Hosted by the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, the Policy Insights Lecture Series is a cross-Faculty collaboration with the Queen Mary Global Policy Institute and the Mile End Institute.
These sessions will be dedicated to the presentation of policy case studies, policy research methodology and relevant topics within the field of policy studies. This collaboration has our university community at heart, and has been designed to bring postgraduate students, academics and policy makers together, offering a space for reflection, sharing of ideas and practices around policy research, implementation and impact.
Over one hour, Queen Mary academics and guests will explore cutting-edge policy cases from the perspective of researchers, policy makers and stakeholders over contemporary policy themes.
Our starting point will be an introduction to the series with policy research tools followed by themes related to Global Health and the current climate emergency.
These sessions will be held at the Morris Lecture Theatre in the Robin Brooks Centre, which is based in the grounds of St Bartholomew’s hospital.
Session one – An introduction to policy, tools and concepts for postgraduate students – the case of tobacco affordability in Pakistan
The introductory session is aimed at broadening the understanding of our student community on the concepts of policy and policy making. We will discuss the different terms that can be used to refer to policy and what policy means as intent and practice.
Attendees will reflect on how policies affect us and how we can influence them from different standpoints by looking at different global, international and national level health policies and how these have evolved over time.
The session will give an idea to students on how policy and research is linked in real world and how it creates an avenue to make contribution to better global health.
Dr Haleema Masud, Lecturer at Global Health Unit, Centre for Public Health and Policy will share findings from her PhD research, Reducing the affordability of tobacco products in Pakistan: A political economy analysis. This research analysed existing policies regarding tobacco pricing and affordability and made a case for introduction of policy reforms (analysis of policy). Building on that, research explored challenges and opportunities for introducing such reforms (analysis for policy) and informed which policy reforms could be both technically sound and politically feasible in the Pakistani political economy context.
Who should attend?
All Queen Mary postgraduate students with an interest in policy are invited and we welcome also suggestions of speakers and themes for the incoming series in 2024.
If you have an interest in pursuing a future career in policy – or would like to understand how your research can influence policy making, come and join us!
Do you have a policy theme that you feel needs discussing, or would you like to hear from an expert in the field? If so please get in touch with us via qmgpi@qmul.ac.uk