Daisy Fancourt, PhD

Daisy Fancourt is Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology and Head of the Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London. Daisy studied at Oxford University and King’s College London before completing her PhD in psychoneuroimmunology at UCL and postdoctoral work at Imperial College London/RCM alongside working in the NHS. Her research focuses on the effects of social connections and behaviours on health, including social deficits (e.g. loneliness and social isolation) and social assets (e.g. community engagement, arts & cultural activities, and social prescribing).

Daisy has received over £30 million in research funding as Principal and Co-Investigator and her research has been recognised by fellowships from Wellcome and British Academy and two dozen national and international awards including from the British Science Association, Leverhulme Trust, Wellcome, British Academy, British Federation of Women Graduates, American Psychosomatic Society, AHRC, ESRC, Royal Society for Public Health and NHS England. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and Royal Society of Arts and has been named a BBC New Generation Thinker and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

Daisy is Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health as well as a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on cultural and behavioural insights on health and an Expert Scientific Advisory to DCMS. She is past-director of the UKRI MARCH Mental Health Research Network. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Daisy led the awarding-winning Covid-19 Social Study - the UK’s largest study into the psychological and social impact of the virus. The study was used in real-time to inform decisions such as when to release lockdown and how to roll out the vaccine. She also directed the COVID-Minds Network: an international network of 170 longitudinal studies exploring the global mental health impact of the pandemic. Daisy was a member of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission and the World Health Organisation Expert Group on mental health in COVID-19.

Daisy has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, 2 books, and over a dozen book chapters and given over 40 keynotes around the world. She is listed by Clarivate as one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.