Our people

Meet the Policy@Manchester team, and get in touch if you would like to find out more about our work. You can contact individual members of the team by clicking on the link in their profile below.

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  Professor Cecilia Wong

  Cecilia is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Her research expertise includes strategic planning, spatial policy monitoring and analysis, urban and regional development, and housing and infrastructure planning. She has been working on a number of collaborative grants recently, including a five-year consortium project on ‘Tackling root causes upstream of unhealthy urban development’ funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership and a three-year project on ‘Eco-Urbanisation: Promoting Sustainable Development in Metropolitan Regions of China’ funded by the ESRC-NSFC Newton Fund Collaborative Research. She received the University’s Distinguished Achievement Award ‘Researcher of the Year (Humanities)’ in 2021.

  Email Cecilia

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  Professor Maria Sharmina

  Our Co-Director, Maria Sharmina, is Professor in Energy and Sustainability at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the School of Engineering. Her research on low-carbon energy and circular economy involves interdisciplinary approaches to complex policy problems, and aims to provide a conduit between academics and policymakers.

  Email Maria

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  Professor Arpana Verma

  Our Co-Director Arpana Verma is Clinical Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology in the School of Health Sciences, and the Academic Lead for the Manchester Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC). Arpana is leading work on co-producing interventions with individuals and communities for reducing health inequalities and has focused on evidence-based policy locally, nationally and internationally.

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  Hashim Kohan

  Hashim Kohan is our Head of Public Affairs. He has extensive political and communications experience from his previous role as Head of Elections for a political party and Head of Strategic Engagement for a regional tourism body. Hashim has worked with a variety of stakeholders from across the public and private sector in England and Wales. 

  Email Hashim

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  Laura Jack

  Laura is our Engagement Manager. She has significant experience working at the interface between academia and policymaking. Throughout her career, she has led a wide range of high-profile events and engagement activities, from political party conference programmes to private roundtables. Laura has previously held a variety of roles within higher education.

  Email Laura

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  Terri Lucas

  Terri Lucas leads our Greater Manchester Policy Hub. She has experience working with academics across the University on a variety of policy areas, including inequalities, mental health and wellbeing, and place-based approaches to policymaking. Terri holds an MA in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, and she is interested in intersectional inequalities.

  Email Terri

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  Logan Robin

  Logan is our Civic Engagement coordinator, working within the Greater Manchester Policy Hub to connect academics with political stakeholders in Greater Manchester. Logan has worked for 5 years across a range of not-for-profit organisations in a number of policy, research, and managerial roles.

  Email Logan

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  Callum Wood

  Callum is our Engagement Officer, covering the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. He studied Genetics, followed by a Masters in Science Communication. Before joining the Policy@Manchester team, Callum worked in higher education media relations, and has a keen interest in research communication and outreach.

  Email Callum

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  Suzanne Booth

  Suzanne is our Engagement Officer, covering the Faculty of Humanities. She has extensive experience of working with researchers and academics from all areas of The University of Manchester. Suzanne is interested in how policy around sustainability, technology and digital developments affect society and people.

  Email Suzanne

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  Natalie Fenton

  Natalie is our Engagement Officer, covering the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She has spent much of the last decade supporting elected representatives at Parliamentary and Local Government level to deliver successful campaigns. She graduated with an MA in Governance and Public Policy from The University of Manchester, in 2012.

  Email Natalie

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  Owen Jones

  Owen is our Events Manager and is responsible for the planning and delivery of Policy@Manchester's event programme. Owen started out his career in factual film and programmes, working in broadcast journalism, archive research for documentaries, and in film festival programming. He moved to the HE sector in 2021 and has delivered events across the UK and internationally.

  Email Owen

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  Madeleine Smart

  Maddie is our Engagement Officer for Public Affairs. She has a range of parliamentary and government experience working for MPs in Westminster and as Head of Ministerial Business for The Chancellor of The Exchequer. Maddie also has a wealth of public affairs experience across local government, health and heritage.

  Email Maddie

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  Katrina Rattu

  Katrina Rattu is our Engagement Officer for Public Affairs. She began her career on the Local Government Association graduate scheme and has a wealth of political, policy and communications experience across local government and higher education. Before joining Policy@Manchester, Katrina worked in public affairs roles at UCL and Universities UK. She is also Head of Communications for Women in Public Affairs.

  Email Katrina

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  Grace Bartholomew

  Grace is our Engagement Assistant for Public Affairs. She holds a BA in Politics and Philosophy from The University of Manchester and previously worked in the University’s Office for Social Responsibility. She also has experience in the charity sector as an Information, Advice and Guidance Advisor.

  Email Grace

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  Brianna Murphy

  Brianna is our Graduate Engagement Intern. She recently graduated from The University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. She has experience in quantitative research at a think tank and is particularly interested in welfare policy and European politics. 

  Email Brianna