Meet the team

Understanding Society is a complex and important study requiring significant investment and expertise, clear scientific leadership and effective operational management.

Scientific Leadership Team

The Scientific Leadership Team is lead by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, with additional expertise provided by colleagues at the London School of Economics and the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester.

Dr Tarek Al Baghal

Research Fellow. Topic Champion - Technology

Professor Michaela Benzeval

Director, Understanding Society

Professor Mike Brewer

Topic Champion - Living standards and Inequality

Dr Jon Burton

Associate Director, Surveys

Professor Andrew Charlwood

Topic Champion - Employment

Dr Kiron Chatterjee

Topic Champion - Transport

Professor Paul Clarke

Professor of Social Statistics. Topic Champion - Statistical Methods

Dr Rory Coulter

Topic Champion - Housing

Professor Thomas Crossley

Associate Director, Science. Topic Champion - Consumption and Expenditure

Dr Paul Fisher

Research Fellow. Topic Champion - Income

Professor Susan Harkness

Topic Champion - Social Policy

Professor Annette Jäckle

Professor of Survey Methodology, Associate Director, Innovations. Topic Champion - Survey Innovations

Dr Gundi Knies

Research Fellow. Topic Champion - Neighbourhoods

Professor Meena Kumari

Professor of Biological and Social Epidemiology. Topic Champion - Health, Biomarkers and Genetics

Professor Peter Lynn

Professor of Survey Methodology. Topic Champion - Environmental Behaviour and Survey Methods

Dr Nicole Martin

Topic Champion - Politics and Social Attitudes

Dr Alita Nandi

Associate Director, Research Fellow and Training and User Support Lead

Raj Patel

Impact Fellow

John Payne

Associate Director, Data

Dr Brienna Perelli-Harris

Topic Champion - Family

Professor Lucinda Platt

Professor of Social Policy and Sociology, LSE. Topic Champion - Ethnicity and Social Inclusion

Professor Stephen Pudney

Visiting Professor. Topic Champion - Ageing and Social Policy

Dr Birgitta Rabe

Senior Research Fellow. Topic Champion - Education

Professor Ingrid Schoon

Topic Champion - Youth

Understanding Society Team

Dr Tarek Al-Baghal	Research Fellow	Profile page
Geoff Angel	Systems Developer/Team Leader	Profile page
Stephanie Auty	User Support and Training Officer	Profile page
Dr Yanchun Bao	Research Fellow	Profile page
Dr Magda Borkowska	Senior Research Officer	Profile page
Chris Coates	Senior Web and Communications Officer	Profile page
Emily Dix	Survey Officer	Profile page
Glenn Dunn	Survey Data Manager	Profile page
Dr Paul Fisher	Research Fellow	Profile page
Dr Laura Fumagalli	Senior Research Officer	Profile page
Kelly Goodyear	Participant Liaison Officer	Profile page
Dr Karon Gush	Senior Research and Content Development Officer	Profile page
Jane Ismail	Library and Information Officer	Profile page
Jay James	Project Assistant and Event Support, and PA to the Director of Understanding Society	Profile page
Nicole James	Survey Data Officer	Profile page
Graham Jolliffe	Research Data Manager	Profile page
Dr Olena Kaminska	Survey Statistician	Profile page
Jennifer Kelly	ISER PhD Student	Profile page
Dr Gundi Knies	Research Fellow	Profile page
Katya Kostadintcheva	Survey Officer	Profile page
Colette Lo	Clerical Assistant (Survey)	Profile page
Louise Miles	Senior Web and Communications Officer	Profile page
Dr Alita Nandi	Research Fellow and Training and User Support Lead	Profile page
Jonathan Nears	Web Developer	Profile page
Dr Victoria Nolan	Longitudinal Studies Project Manager	Profile page
Sarah Parbury	Survey Officer	Profile page
Rebecca Parsons	Communications Manager	Profile page
Dr Violetta Parutis	Senior Survey and Instrument Development Officer	Profile page
Annette Pasotti	Outreach and Engagement Officer	Profile page
Raj Patel	Impact Fellow	Profile page
Alina Pelikh	Senior Research Officer (Policy Unit)	Profile page
Elaine Prentice-Lane	Software Applications Developer	Profile page
Amy Sheridan	Senior Web and Communications Officer	Profile page
Dr Melissa Smart	Research Fellow, Health Research Manager	Profile page
Robert Smith	Survey Data Officer	Profile page
Catherine Yuen	Survey Applications Manager	Profile page

