applied economist whose research examines the interactions between work and health. Using large-scale survey data and experimental methods, he focuses particularly on how income insecurity and performance-related pay impact physical and psychological well-being.
Rebecca Canham (CPsychol)
Principal Scientist and Team Lead
Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM)
Ms Canham has seventeen years' experience in occupational and public health research, specialising in qualitative and co-design methods. Her work has included desktop and field studies into research topics including workforce wellbeing, transmission of the COVID-19 virus, management of work-related stress and occupational contaminant exposure. She has conducted qualitative ‘deep dives’ into individuals lived experiences using semi-structured interviews, site-based discussions with workers and a ‘live scribe’; and compared stakeholder perspectives using online surveys, focus groups and workshops.
Linda Engles (CPsychol)
Lecturer in Organisational Psychology
University of Aberdeen
Ms Engles’ area of expertise spans across academia and applied practice, particularly designing and delivering psychologically informed interventions to improve workplace performance and effectiveness across organisations and sectors. Her current area of research expertise relates to the impact of menopause symptoms on women's ability to work and remain in the workplace, specialising in qualitative research methods.
Professor Patricia Findlay
Distinguished Professor of Work and Employment Relations, Business School / Director Scottish Centre for Employment Research (SCER)
University of Strathclyde
Tricia’s research, publications and grants span job quality, innovation and workplace governance, and their links to societal challenges such as improving wellbeing, tackling inequality and addressing sustainable productivity. She has led research on health and social care occupations, workplace partnerships and work engagement in healthcare, equality and diversity in healthcare, and is currently researching job crafting to attract and retain workers with disabilities and long-term health conditions. She builds research impact through working closely with industry and policy stakeholders, including advising Scottish Ministers on fair work in her role as Co-Chair of Scotland's Fair Work Convention, and a range of policy-influencing roles and appointments.
Dr Brendan Gabriel
Advanced Research Fellow
University of Aberdeen
Brendan Gabriel’s research focuses on skeletal muscle in health and disease, including obesity, ageing, and Type 2 diabetes, with a growing interest in shift work and workplace health. His work integrates physical activity and chronobiology, exploring how circadian disruption in occupational settings influences metabolic health. His research examines physical activity as both a treatment and preventative strategy, with increasing focus on workplace settings. This includes understanding how exercise timing can be optimised for shift workers to improve metabolic outcomes, support physical function, and reduce risk of frailty across the lifespan.
Professor Gareth Jones
Professor in Epidemiology
University of Aberdeen
Professor Jones is a non-clinical epidemiologist with expertise in epidemiological study design and analysis. His research focuses on the aetiology, management, and occupational outcomes of pain and arthritis.
Dr Daniel Kopasker
Research Fellow (Health Economics & Health Technology Assessment)
University of Glasgow
Dr Kopasker is an interdisciplinary health economist whose work focuses on the intersection of health and labour market outcomes. His research investigates how employment relationships become a social determinant of health over the lifecourse, with a particular focus on mental health, ultimately aiming to identify and evaluate strategies to protect the mental health of employees, improve labour productivity, and reduce inequalities in health.
Professor Drushca Lalloo
Honorary Professor in Occupational Medicine & Deputy Head of the Healthy Working Lives Group
University of Glasgow
Medical Director
Sky
Professor Lalloo is a Consultant Physician in Occupational Medicine who joined the Healthy Working Lives Group at the University of Glasgow in 2013. She holds Fellowships from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in both London and Ireland, and is currently a PhD candidate researching the health and health behaviours of IT workers using UK Biobank data. She is Co-Chair of the Scottish Occupational Health Action Group and has held a number of advisory roles, including to the Scottish Government and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland.
Professor Colin Lindsay
Professor of Work and Employment Studies, Strathclyde Business School
University of Strathclyde
Professor Lindsay has researched and published extensively on the barriers to work faced by people managing health conditions and/or disabilities. He has published numerous articles and chapters assessing the impact of employment policies and services designed to support people experiencing health problems back to work. He has conducted research for major funders including the ESRC and NIHR on how workplace practices can promote employee wellbeing.
Cassandra Lippert
Postgraduate Researcher
University of Glasgow
Ms Lippert is a PhD researcher in Management (Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour) whose work examines the lived experiences of skilled migrant workers in precarious employment. Her doctoral study focuses on the impact of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda on Filipino nurses working in the UK healthcare sector. She is particularly interested in how organisational policies and practices shape the quality of work and life, and how these dynamics affect health equity.
Professor Ewan MacDonald
Honorary Professor of Occupational Medicine / Head of Healthy Working Lives Group
University of Glasgow
Professor MacDonald has extensive experience in the field of leadership and management in Occupational health and safety. His research focusses on occupational disease and ill health at work, and their control. Professor MacDonald is Head of the Healthy Working Lives Group at University of Glasgow, and also has considerable experience liaising with politicians and policy makers to influence Government policy based on his research experience.
