Michelle Black
BSc, MSc, MPH, MFPH, FRSPH, FHEA
School of Health and Related Research
Research Fellow in Public Health
+44 114 222 0851
Full contact details
School of Health and Related Research
Room 2037, 2nd Floor
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA
- Profile
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I qualified in Pharmacy in 1997 and have worked as a pharmacist for 17 years. This was largely in primary care medicines management in the NHS but also in community and secondary care and some time in the private sector. During this time, I undertook a masters in prescribing management in primary care.
In 2015 I joined the Public Health Specialty Registrar Training Programme in Yorkshire and the Humber. As part of this programme I undertook a Masters in Public Health at the University of Sheffield, which I completed in 2016. I became a Member of the Faculty of Public Health in 2017.
In 2018-19, as a Public Health Registrar at ScHARR, I undertook research in international and domestic projects. I most recently project managed, and led analysis, of a research study into health risks in informal waste workers in Nepal and also worked on a project which explored public health policy and systems since political devolution in the UK, with a particular focus on child health policy.
Currently, I am a research fellow in public health, undertaking a National Institute for Health Research Doctoral Research Fellowship (NIHR DRF) from April 2020 to April 2023.
Following this fellowship I will complete my final year of Public Health Speciality Training.
- Research interests
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I am particularly interested in the mechanisms between early childhood development (‘school readiness’) and health. My research focuses on understanding how and when to intervene (on these mechanisms) in later child life course (primary school age) to improve health and reduce inequality in key outcomes of weight and mental health in early adolescence. My research involves a unique mix of epidemiological methods and knowledge mobilisation to produce actionable evidence to identify policy questions and inform policy to reduce child health inequality.
Current Projects
- NIHR DRF: A study of the relationship between inequalities in early child development and subsequent health outcomes in early adolescence to inform policies and interventions to improve health and reduce health inequalities.
Recent Projects
- Four Nations Study: Comparative systems review and thematic policy analysis of public health across the four constituent countries of the UK - all reports and infographics are available here
- Towards enhanced waste workers health in the Kathmandu Valley - a video describing the work is available here
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- ‘Levelling up’ in the UK must involve a reduction in inequalities in children’s life chances. Public Health in Practice.
- Relationships between child development at school entry and adolescent health - a participatory systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21). View this article in WRRO
- Impact of child development at primary school entry on adolescent health-protocol for a participatory systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Vaccination against COVID-19 and inequalities – avoiding making a bad situation worse. Public Health in Practice. View this article in WRRO
- Going upstream – an umbrella review of the macroeconomic determinants of health and health inequalities. BMC Public Health, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Learning across the UK: A review of public health systems and policy approaches to early child development since political devolution. Journal of Public Health. View this article in WRRO
- The health risks of informal waste workers in the Kathmandu Valley: a cross-sectional survey. Public Health, 166, 10-18. View this article in WRRO
- Increasing inequality in childhood obesity in primary schools in a northern English town. Public Health, 158, 9-14. View this article in WRRO
Conference proceedings papers
- Longitudinal analysis of cognitive development across childhood and adolescence: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. The Lancet, Vol. 400(Supplement 1) (pp S23-S23). Glasgow, UK, 25 November 2022 - 25 November 2022.
- Understanding public health systems through a participatory systematic review and systems infographic. The Lancet, Vol. 394(supplement 2) (pp S22-S22). London, UK, 29 November 2019 - 29 November 2019. View this article in WRRO
Reports
- View this article in WRRO
- Four Nations Study: A comparative systems review and thematic policy analysis of public health across the four constituent countries of the UK
Posters
All publications
Journal articles
- Health inequality: time to get smart about our language. Public Health in Practice.
- Mental health risks among informal waste workers in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 59. View this article in WRRO
- ‘Levelling up’ in the UK must involve a reduction in inequalities in children’s life chances. Public Health in Practice.
- National or population level interventions addressing the social determinants of mental health – an umbrella review. BMC Public Health, 21(1).
- Relationships between child development at school entry and adolescent health - a participatory systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21). View this article in WRRO
- A Scoping Review of the Experience of Implementing Population Testing for SARS-CoV-2. Public Health.
- Impact of child development at primary school entry on adolescent health-protocol for a participatory systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Vaccination against COVID-19 and inequalities – avoiding making a bad situation worse. Public Health in Practice. View this article in WRRO
- Going upstream – an umbrella review of the macroeconomic determinants of health and health inequalities. BMC Public Health, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Learning across the UK: A review of public health systems and policy approaches to early child development since political devolution. Journal of Public Health. View this article in WRRO
- The health risks of informal waste workers in the Kathmandu Valley: a cross-sectional survey. Public Health, 166, 10-18. View this article in WRRO
- Re: Letter to the Editor of Public Health in response to ‘Increasing inequality in childhood obesity in primary schools in a northern English town’. Public Health, 165, 154-154.
- Increasing inequality in childhood obesity in primary schools in a northern English town. Public Health, 158, 9-14. View this article in WRRO
Conference proceedings papers
- Longitudinal analysis of cognitive development across childhood and adolescence: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. The Lancet, Vol. 400(Supplement 1) (pp S23-S23). Glasgow, UK, 25 November 2022 - 25 November 2022.
- Understanding public health systems through a participatory systematic review and systems infographic. The Lancet, Vol. 394(supplement 2) (pp S22-S22). London, UK, 29 November 2019 - 29 November 2019. View this article in WRRO
Reports
- View this article in WRRO
- Four Nations Study: A comparative systems review and thematic policy analysis of public health across the four constituent countries of the UK
Posters
Presentations
Preprints
- ‘Levelling up’ in the UK must involve a reduction in inequalities in children’s life chances. Public Health in Practice.
- Grants
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NIHR DRF (300689): A study of the relationship between inequalities in early child development and subsequent health outcomes in early adolescence to inform policies and interventions to improve health and reduce health inequalities.
- Role: PI
- £390,174; April 2020-2023
Médecins du Monde funded research collaboration with PHASE Nepal "Towards enhanced waste worker's health and safe waste management in the Kathmandu Valley"
- Role: Co-I (PI: Andrew Lee)
- £10,000; September 2017 - 2019
Health Foundation (UK); Comparative systems review and thematic policy analysis of public health across the four constituent countries of the UK - completed
- Role: Co-I (PI: Amy Barnes)
- £79,986; 2017
- Teaching interests
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My teaching interests lie in epidemiology, health inequalities and policy and systems as applied to practical/service related public health.
I teach on the MPH (Health Needs Assessment, Management and Leadership and Knowledge Mobilisation) and I'm also a public health tutor on the undergraduate medical MBChB degree.
- Teaching activities
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My teaching interests lie in epidemiology, health inequalities and policy and systems as applied to practical/service related public health.
I teach on the MPH (Health Needs Assessment and Dissertation modules) and I'm also a public health tutor on the undergraduate medical MBChB degree.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of the Faculty of Public Health
- Pharmacist registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC No: 2048604)
- Senior Associate Editor of the journal Public Health in Practice, a journal of the Royal Society of Public Health
- Honorary registrar at the UK Health Security Agency, part of the on-call rota for the Yorkshire and Humber Health Protection team.