Jane Wills

Jane Wills is Professor of Health Promotion at London South Bank University (LSBU), co-lead of the Health and Wellbeing Research Centre, and co-investigator of PHIRST South Bank—a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded centre evaluating national public health initiatives. Previously Director of Research and Enterprise (2017-2021) and founding head of the Centre for Applied Research in Improvement and Innovation (CApRII), she also serves as Associate non-executive director at Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust and on the Advisory Board for PHIRST London.

Her three-decade career has shaped health promotion through best-selling textbooks (translated into five languages) and extensive publications. Current research examines health and wellbeing of health/social care workforces, opportunistic health education delivery, and health literacy's role in decision-making and behaviour change. International work includes developing community health worker training in low-income countries for paraffin safety, food security, sanitation, and physical activity, alongside expertise in social marketing and evidence-informed practice.

Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a focus on community-centered interventions: reducing exercise inequalities, stop-smoking outreach for marginalized groups, alcohol brief interventions in custody settings, and gambling harm reduction through Communities of Practice. These works consistently emphasize behaviour change frameworks, health literacy, and meaningful community engagement to address public health inequities.

No scientific awards were explicitly documented in the source material.

She has supervised at least one student (per 'Supervised Work (1)' notation) and leads NIHR-funded research through PHIRST South Bank, which builds evidence bases for local public health interventions. Additional grants support her international work with government agencies in low-income countries developing sustainable behaviour change programs.

She co-leads LSBU's Health and Wellbeing Research Centre and drives PHIRST South Bank's evaluation of national public health initiatives, while contributing strategic oversight to PHIRST London through its Advisory Board.