Professor Joanna McParland
Professor in Health Psychology
Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor McParland has extensive research expertise within the field of chronic pain, particularly in relation to the consideration of social psychological factors in the experience of pain and examining interventions to improve work outcomes among people with chronic pain. She has methodological expertise in relation to qualitative methods, including focus groups methods and has systematic review experience and expertise.
Dr LaKrista Morton
Research Fellow
University of Aberdeen
Dr Morton is an applied health scientist with a background in psychology and epidemiology. She works across an interdisciplinary programme of health services research exploring how services for people with musculoskeletal conditions are organised and delivered in routine practice. Across this portfolio of research, she leads on the delivery of mixed-methods studies, integrating qualitative and quantitative findings to address key themes including health inequalities and work participation.
Dr Will Mueller
Senior Scientist
Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM)
Dr Mueller is a chartered statistician with over 10 years’ experience with analyses representing diverse research areas, including epidemiological analysis of cohort and surveillance datasets, integration of exposure monitoring data with health records, and quantitative health impact assessment to evaluate the potential effects of different policy options. Will currently leads the development and quantitative analysis of a range of occupational and environmental health studies undertaken at the IOM.
Professor Gözde Ozakinci
Professor in Psychology
University of Stirling
Professor Ozakinci is a health psychologist whose research spans the management of long-term conditions, community-based health promotion, and pro-environmental behaviour change. Her work on cancer survivorship focuses particularly on fear of recurrence, developing assessment tools and support programmes for survivors and caregivers. Her health promotion research examines community jogging programmes and social prescribing, whilst her work on behaviour change explores the intersection of health and environmental behaviours. She is currently President-Elect of the European Health Psychology Society.
Dr Paul Quigley
Lecturer in Human Resource Management & Organisational Behaviour
University of Glasgow
Dr Quigley's research spans fair work, learning and development, trade unions and industrial relations, and the intersections of masculinity and mental health in the labour market. He has contributed to interdisciplinary work on Scotland’s ferry industry and has collaborated extensively with trade unions and skills bodies. His research interests span fair work, learning and development, trade unions and industrial relations, as well as the intersections of masculinity and mental health in the labour market.
Dr Gemma Ryde
Senior Lecturer in Lifestyle and Metabolic Health
University of Glasgow
Dr Ryde’s research specialises in creating health enhancing workplaces with a specific focus on health promotion strategies and health in productive time. She is also interested in research involving the measurement of mental health, stress, and productivity in relation to work and health, including associated lifestyle factors, and investigating the delivery of lifestyle interventions in the workplace.
Dr Sergio Vargas-Prada Figueroa
Consultant Physician in Occupational Medicine / Honorary Senior Research Fellow
University of Glasgow
Dr Vargas-Prada is a Consultant Physician in Occupational Medicine, qualified at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where he also completed his PhD in Biomedicine. He currently works at Salus, NHS Lanarkshire, and serves as Honorary Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Healthy Working Lives Group at the University of Glasgow.
Dr Simon Harold Walker
Senior Research Associate / Senior Research Lead, Healthy Working Lives Group
University of Glasgow
Dr Walker specialises in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of occupational health, mental health, and historical analysis, focusing on improving workplace well-being and understanding suicidality. His methodological expertise encompasses qualitative research, a mixed methods approach, and integrating historical and sociological perspectives to inform contemporary policy and practice. He translates complex research findings into actionable strategies for healthcare, government, and industry stakeholders.
Dr David Walsh
Senior Lecturer in Health Inequalities
University of Glasgow
Dr Walsh has over 30 years' experience in health and public health research, with health inequalities and their determinants as the central focus of his work. His recent research focus includes understanding the impacts of UK Government austerity policies on health inequalities in the UK, causes of excess’ mortality in Scotland and Glasgow, adverse early years environments, ethnicity and health inequalities in Scotland and the UK, and health inequalities across post-industrial European regions.
Professor Adam Whitworth
Professor of Employment Policy, Scottish Centre for Employment Research (SCER)
University of Strathclyde
Professor Whitworth is an internationally recognised expert in work and health, with expertise in the design and evaluation of employment support policies and work-health system change and integration at national, regional and local levels. His work combines research expertise with significant policy networks and experience including with DWP, Mayoral areas, Scottish Government, health partners, and a range of local authority and provider partners. He was central to the design of Connect to Work and its predecessor Health-Led Trial, and is a key academic advisor to Scottish Government's Specialist Employability Support programme. Current projects include the world's largest ever trial of job crafting for workers with disabilities and health conditions, new expert insights into IPS & SEQF Supported Employment beyond severe mental health, and service evaluations of employability interventions for regional commissioners.
Professor Alexandros Zangelidis
Professor of Economics, Business School
University of Aberdeen
Professor Zangelidis is an empirical labour and health economist with extensive expertise in quantitative methods, applying statistical and econometric techniques to analyse large and complex datasets. His research has focused on issues related to well-being, socio-economic health inequalities, and the evaluation of healthcare policies, with recent work exploring the labour market implications of chronic health conditions, such as thyroid dysfunctions. Professor Zangelidis’ research has had policy impact, leading to invitations to join advisory expert groups and provide testimony to the Scottish Parliament and Government.