Simon Rushton

Professor Simon Rushton is a Professor of International Politics at the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, where he joined in January 2013 and was promoted to Professor in January 2022. He currently serves as the Department's Director of Research and Innovation and maintains affiliations with the Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences in Kathmandu as a Visiting Faculty member. Rushton is also an active member of the Executive Committee of the British International Studies Association.

His research focuses on the global politics of health, peace and conflict, and participatory research methods, with particular attention to international responses to infectious diseases, the links between health and national security, the changing architecture of global health governance, healthcare delivery in conflict situations, and post-conflict peacebuilding. His current research projects are based in Nepal and Colombia, reflecting his long-standing commitment to fieldwork in low- and middle-income countries.

Rushton's scholarly output reveals a clear trajectory from early work on HIV/AIDS and security to broader examinations of global health governance, with increasing attention to the practical implementation of health policies in federal and post-conflict settings. His recent publications demonstrate a growing focus on Nepal's federal health system, disability and assistive technologies, and the intersection of urbanization and health. His work consistently bridges theoretical international relations concepts with practical health policy concerns, often employing participatory research methods.

• ESRC's prize for Outstanding Societal Impact (2021) - as UK Principal Investigator for the Improbable Dialogues project

Rushton supervises PhD students in global health politics, global governance, international institutions, and security studies, with current and completed students working on topics including pandemic securitization, assistive technologies, UN peacekeeping, and vaccine diplomacy. His research has been generously funded by multiple prestigious sources including ESRC, DFID/FCDO, NIHR, MRC, Welcome Trust, and Newton Fund, supporting collaborative projects across Nepal, Colombia, Bangladesh, Ghana and Vietnam.

As an educator, Rushton teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on pandemics and global politics, receiving a Teaching Excellence in Social Sciences award in 2017. His approach emphasizes critical engagement and views students as 'emerging scholars with something to contribute to our knowledge and understanding.'