Trisha Greenhalgh

OBE MA MD FRCP FRCGP FHEA
Joint Lead Global Health, Policy and Innovation Unit

Trisha has a special interest in the philosophical aspects of evidence-based medicine, in particular the tension between 'rational' scientific evidence and the messy practicalities of real-world medicine and policymaking. She is concerned with the limitations of the fundamentally linear and reductionist paradigm of EBM to the highly complex and relentlessly contextual problems encountered in the clinic, at the bedside, and around the policymaking table. In past research projects, she has explored the mismatch between the evidence we need and what is actually available, especially in relation to 'hard to research' groups such as ethnic minorities, those with multiple and complex illnesses, and the socially excluded. She has developed a particular interest in the use of storytelling (illness narratives, life narratives, organisational narratives) to capture and address the complexities of these challenging areas of enquiry. Trisha is a member of a number of groups working to develop and implement evidence-based health policy, including the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Health Development Agency. She was an active member of the Department of Health's Expert Reference Group, which produced the National Service Framework for Diabetes in 2002, and chaired two subcommittees (women’s health and inequalities). She is an honorary Consultant at Barnet Primary Care Trust.