Who we are?

Antonia joined in November 2021 and is part of the Research and Development team in Impact on Urban Health, working closely with other programmes as well as communications and policy colleagues. In June 2023, she joined the Policy and Influencing team, where she continues to develop on our national and international partnership work. Prior to joining Impact on Urban Health, Antonia was chief executive of Coalition for Efficiency, a small, collaborative charity that supports charity and community leaders to reflect on, measure and manage the impact of their organisation and initiatives. Antonia has close ties with Mexico, where she worked for Semillas, a women’s fund supporting gender justice initiatives.

Daniel is a research director specialising in urban development, corporate decision-making, and bridging academic research to real world impact. He is currently based at the Bristol Medical School and co-leads the TRUUD £10m research consortium. Daniel trained originally in economics, then urban design and planning, before specialising in impact assessment methods for large-scale development. He set up his own consultancy, Daniel Black + Associates | db+a, in 2012. Since then, he has led with academic partners a series of successful research bids covering urban planning; public health; corporate decision-making; climate change; food; energy; water; and waste. Having spent over a decade in practice, learning about processes and detail downstream in a range of urban disciplines, including transport, urban design, building construction and community engagement, Daniel now leads research into decision-making that takes place upstream: governance, partnerships, corporate strategy, and risk management.

Andreas Markides BSc (Hons) MSc CEng AoU FCIHT FICE is experienced in the planning, design and management of major development projects, urban extensions, and town centre regeneration schemes. He has also been involved in the design and supervision of infrastructure works. His specialist traffic expertise includes traffic impact studies for new development proposals, highway design, development of transport strategies, and expert witness at planning inquiries. In October 2016, he set up Markides Associates, which currently employs more than 30 transport planners and engineers. For three years, he served on the Committee of the Thames Valley branch of the Institution of Civil Engineers and was chairman of that Association (AMG&S) for the period 1989-90. He was president of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) for 2017-18 and is currently a trustee of that Institution. He is also a founding member of the Academy of Urbanism. In 2014, he acted as planning commissioner for the island of Cyprus.

Sunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and chair of the Trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.

Dr Zeisel has a background in sociology and architecture. He received a PhD from Columbia University and a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. John’s work at the I’m Still Here Foundation is focused on creating inclusive, community-based arts and culture programming.

Max is Founder & CEO of the LDN Collective, a network of built environment experts and creatives fighting to improve people’s lives and the planet’s prospects. Members are experts in social impact, zero carbon and modern methods of construction as well as architecture, engineering, graphic design and film-making. They are a dynamic and collaborative ‘one stop shop’ for projects anywhere in the world. Current projects include masterplans for garden communities in Oxfordshire, Peterborough and Solihull; new health and wellbeing resorts in London and the South East; detailed planning applications for Clarion, the UK’s largest housing association and #ParkPower – a crowdsourced vision for the future of London’s green spaces. Max’s expertise lies in urban planning & strategic communications. He was a Partner at Farrells for 10 years, the internationally renowned architects with offices in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai, before leaving to set up the LDN Collective. In 2021, Max was appointed Chair of Cultural Co-Location for Creative Estuary. With £4.3m funding from DCMS, as part of the Thames Estuary Production Corridor, the ambition is to transform 60 miles of the Thames Estuary into the most exciting cultural hub in the world. Max was Project Lead and Author of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, commissioned by the UK Government, which made 60 recommendations spanning education, outreach & skills; design quality; cultural heritage; economic benefits & architecture policy, many of which have been implemented. He is an adviser to London National Park City, Urban Design London, the Place Alliance, the Urban Room Network, the National Arts and Place Consortium, Community Consultation for Quality of Life and Wild Streets.

Julia's work at the TCPA focuses on collaborating with a wide range of partners to help create healthier places. She contributed to 'Putting health into place', the guide to creating healthier new communities, published by NHS England in 2019 and produced through a collaborative partnership between the TCPA, the King’s Fund, the Young Foundation, NHS England, Public Health England, and the ten NHS England Healthy New Towns. In addition, she leads the national Green Infrastructure Partnership, a network of more than 2000 people and organisations working to improve green infrastructure in the UK. Throughout her career she has been interested in the links between the design of the built environment and the quality of people’s lives. Earlier in her career, she was the founding director of CABE Space, the Government's advisor on policy and practice regarding England's urban parks and public spaces. She began her career as a journalist, writing about design, architecture and art. She has a degree in philosophy from UCL.

Michael is a chartered town planner and honorary member of the UK Faculty of Public Health. He led the Town and Country Planning Association's 'Reuniting Health with Planning' initiative, producing widely-regarded publications and supporting local authorities on the policy and practice of delivering healthy places through the planning process. At Public Health England (now Office for Health Improvement and Disparities), he provides expert planning input across a number of topic areas. Michael also co-founded the Health and Wellbeing in Planning Network.

Layla is director of the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, a think tank that explores how to design better mental health into cities. As a British medical doctor and global public health specialist, she has held international roles at the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and at several global health NGOs, think tanks and universities based in Washington, Tokyo, Hong Kong and London, as well as leading teams across Africa and Asia.

Chris is lead of HLM's Custodial, Justice and Defence sector. He is hands-on in many of HLM's flagship projects and a champion of social architecture.

