Meet the Team of Health Literacy UK

We are a dedicated, close-knit team working on health literacy initiatives. Our small but passionate team is committed to advancing health literacy

Tania is our current Chair. She has lived in North Staffordshire for most of her life. She studied at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and qualified as a pharmacist in 1994. As a pharmacist she has gained experience working for pharmacy multiples, independent pharmacies, academia, GP practices, hospital. During her career as a pharmacist, she has completed a Diploma in Community Pharmacy, an MSc in Community Pharmacy and Doctorate in Pharmacy, at Keele University and a Post Grad Certificate in Medical Education at Cardiff University. In November 2008 she was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Local Pharmaceutical Committee and now spends her time split between the LPC role and as an academic pharmacist. Her specialist research is in relation the Health Literacy and the community pharmacy and identifying health literacy interventions for everyday use in community pharmacy using qualitative and consensus methodology.

Jonathan joined HLUK in 2023 and became our Vice-Chair in 2025. Prior to this he worked for eight years at NHS England where he was the national lead for Health Literacy and Shared Decision Making. He left his role there in June 2023 and now works independently advising organisations on how to implement Health Literacy and Shared Decision Making. Prior to his role in NHSE he worked in the voluntary sector for a national organisation which specialised in delivering Health Literacy programmes in deprived communities, raising practitioner awareness about the impacts of low Health Literacy, user testing health information with people who have lower levels of Health Literacy and lobbying policy makers to ensure that health literacy was central to health and other government policies.  He has an extensive health background which includes developing and project managing the development of the national Health Literacy Programme, Skilled for Health, on behalf of the Department of Health and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. Before that, he worked in the NHS for 10 years where, among other things, he introduced a PALS service and an Expert Patient Programme.  His background is in policy development, implementing policy, partnership working, quality improvement, change management, project management, training and advocacy. He has an MA in Applied Health Studies and was recently trained in Motivational Interviewing.

Jo has been a practising General Practitioner for over 25 years and has worked in various academic and research capacities, before joining Keele University in 2011. She was appointed as Professor of General Practice in Keele Medical School in 2017, where she is Director of General Practice Education and is the Director of Integrated Clinical Academic training for Keele. As Director of General Practice Education,sheleads the multidisciplinary team responsible for delivery of the GP content of the curriculum, including over 19 weeks of GP Placement activity over 5 years. As Director of Clinical Academic Training, she oversees a programme of NIHR funded research training for doctors in training in multiple specialties.She is a national expert in the field of Health Literacy and continues to practise as a GP, a role which fuels her research in health literacy and patient participation in their health, especially those in disadvantaged groups.

Gill is a Professor of Primary Care at Newcastle University, UK. Her research interests are the role of health literacy in health, the role of General Practice in addressing the problems faced by patients with lower health literacy, and the development of policy. She founded the Health Literacy UK group, and chairs the IUHPE Global Working Group on Health Literacy. She has over 80 peer-reviewed publications and six book chapters, and has co-edited two books.  

Mike is a registered Health Psychologist and Chartered Psychologist.  He is passionate about helping health and care organisations to become more health literate in the way they interact with their service users and patients. Before training as a Health Psychologist, Mike worked in the corporate sector.  He specialised in organisational change, creative thinking and facilitation.  He combines this experience with health literacy expertise to help NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and community groups on their health literacy journeys. In addition to his health literacy work, Mike applies his skills as a health psychologist in the areas of sleep and workplace mental health.  He also lectures at various universities and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Staffordshire.

Throughout her career, Clare has worked in health, local authority and the voluntary and community sector. She is passionate about health literacy as fundamental to empowering people to navigate health and care systems, championing its inclusion in workforce training and practice. Clare has worked in personalised care since 2019 across local health systems and NHS England Midlands, and founded Undivided Training Ltd, specialising in workforce training for personalised care. She also served as Director of Training for the National Self-Management Programme. Prior to this, she worked as Public Health Manager with a focus on self-care and healthy ageing. Clare’s cross-sector experience enables her to translate health literacy principles into practical interventions across different organisational contexts.

Calisha is a public health specialist registrar and NIHR Doctoral Fellow at University College London. Her research looks at improving communication between healthcare workers, patients and colleagues working in social care. She is also a trustee of the Dr Edwin Doubleday Fund, a medical education charity dedicated to improving the patient experience by strengthening the non‑technical skills of healthcare professionals. In addition, Calisha is a visiting lecturer on the Master of Public Health programme at the University of Hertfordshire.

Victoria is an independent patient and public involvement specialist with nearly 30 years’ experience, working across public and voluntary sector organisations.

Victoria has worked for many years in the regulatory sector focusing on patient and public involvement in health technology assessment (HTA) and guideline development at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) where she ran their Public Involvement Programme. She has worked across a range of voluntary and community sector organisations and at two of the medical Royal Colleges. She is experienced in working directly with people with lived experience, and with the organisations that support them, and has a deep understanding of the involvement and engagement research as well as its practical application.

Her MSc is in Science and Society, looking into how science is communicated, and how the general public and the media view scientific endeavour, particularly through the lens of the MMR vaccination controversy. She is passionate about patients and clinicians working together collaboratively, and has a strong interest in shared decision-making and issues of health inequality.