Meet the Team

Nick Cavill

Nick Cavill is an independent health promotion consultant based in Manchester. He is a research associate of the University of Oxford British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group, and an honorary senior research fellow at the University of Salford. Nick is a specialist advisor to NOO. His expertise lies in the development of policy and programmes on physical activity, sport and sustainable transport. Nick is the public health advisor to Cycling England, and was a member of the World Cancer Research Fund policy panel for their recent report on diet, nutrition and physical activity. He has recently published a review of economic appraisals of walking and cycling for the World Health Organization, and a report on the links between the built environment and health for the National Heart Forum’s “Building Health” project. He has worked at the Departments of both Health and Transport, and was formerly at the Health Education Authority, where he was head of the physical activity programme from 1994 – 2000.

Serge Chrisopoulos

Sergio Chrisopoulos is a senior public health information analyst based in Oxford. He shares his time between his role as an analyst with the South East Public Health Observatory and NOO. He took up his role with NOO in March 2010 and is involved in various NOO projects including data briefings on obesity and its determinants. He previously worked as a senior information analyst at the Royal Berkshire Trust, responsible for reporting Health Care Associated Infection performance; a Research Associate at the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health leading on profiling the dental labour force in Australia; and a senior data analyst with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare where he was responsible for profiling the Medical and Nursing labour forces in Australia.

Monica Dent

Monica Dent is a public health consultant based in Oxford. She is a member of the NOO senior management team and leads its programme of work on evaluation which includes implementation of the Standard Evaluation Framework for weight management interventions, and the development of guidance for evaluation of population level interventions. Monica has more than 10 years of experience working in senior public health roles within the NHS - including a joint appointment as Director of Public Health across a PCT and a Local Authority. These roles have included the development and implementation of health improvement programmes to meet the needs of the local population, including the prevention and management of obesity.

Hywell Dinsdale

Hywell Dinsdale is a freelance analyst based in Manchester. Hywell performs a wide range of analyses for NOO on a variety of datasets, with a particular focus on the National Child Measurement Programme. Hywell has worked in education and health as an analyst for ten years including roles for both the (then) Department for Education and Employment, and the Department of Health. As a Research Fellow at the University of East London he led studies evaluating health-related urban regeneration programmes and he spent three years working in a PCT for the West Sussex Public Health Observatory.

Louisa Ells

Louisa Ells is a public health obesity specialist based in Durham. She is Obesity and Physical Activity Lead at the North East Public Health Observatory and a Specialist Advisor to NOO. At NOO Louisa is responsible for writing papers, contributing to ongoing projects, helping to develop future work programmes, managing the website, and regional liaison with other public health observatories and Government Office obesity Leads. She also provides an ad hoc response service for phone and web enquiries. Louisa has a degree in molecular and cellular biology and a PhD in clinical nutrition. She has worked in the field of obesity for the past seven years on both policy and research. Louisa has a keen interest in the obesogenic environment, maternal and child obesity.

Mary Gatineau

Mary is a senior public health researcher based in Oxford. She has been employed by Solutions for Public Health (SPH) for seven years and over this time she has undertaken a variety of projects including health needs assessments, service reviews and in-depth evidence based reviews, as well as longer programmes of work associated with major European research. Mary has a Masters in Applied Social Research and is experienced in qualitative and quantitative work. Her background prior to joining SPH was in the charitable sector and she is particularly interested in International public health and policy development. Mary will be starting her MPH (Global Health) at Manchester University in September.

Maggie Graham

Maggie Graham is an administrator based in Oxford. She is the part-time Team Administrator and PA, a role she shares with Carol Hendry. Together they provide full-time support to the team. Maggie’s main tasks include liaising with partner agencies, co-ordinating meetings, venues and travel arrangements – always a challenge with conflicts in diaries and working patterns - and is the point of contact for all the team members.

Michael Heasman

Michael Heasman is a public health intelligence specialist based in Durham. He is the Development Co-ordinator for Public Health Intelligence North East. Michael is responsible for the development of NOO’s web presence. Michael strives to present NOO’s outputs in the best-possible way and is keen to respond to the demands of stakeholders. Michael trained as an industrial designer – working on wheels for the automotive industry – before moving in to public health. He worked for two years with the European Health Property Network helping to establish - and develop - the European Centre for Healthcare Assets and Architecture. He also produced reports on hospital acquired infections, PPI and PFI.

Carol Hendry

Carol Hendry is an administrator based in Oxford. She is the part-time Team Administrator and PA, a role she shares with Maggie Graham. Together they provide full-time support to the team. Carol’s main tasks include liaising with partner agencies, co-ordinating meetings, venues and travel arrangements – always a challenge with conflicts in diaries and working patterns - and is the point of contact for all the team members. Previously, Carol worked as PA to the Assistant Chief Executive (Strategy) at Oxfordshire County Council with similar responsibilities to her current position.

