Richard de Visser

Professor Richard de Visser is a Professor of Health Psychology within the Primary Care & Public Health school at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, with strong affiliations to the University of Sussex. He has over 25 years of experience in health psychology and public health research and teaching, receiving multiple awards for his educational contributions.

His educational background includes:

• BSc in Psychology from the University of Melbourne
• PhD from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University
• Post-doctoral work at Birkbeck College, University of London
• PG Dip from La Trobe University
• PG Cert from University of Sussex

Professor de Visser's research spans health behaviour, behaviour change interventions, gender and health, sexuality and relationships, and alcohol use. He employs mixed-methods approaches ranging from small qualitative studies to large population surveys (including the Australian Study of Health & Relationships with 20,000 participants). His work on 'Dry January' has demonstrated both short- and longer-term benefits of temporary alcohol abstinence and influenced international implementation of similar initiatives.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent focus on gendered health behaviors, sexual health determinants, and evaluation of behavior change interventions using sophisticated mixed-methods designs. His work frequently examines how social constructions of gender influence health decisions across diverse cultural contexts.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Awards for individual teaching excellence
• Awards for group teaching excellence
• Co-authorship of the influential textbook 'Psychology for Medicine and Healthcare' (3rd edition, 2021)
• Significant citation impact across his publication portfolio

Professor de Visser actively supervises students through the Individual Research Project module (404) and contributes to multiple undergraduate medical education modules. He maintains substantial research funding from organizations including the National Health & Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, and La Caixa Foundation. His external roles include serving as External Examiner for psychology programs at the University of Edinburgh and University of Worcester.

His research group focuses on evaluating health interventions (particularly Dry January and related initiatives), understanding young people's health behaviors, examining sexual behavior and health, and investigating gender influences on health-related decisions. The group maintains strong international collaborations, particularly with researchers in Australia, Portugal, and Spain.