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Professor Peter Van der Graaf

Professor

School: Healthcare and Nursing Sciences

Peter is a Professor in Public Health and Knowledge Mobilisation in the School of Nursing and Healthcare Studies with over 25 years of experience in applied health research and collaborative research partnerships in the UK and the Netherlands, involving local government, academia, and voluntary & community sector organisations. 

He co-leads the NIHR Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team (PHIRST) Fusion, co-producing timely and accessible evaluations of public health interventions with local authorities, and facilitating development and implementation of interventions.

He is also Knowledge Mobilisation Lead for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for the North East and North Cumbria (NENC), co-leading a team of Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows to implement research evidence into the decision making of the Integrated Care System in the region.

As Associate Director for Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public, he developed and managed the innovative AskFuse service, which has brokered over 500 collaborative research projects between academics and policy & practice partners in the North East of England and beyond. 

Peter Van der Graaf

Peter is interested in the interface between research, practice and policy making and how this interface facilitates (or hinders) social improvement processes at local, regional, national and international levels. He conducts research on knowledge mobilisation in public health, with a focus on the wider determinants of health (e.g. housing, health landscapes, urban regeneration) and how they affect people's health and wellbeing.

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • 3171 Better mealtimes for people living with dementia in care homes: a feasibility study, Faraday, J., Van der Graaf, P., Hand, A. 4 Jul 2025, In: Age and Ageing
  • Developing and implementing whole systems approaches to reduce inequalities in childhood obesity: A mixed methods study in Dundee, Scotland, Van der Graaf, P., Subramanian, M., Gillespie, J., Passey, A., Chng, N., Lake, A., Moore, H. 1 Jun 2025, In: Public Health in Practice
  • Improving local authority financial support services for users with complex health needs: a mixed-method economic evaluation of Social Navigators in South Tyneside, UK, Van der Graaf, P., McCarthy, A., Subramanian, M., Arnott, B., Samarakoon, D., Lee, S., Gray, J., Bate, A. 2025, In: BMJ Open Quality
  • P348 Current dietetic practices in managing pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy across the United Kingdom, Elliott, P., Van der Graaf, P., Tomietto, M., Brodlie, M., Haq, I. Jun 2025, In: Journal of Cystic Fibrosis
  • The benefits for health care staff of involvement in applied health research: a scoping review, Hanbury, A., Parker, E., Lawton, R., Marran, J., Schofield, J., Cave, L., McVey, L., Eyers, E., Van der Graaf, P., Kislov, R. 18 Aug 2025, In: Health Research Policy and Systems
  • Developing an online knowledge sharing platform and community of practice for health professionals: Experiences from C-WorKS developed in North East England and Yorkshire during COVID-19, Van der Graaf, P., Burrows, A., Park, H., Sowden, S. 1 Feb 2024, In: Health Information and Libraries Journal
  • Implementing creative dance activities for primary school children to improve health and wellbeing: a qualitative study in the North East England, Van der Graaf, P., Azevedo, L., El-Zerbi, C., Landindome, P., Watson, P. 2024, In: Perspectives in Public Health
  • Learning from failures in knowledge exchange and turning them into successes, Van der Graaf, P., van de Goor, I., Purington Drake, A. 1 Feb 2024, In: Evidence and Policy
  • Correction: Leading co-production in five UK collaborative research partnerships (2008–2018): responses to four tensions from senior leaders using auto-ethnography, van der Graaf, P., Kislov, R., Smith, H., Langley, J., Hamer, N., Cheetham, M., Wolstenholme, D., Cooke, J., Mawson, S. 24 Feb 2023, In: Implementation Science Communications
  • Leading co-production in five UK collaborative research partnerships (2008-2018): responses to four tensions from senior leaders using auto-ethnography, Van der Graaf, P., Kislov, R., Smith, H., Langley, J., Hamer, N., Cheetham, M., Wolstenholme, D., Cooke, J., Mawson, S. 27 Jan 2023, In: Implementation Science Communications

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Police involvement in interagency crisis mental health first response pathways in England: A realist and cost consequence analysis (PIONEER-MH), Clibbens, N. (Principal Investigator), Van der Graaf, P. (Co Investigator), National Institute for Health Research, 01/04/25 - 30/11/27, £781,508.00
  • Developing an NIHR Health and Social care Delivery Research (HSDR) national evaluation team: InterDisciplinary Evaluation of complex innovations in heAlth and Social care (IDEAS) Centre, Bate, A. (Principal Investigator), Van der Graaf, P. (Co Investigator), National Institute for Health Research, 01/02/25 - 31/01/30, £3,028,752.00

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Invited talk: Knowledge mobilisation: experiences beyond the East  2025
  • Membership of committee: NIHR & Department of Health (External organisation) 2024
  • Membership of board: University of Nottingham (External organisation) 2024
  • Membership of board: Fuse (External organisation) 2024
  • Hosting an academic visitor: Ien van de Goor 2023
  • Membership of board: Gateshead Council (External organisation) 2023
  • Invited talk: Chair Organising Committee 2022
  • Invited talk: Learning from Setbacks and Successes in Knowledge Exchange in Public Health 2021
  • Membership of committee: Health Research Board Ireland (External organisation) 2018
  • Membership of board: NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) (External organisation) 2018

  • Ruth Muscat Enhancing knowledge mobilisation skills and training for health librarians: comparative case study analysis in the North East and North Cumbria Start Date: 11/07/2022
  • Philip Mordue TBC ***JWh 11/09/2025*** Start Date: 01/10/2025
  • Paige Elliott Managing pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in children with cystic fibrosis in the highly effective modulator era. Start Date: 01/10/2023

  • Sociology PhD June 30 2009
  • Sociology MA July 15 1998


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