Scientific Advisory Committee

Professor James Banks	University of Manchester and Institute for Fiscal Studies
Professor Michaela Benzeval	ISER, University of Essex	Profile page
Professor Ann Berrington	University of Southampton
Professor Andrew Chesher	Institute for Fiscal Studies
Professor Thomas Crossley	University of Essex - Department of Economics	Profile page
Professor Edward Fieldhouse	University of Manchester
Professor Alissa Goodman	Institute of Education
Professor Kelvyn Jones	University of Bristol
Dr Omar Khan	Runnymede Trust
Associate Professor Paul Smith	University of Southampton
Professor Tracey Warren	University of Nottingham
Professor Tak Wing Chan	University College London

Specialist Advisory Committees

There are a number of Specialist Advisory Committees which provide expert advice on content and data collection methods specific to their specialist domains.

Methodological Advisory Committee

The Methodological Advisory Committee provides the Understanding Society Scientific Leadership Team with advice about all matters regarding methodology and technology.

It is a mechanism for generating regular input from the operational and survey methodological community, particularly into future scientific plans for the Innovation Panel and the agenda for innovation and experimentation in Understanding Society.

Professor Nick Allum	University of Essex
Professor Silvia Biffignandi	University of Bergamo (It)
Dr Jon Burton	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Dr Lisa Calderwood	University College London - Institute of Education
Mario Callegaro	Google
Professor Gabriele B. Durrant	University of Southampton
Dr Annette Jäckle	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Dr Jouni Kuha	London School of Economics
Gerry Nicolaas	Ipsos-MORI
Dr Peter Lugtig	Utrecht University
Dr Joseph Sakshaug	University of Manchester
Associate Professor Paul Smith	University of Southampton
Professor Peter Lynn	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page

Ethnicity Strand Advisory Committee

The Ethnicity Strand Advisory Committee shapes the ethnicity strand of Understanding Society to ensure it meets the needs of the research and user communities concerned with questions of ethnicity, within the constraints of competing demands for questionnaire space.

The work of this committee ranges from helping the ethnicity team engage users and potential users in consultation over questionnaire content to discussing changing research priorities and the dissemination of results.

Dr Omar Khan (Chair)	Runnymede Trust
Dr Madhavi Bajekal	University College London
Tom Bucke	Home Office
Professor Simon Burgess	University of Bristol
Dr. Jon Burton	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Helen Connolly	Low Pay Commission
Nick Johnson	BERA
Dr Saffron Karlsen	University of Bristol
Sarah Morgan	Cabinet Office
Dr Alita Nandi	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Raj Patel	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Professor Ann Phoenix	The Institute of Education
Professor Lucinda Platt	London School of Economics	Profile page
Angela Potter-Collins	Office for National Statistics
Giovanni Razzu	Reading University
Simon Sarkar	Financial Services Authority
Paul Trennell	Department for Work & Pensions (DWP)
Dr Ayse Uskul	Kent University

Health and Biomarker Advisory Committee

The responsibility of this committee is to contribute to the development of the health and biomarker strand of Understanding Society by ensuring that it meets the needs of the research and user communities. This committee aims to identify optimal measures of physical and mental health and biomarkers, for collection within time constraints for respondents to complete the questionnaire. The committee provides advice and support regarding ethical issues in biomarker and health indicator data collection and engaging users in consultation about questionnaire content.

Professor Michaela Benzeval	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Professor Carol Brayne	University of Cambridge
Professor Andrew Jones	University of York
Professor Bernard Keavney	University of Manchester
Professor Meena Kumari	Institute for Social and Economic Research	Profile page
Professor Glyn Lewis	University College London
Professor Stephen Stansfeld	Queen Mary University of London
Professor Dieter Wolke	University of Warwick
Dr Eleftheria Zeggini	Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute