Professor Stephani Hatch

Stephani joined King’s College London in December 2006 and leads the Health Inequalities Research Group, working across sectors, locally and nationally, to deliver interdisciplinary research on inequalities in mental health in marginalised communities and across health services with an emphasis on race at the intersection of other social identities. She has expertise in sociology and psychiatric epidemiology, using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to study the impact of discrimination, social adversity, social determinants over the life course on mental health and multimorbidity. Her work integrates collaborative and inclusive approaches to knowledge production, dissemination and action across capacity building, education and training, impact strategies and research. She holds local and national policy advisory roles across the health and social care sector and voluntary and community sector. Stephani has also been co-leading initiatives promoting and changing policies to insure the embeddedness of inclusive research culture, equality, diversity and inclusion at KCL since 2014.

Stephani is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Tackling Inequalities and Discrimination Experiences in Health Services (TIDES) study which was initially funded by Wellcome. To address the role of discrimination by healthcare professionals in generating and perpetuating health inequalities, Stephani’s team have used innovative quantitative and qualitative methods, including linked survey and health record data, as well as virtual reality methods to examine how biases and discrimination impact clinical interactions and treatment recommendations. The study was expanded in 2020 with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to utilise a participatory framework identifying mechanisms through which racial and ethnic inequalities in mental health and occupational outcomes are produced, maintained and resisted.

Stephani co-leads the Marginalised Communities and Mental Health programme within the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, focused on working in close partnership with communities that have often been ignored, to examine and disrupt structures maintaining social inequities in mental health. She is PI for the CONNECT study (CONtributions of social NEtworks to Community Thriving) which uses Participatory Action Research (PAR) to investigate social capital and networks as resources that benefit (or hinder) marginalised communities and their mental health. It focuses primarily on Black and other minoritised groups, with an intersectional focus accounting for gender, migration, socio-economic status, and more.

Since November 2021 Stephani has also co-led the Health and Social Equity Collective with funding from a King’s Together Infrastructure Award and Impact on Urban Health (part of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Foundation). The co-developing Health and Social Equity Collective is comprised of local, national and international partners consisting of researchers, experts by experience, community leaders, policy makers, artists and health professionals responding to persistent social and health inequities. The HSE Collective is carrying out the Community Organised Research for Equity (CORE) project, which involves Impact on Urban Health funding six community-driven population health projects that communities in the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth in London have identified as crucial priorities.

These current projects build on Stephani’s work as co-PI of the South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study, one of the largest, most comprehensive UK studies of urban mental health and service use that provides much-needed data on ethnic minority and migrant populations, set in the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth from 2008 to 2015.

Education and Training

• 2016 Senior Fellow, UK Higher Education Academy
• 2005 National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Training Fellowship, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, US
• 2002 PhD Sociology, National Institute of Mental Health/American Sociological Association Pre-Doctoral Fellow, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, US
• 1996 MA Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, US
• 1993 BA Psychology (Minor: Sociology), Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, US

Research Interests

• Population mental health
• Inequalities in health and health services
• Health and social equity
• Mental health over the life course
• Discrimination and other social adversities
• Mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) and inclusive research approaches

Teaching

2021-present:

• Co-Director, King’s PhD in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals, KCL

2010-2021:

• Course Director and Module Lead, Integrated Academic Training, Applied Research Methods Course, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine and IoPPN, KCL

2010-present:

• Personal Tutor, Department of Psychological Medicine, IoPPN, KCL

Expertise and Public Engagement:

Stephani is the founder and lead for the Health Inequalities Research Network (HERON), a public engagement network that promotes collaborative community approaches to knowledge dissemination, action and youth outreach. The range of engagement activities can be found on the Health Inequalities Research Network (HERON) website Twitter: @HeronNetwork

Selected Current Boards include:

• Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness, Trustee
• MQ Mental Health Sciences Council
• Pembroke House, Trustee
• Deputy Editor, Society and Mental Health, American Sociological Association
• NHS Race and Health Observatory, Co-Chair Academic Reference Group and Board Member
• Thrive London Advisory Board
• Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies, Board Member, USA