Dr Nick Axford

Dr Nick Axford

Implementation Lead and Associate Professor in Health Services Research

Expertise

Prevention and early intervention to improve child well-being

Biography

I joined PenARC in 2017. I work on a variety of projects concerned with evidence-based prevention and early intervention to improve child psychosocial outcomes, with a focus on service design and evaluation. I have undertaken studies involving a range of methods, including evidence reviews and randomised controlled trials, and covering a range of subject areas, such as bullying, child maltreatment, youth offending and social-emotional learning. I am particularly interested in forms of intervention that have the potential to achieve impact at scale, and in methods for developing and testing these – including co-production with users and the use of rapid cycle testing. I also enjoy engaging in debates about the value of evidence-based approaches in children’s services.

I am a Senior Associate of the Dartington Service Design Lab, a member of the board of the European Society for Prevention Research and a member of the evidence panels of the Early Intervention Foundation, the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care and the Xchange online registry of evidence-based prevention programmes (hosted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction).

Publications

Other team members

Dr Bekkah  Bernheim

Dr Bekkah Bernheim

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr Jennie Hayes

Dr Jennie Hayes

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sarah O'Rourke

Sarah O'Rourke

PhD Student
Sara Eddy

Sara Eddy

PhD Student
Dr Sarah Brand

Dr Sarah Brand

Senior Research Fellow in Implementation Science
Kath Wilkinson

Kath Wilkinson

Research Fellow
Charlotte Hewlett

Charlotte Hewlett

Research Manager
Dr Jo Day

Dr Jo Day

Research Fellow
Dr Iain Lang

Dr Iain Lang

Senior Lecturer in Public Health