Complex systems science methods in public health research
Speakers:
Bio: Dr Garcia is a Lecturer of Complexity Science and Public Health and co-leads the Complexity, Public and Planetary Health Cluster, at the Queen’s University Belfast. He has experience in the development and application of complex systems science methods in various public health issues, including but not limited to health-related behaviour, determinants of non-communicable diseases, urban health, and health inequalities.
Bio: Ruth Hunter is a Professor in the Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast with a particular interest in complexity science, and public and planetary health. She is co-lead of the Epidemiology and Public Health Research Group at QUB. She has authored over 90 papers and leads research projects totalling over £10m from the UKPRP, MRC, NIHR and ESRC. She is a member of the NIHR Public Health Research funding panel and WHO expert consultant.
Bio: I am a public health clinical lecturer in Queen's University Belfast, a consultant in public health medicine in the Public Health Agency, and Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser in Northern Ireland's Department of Health. My work is at the interface of policy, practice and research. Much of my research is in the realm of public health epidemiology, led by contemporary policy challenges. I am interested in methods that recognise and account for the complexity of the problems that we address.
Many of the most pressing public health issues of our time are complex problems; with multiple factors and actors dynamically interacting and responding to changing contexts. Problems that defy simple solutions. Complex systems science provides a set of mental and technical tools to act on these circumstances. This webinar will introduce key concepts and methods of complex systems science and how they apply to public health research and practice; combining short presentations and a Q&A session with experts in this field.