Robert is director of the Urban Design Group, an international membership charity for people concerned about improving the design of cities, towns and villages. He is co-founder of PRIAN, the Public Realm Information and Advice Network, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Municipal Expert Panel.

As director of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network, Jeremy works with policymakers, commissioners and providers of housing, health and social care nationally to improve housing with care choices for older people. Previously, Jeremy was national programme lead for housing at the Department of Health. He is also chairman of the Homes and Communities Agency's Vulnerable and Older People's Advisory Group, and was Inquiry Secretary to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People.

Tye Farrow, FRAIC, BArch, MArch.U.D, LEED AP, OAA, MAIBC, MNSAA, NAA. Tye has gained international recognition for designing places that enhance our capacity to thrive – culturally, economically, mentally and physically. He has initiated a global “Cause Health” movement, which is aimed at raising expectations for design as the basis for total health, extending beyond technical sustainability and physical health to encompass our state of mind.

Beatrice is an industrial designer and ergonomist with particular expertise in designing systems and products aligned to end user requirements. Her early career was in design, ergonomic research and teaching at UMIST and Liverpool University. Her public-sector life has always involved regeneration and economic development schemes at a local and regional level – first as chair of the Rope Walks Partnership in Liverpool, then as chair of Renew NW. Beatrice was a non-executive director of Liverpool Health Authority, then chair of South Liverpool Primary Care Trust. Beatrice is a CQC special advisor specialising in governance and leadership. She is a trustee of the Design Council and an Hon.FRIBA. Her past roles have included chair of a housing association, trustee of Tate Liverpool, and chair of the Architects Registration Board.

John Lewis is a founder member of SOG Ltd which was formed in 1999. Originally SOG’s Head of Marketing, John became Managing Director in 2010 and is now the major shareholder of a business that has evolved into SOG Group. He has also launched a number of other successful businesses under the RJ Lewis brand which provide maintenance and facilities management services; space planning, engineering services and creative design for specialist projects; and creating, designing and developing bespoke new-build projects. John’s business achievements have been recognised with several awards including the accolade of Liverpool’s ‘Knowledge Leader of the Year’, an award recognising Merseyside’s key business leaders and academics who have made a major contribution to the region. He was awarded an MBE in 2019 in recognition of his services to business and is currently a deputy Lieutenant for Knowsley Borough.

Rhiannon’s research focuses on psychological, social and environmental mechanisms and determinants of mental distress and wellbeing. In particular, she is interested in social cognition and on how our living environment affects our ability to feel good and function well. As an applied social scientist, Rhiannon’s mission is to put research findings into practice. She does this by combining her work at the university with herwork as a co-director of Prosocial Place , a social enterprise that specialises in putting wellbeing and mental health at the heart of place-making and regeneration. In this capacity Rhiannon has worked on several national programmes such as the NHS Healthy New Towns Initiative and with DLUHC, DCMS and Design Council. Rhiannon’s work in social cognition involves both 'clinical' and non-clinical groups of people where she has a particular interest in the psychosis spectrum, common mental distress and the autistic spectrum. Rhiannon uses diverse methods within quantitative and qualitative approaches including real world and realistic evaluation, quasi-experimental and neuroscientific techniques.

Jim Chapman is a chartered architect and urban designer, with more than 36 years' experience as a consultant delivering a wide range of projects in many sectors. In 2006, he established an independent consultancy, which focuses on supporting and advising clients on the delivery of high-quality projects.

Paul is a partner at Ryder, established in Newcastle in 1953 with offices across the UK, Hong Kong, Vancouver and Amsterdam. Projects range in value from £50,000 to £300m, including civic, education, healthcare, infrastructure, leisure, manufacturing, office, residential, retail and science sectors. Paul completed his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow in 1992 and with more than 20 years' experience in the healthcare sector, leads Ryder’s healthcare portfolio, which includes the award-winning Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. In 2006, he established Ryder’s Glasgow team and led the early development of the Hong Kong team. Prior to joining Ryder, he worked with Terry Farrell for 11 years in London and Hong Kong and has spoken around the world on sustainable healthcare design.

Graham is an urban designer with experience across the private, public and research sectors. Through the 1990s, he worked in practice with leading London urban design consultancies on high-profile regeneration programmes, as well as urban planning policy development at national and regional level. In 1999, Graham was a founding director of the Government's pilot Urban Regeneration Company, Liverpool Vision, and was responsible for leading the transformation of the city centre through the national Urban Renaissance Programme. A key aspect of this work was brokerage between the public and private sectors to find new and better ways of delivering sustainable regeneration. Graham co-directs the social enterprise Prosocial Place, an urban design practice underpinned by research generated through a knowledge exchange with the University of Liverpool, where he is a senior visiting research fellow. His award-winning place-based work is primarily undertaken in support of public-sector clients, while continuing a brokerage and mentoring role to link with the private sector and local communities. This included advising on the Government's Estate Regeneration National Strategy. A recent member of the NHS Healthy New Towns Steering Group, Graham is currently a built environment expert with Design Council CABE, and an expert advisor to both the High Streets Task Force and the Department for Communities NI, where he recently co-authored the 'Living High Streets Craft Kit' to support the regeneration of town centres across Northern Ireland. He is currently involved in piloting the protocol there and within the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands initiative.