We will improve UKHSA's  efficiency in responding to emergencies by: developing techniques to measure how the public are reacting to an unfolding emergency; pre-preparing evidence-based answers to the urgent behavioural science questions that are asked in a crisis; and testing interventions to help reduce the risk of people developing side-effects from important, protective medicines. Much of our work builds on expertise in using rapid turn around surveys to understand population responses to public health crises, something we have previous used to good effect during the coronavirus outbreak, Novichok incident, and multiple other public health crises, disasters and terrorist attacks. 

Lead researchers