Shireen Mathrani

Shireen Mathrani is a public health manager based in Oxford. She is the Deputy Director of NOO, a role that she shares with Di Swanston. As Deputy Director she is responsible for the smooth running of the Observatory and its programmes of work, managing the team and ensuring that it achieves its objectives on time and to budget. Shireen is also involved in strategic work such as future planning, and networking with key stakeholders. Previously, she managed the national Health Profiles project at the South East Public Health Observatory and before that she was Assistant Director of Public Health at Bristol South and West PCT. Shireen has a background in health improvement, health promotion, project and people management and has worked in the NHS (nationally and locally), local government and the voluntary and academic sectors. She recently undertook a qualitative research project for the National Social Marketing Centre, published as ‘Sharpening the Spearhead: customer focused public health information to tackle health inequalities’. Shireen is interested in all aspects of obesity and inequalities.

Cathy Mulhall

Cathy Mulhall is a senior public health information analyst based in Oxford. She shares her time equally between her role as an analyst with the South East Public Health Observatory and NOO. She took up this role with NOO in January 2009 where she undertakes detailed data analysis for various NOO projects and produces data briefings on obesity and its determinants. Cathy is interested in statistics and their practical application in public health. She is also interested in making health data more understandable and accessible. Cathy obtained an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in autumn 2007. Following this she worked briefly at the Health Protection Agency before joining the South East Public Health Observatory in March 2008.

Caroline Ridler

Caroline Ridler is a public health data analyst based in Oxford. She is a Senior Public Health Intelligence Analyst within the Health Intelligence team at the South East Public Health Observatory and is the Obesity Lead. She also works on analysis of the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System data. Within NOO, Caroline analyses data from the National Child Measurement Programme, producing national and regional reports and data integration tools. She provides analytical support to the team and responds to information and data requests. Caroline has an interest in geographical information systems, and in developing innovative data visualisation tools. Previously, Caroline worked in analytical roles for a Local Authority working on regeneration and economic development projects, and the Census, and before that a PCT providing local analytical support.

Kath Roberts

Kath Roberts is a senior public health analyst for the East Midlands Public Health Observatory, based in Mansfield. She leads on the delivery of a programme of work for NOO that relates to nutrition and diet. Kath has eight years’ experience in a variety of research and analysis roles within the public sector. Four of these have been at EMPHO where she specialises in data relating to obesity, food and physical activity. Kath has undertaken secondments for the Regional Public Health Group as Food and Health Development Manager and for NOO, leading on the development of the Standard Evaluation Framework for weight management interventions. Kath is currently studying for an MSc in nutrition, physical activity and public health.

Harry Rutter

Harry Rutter is a public health consultant based in Oxford. He is the founder director of NOO, and an honorary senior clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford where he teaches on both climate change and childhood obesity. He is a member of the Department of Health Expert Panel on obesity, and sat on the management group of the Foresight Obesities project. He is a founder member of the steering committee of the European Health Enhancing Physical Activity network; helped lead a recent WHO project on economic evaluation of walking and cycling; and is jointly leading work packages on two EU funded projects on obesity and physical activity. He is a director of the Parliamentary Council on Transport Safety, and sits on the board of transform:MKSM, the Milton Keynes South Midlands Architecture and Built Environment Centre. In addition to his work on obesity he has a broad interest in the relationships between all aspects of transport, sustainability, built environment and health, in particular the health impacts of walking and cycling. He was previously the Head of Health Impact Assessment for the South East regional Public Health Group, and has wide experience of delivering and training on health impact assessment and sustainability appraisal.

Di Swanston

Di Swanston is a public health manager based in Oxford. She is the Deputy Director of NOO, a role that she shares with Shireen Mathrani. As Deputy Director she is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the observatory. She employs her extensive experience of working with marginalized populations and communications expertise, to ensure the effective translation of data and evidence into useable information and effective practice. Di trained and worked as a public health physical activity specialist for many years before managing the national physical activity campaign at the Health Education Authority. She then established and managed other national public health campaigns including cancer prevention programmes at Cancer Research UK. Di joined the public health observatory network in 2005.

Nick Townsend

Nick Townsend is a researcher based in Oxford. He has worked for the University of Oxford British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group since January 2009. This post is funded by NOO where he is involved in the analysis of obesity data focusing on the determinants of obesity, and health behaviours that influence an individual’s weight, such as healthy eating and physical activity. Nick’s interests include health promotion and the determinants of healthy eating and physical activity. Previously, Nick worked at the Cardiff Institute of Society, Health and Ethics at Cardiff University. There, he undertook a PhD funded by the MRC investigating the role of the school in promoting healthy eating by looking at the association between the whole school approach to healthy eating and the dietary choices pupils make. He was also involved in an evaluation of the health promoting school approach within Wales; the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes. Nick has further experience in educational and schools research.