Staff Profile

Natalie is a National Institute of Health Research ARC NENC Fellow in the Population Health Sciences Institute at Newcastle, working on a range of projects related to inequalities in health. She is a social epidemiologist with a background in human geography and a keen interest in the role of place and geography on health outcomes and inequalities. She has expertise in health inequalities, the social determinants of health, contextual effects research, mental health and ethnic inequalities in health.

She completed her NIHR SPHR funded PhD at the University of Sheffield in which she studied the role of neighbourhood social characteristics on ethnic inequalities in mental health using advanced quantitative methods. She has extensive experience of the use of the UK panel study Understanding Society.

Natalie is a member of the ECR Subcommittee for the Society for Social Medicine and Population Health. You can read a blog post on the SSM ECR page on her background and interests here.

Natalie is currently involved in several projects investigating health inequalities.

In March 2023 Natalie secured funding as PI with an interdisciplinary team across the university, public sector and VCSEs, for a mixed methods study to research the cost of childcare in the North East in relation to the persistent challenge of economic inactivity faced by the North East. The aim of the project is to co-create a set of recommendations for childcare provision in the North East.

Along with co-investigator Sam Khavandi at Manchester University, Natalie recently won funding to investigate the mental health impacts of 'fuel poverty' (more information can be found here).

Natalie is currently collaborating on a Health Foundation funded project on geographical inequalities in Covid-19 vaccination and mortality. She is also working with colleagues at CHAIN - Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research Norway on a global systematic review of educational inequalities in cause-specific mortality. Natalie is also involved in a Wellcome Trust funded project on 'low-carbon and healthy places' with interdisciplinary colleagues from across the university.

At postgraduate level, Natalie has designed and delivered material for the Master of Public Health programme. Natalie also supervises students on undergraduate, MSc and PhD programmes.

Natalie holds Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) status in recognition of her professional practice in supporting teaching and learning in Higher Education.

• Authored Book

  • Bambra C, Munford L, Bennett N, Khavandi S. Northern Exposure: COVID-19 and Regional Inequalities in Health and Wealth. Bristol: Policy Press, 2023. In Press.