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Staff Profile

Dr Michele Castelli

Senior Lecturer in Health Policy and Systems

  • Email: michele.castelli@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44(0)191 208 2273
  • Address: Population Health Sciences Institute
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Newcastle University
    5th Floor, Ridley Building 1
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

I am a health policy and systems researcher with a background in political science and social science and PhD in Health Policy and Management, with a particular expertise on comparative health systems analysis, health policy analysis, health services evaluation and global health.

I have been involved in several research projects and have worked with different partners, including the Italian and English National Health Service, local governments, international organisations and academic institutions in both developed and developing countries. I’m a member of several international health policy networks.

I have experience in developing policy analysis and conducting mixed method research (mostly qualitative), and I’m particularly interested in the intersection between health policy, socio/political determinants of health, health systems, and global health phenomena.

Roles and Responsibilities

I am Senior Lecturer in Health Policy and Systems.

I am a member of the Social Determinants and Health Inequalities research team. I am Degree Programme Director for the Public Health, Health Services Research and Global Public Health postgraduate programmes of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and Module Leader of the ‘Introduction to Health Policy and Systems’ and 'Health Care Quality' modules within these programmes

Qualifications

Doctorate in Healthcare Policy and Management, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy, 2009
Master Degree in Health Statistics, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy, 2006
BA (Hons) Political Science, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy, 2004
Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, Durham University, 2014

Previous academic positions

2012 - 2017 Lecturer International Health Policy and Systems – Durham University
2009 – 2012 Post Doc in Healthcare Management and Policy – CRISP (Interuniversity research centre on public services), University of Milan Bicocca

Memberships

  • European Health Policy Group
  • Health Policy and Politics Network
  • Strategic advisory team of the “Teaching and Learning Health Policy and Systems Research” group within the Health Systems Global Association
  • European Young Forum Gastein
Research

My research is aimed at studying and analysing the impact of socio/political and health systems factors on the improvement of the health and wellbeing of the population, the improvement of universal access to health services and the way in which both developed and developing countries try to face global challenges (like the ageing of the population, the patient centred delivery of health services and the impact of austerity measures on resources allocation in healthcare).

I’m available to supervise students in any areas of my research activity and expertise.

Areas of expertise

  • Healthcare systems analysis and comparison
  • Health policy and systems research
  • Analysis of healthcare policy reforms
  • Performance evaluation and quality improvement in healthcare
  • Global health policies (like universal access to healthcare and priority setting in healthcare)
  • Health policy analysis
  • Health services research evaluation

Research funding

Recently completed funded projects:

  • 2017 Joint Health Systems Research Initiative Wellcome Trust and UK research Councils -Developing an evidence base to support and strengthen community health workers utilization of mobile phones in Ghana, Malawi and Ethiopia (Co-I - £190,000) 
  • 2016 Wellcome Trust – “Trust, risk and uncertainty in medicinal transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Integrating Behavioural Game Theory and Ethnography to develop a robust analytical framework to address a major global public health challenge” (Co-I - £49,954)
  • 2016 Durham University  Seedcorn - Age-based rationing: Research design workshop for comparative study of health systems – (Co-I - £12,931)
  • 2015 NHS R&D - Integrated Clinical Care: Putting Patients at the Centre

Current funded project:

  • 2019 Joint Health Systems Research Initiative Wellcome Trust and UK research Councils - Strengthening private-sector medicine systems to tackle the persistence of poor-quality medicines in Africa: a proof of concept study (Co-I - £200,000)
  • 2019 Save the Children - Research on factors influencing community health workers effectiveness (Co-I - £67,000)



 

Teaching

I’m Degree Programme Director and Chair of the Board of Studies within the Graduate School for the Public Health, Health Services Research and Global Public Health Postgraduate Programmes of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and module leader of the 'Introduction to Health Policy and Systems' and 'Health Care Quality' modules within these programmes. 

I also contribute to teaching and assessment within other Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses (like ‘Global Health’ and ‘ Health and illness: societal perspectives’).

I'm currently External Examiner for the ‘Global Health iBSc’ at University College London (UCL)

I have teaching experience in areas like international health policy and systems, global health, public health, health services evaluation and health services delivery, public policy, health management, and social policy.


 

Publications