About
Dr Sara A Morgan (née Afshar) is an Associate Professor in Public Health based within the School of Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Her work is guided by a desire to understand ways to improve the causes and consequences of health inequalities during childhood and early adulthood. To this end, she undertakes both qualitative and quantitative research across the UK and internationally, in order to address health inequalities and tackle the wider determinants of offending amongst those affected by violence and crime. To date she has earned over £3 million in research grants from a variety of different sources, including the National Institute for Health Research, the Economic and Social Research Council, Public Health England and Home Office.
She teaches undergraduates and postgraduates within the Faculty of Medicine, including on the Masters in Public Health and in Medicine (BM5/BM4 undergraduates). Her teaching expertise is in qualitative methodology, mixed methods, global health, evaluations of complex interventions and in violence prevention. She is also a PhD and DM supervisor and a PAT tutor for the Faculty.
Sara trained in biomedical sciences, followed by global health and development at UCL. This led to work as a programme manager for a donor-funded programme at the National Cancer Institute in Sri Lanka and as a health advisor for an international charity. She completed her doctoral studies in epidemiology and international public health at the University of Southampton, undertaking qualitative fieldwork in Ghana. She also had research consultancies with the World Health Organisation in Geneva and Cairo, and held responsibilities as a trustee for a local charity.
In 2020 Sara was awarded Best Early Career Researcher in Public Health by the National Institute of Health Research and Public Health England.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Health inequalities
- Violence Prevention
- Social Epidemiology
- Domestic Violence and Abuse
- Global Health
Current research
Sara has led several public health research projects in the UK and overseas focused on addressing health inequalities within vulnerable populations. Her research projects examine the public health approach to crime, which emphasises the need for collective action to systematically consider the underlying causes, and address both the risk factors and consequences of violence through the implementation of cost-effective interventions within a variety of settings (for example, in schools, custody and prisons). As a social epidemiologist and applied health researcher, she leads on the Wider Determinants sub-theme in the Applied Research Collaborations Wessex (Healthy Communities). This work was recognised by the NIHR and PHE in a national award (Best Early Career Researcher, 2020).
Sara has experience in several methodologies including, randomised controlled trials, natural experiments, and service evaluations within health and community settings. Applying both quantitative and qualitative approaches, she has experience in applying advanced statistical methods to population-level routine data and undertaking qualitative interviews with vulnerable individuals within a variety of settings.