Natalia Concha

Dr Natalia Concha is a Qualitative Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London's Wolfson Institute of Population Health, based in the Child Health team of the Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG) within the Centre for Primary Care. Her work focuses on child health inequalities, early childhood development, and maternal health, with a particular emphasis on school food provision and free school meals. She collaborates with Tower Hamlets council, schools, communities, and UCL’s Thomas Coram Research Unit on mixed-methods studies addressing health disparities.

Previously, she worked as a Research Officer at the London School of Economics (LSE), completing her PhD in sociocultural psychology. Her research integrates sociocultural, community, and health psychological approaches to evaluate policy and international development programs, with expertise in Latin America and UK-based health promotion initiatives.

Current projects include the UKPRP-funded ActEarly programme and an NIHR grant examining child health inequalities through school food systems. Her publications explore familial and community influences on health behaviors, such as grandmother roles in maternal infant feeding practices in Colombia.

Dr Concha’s interdisciplinary work bridges qualitative methodologies with participatory approaches to advance equitable health outcomes. She holds no listed awards but has extensive grant-funded research experience across multiple international collaborations.