UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality https://unesco.org.uk/unesco-chair-in-masculinities-and-gender-equality/

HIAS Bridges Distinguished Visiting Professor, The Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Japan

My research focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender equality.

Within this field I have advanced a focus on engaging men and boys in SRHR.  I conducted the first randomised controlled trial of comprehensive sexuality education in schools designed to engage boys and foster positive masculinities and health and wellbeing for girls and boys. The results were The Lancet Public Health. This work now has a multi-country focus in Ireland, the UK,  Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/if-i-were-jack/  https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/if-i-were-jack/InPrisons/IfIWereaDad/.

I am consultant to the WHO. In this role, I have led systematic reviews of the global evidence on male engagement in SRHR and gender equality. Following compilation of the evidence, I was commissioned by WHO to lead an international team to conduct a global priority setting exercise on ‘Masculinities and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights’. The results were published in The Lancet Global Health and presented to international ministries at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in New York 2024.

I have also been a consultant to UNESCO. I was commissioned by UNESCO in 2023 to compile an overview of the systematic review evidence on comprehensive sexuality education globally. I am a partner in the UNFPA/UNESCO Global Partnership Forum on Comprehensive Sexuality Education. UNESCO recently published a feature interview on my work.

I have led over ten multi-disciplinary studies as Principal Investigator, including systematic evidence reviews, co-design of interventions, randomized controlled trials, and qualitative inquiries. These studies have been funded interalia by the National Institute of Health and Care Research, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council.  I enjoy supervising PhD students and mentoring early career researchers.

Leadership Roles (QUB)

• Member of Queen’s Gender Initiative Executive Committee
• Member of Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account Steering Committee 
• Member of Queen's University Engaged Research Advisory Group
• Member of Queen’s University International Reputations Group

Leadership Roles (External)

• Consultant to the World Health Organisation, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research
• Member of the UNESCO/UNFPA Global Partnership on Comprehensive Sexuality Education
• Member of the International Steering Committee, International Conference on Family Planning 2025
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• Member of Medical Research Council Global Health Faculty of Experts
• Associate Editor of BMC Public Health
• Member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Men’s Social and Community Health
• External Assessor for Faculty Promotions at UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems
• Member of the ESRC College of Reviewers
• Member of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Reviewers
• Member of the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) Reviewers
• Member of Equimundo's Global Boyhood Initiative Advisory Board

Currently Funded Research Projects

1. Early Adolescence and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: A Research Priority Setting Exercise World Health Organization, Geneva
2. Masculinities and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: A Research Priority Setting Exercise World Health Organization, Geneva.
3. Violence Against Women During Covid: A Systematic review World Health Organization, Geneva.
4. Phase-III RCT of Positive Choices: a whole-school social-marketing intervention to promote sexual health and reduce health inequalities, National Institute of Health and Care Research

Recently Completed Studies

• ‘The Jack Trial’: A multi-site cluster randomised trial of an interactive film-based intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy and promote positive sexual health. National Institute of Health Research (NIHR, UK).
• Relationships and Future Fatherhood Programme for Young Incarcerated Men: Co-design and development of an Intervention. Medical Research Council, UK.
• Involving Men and Boys in Family Planning (INVOLVE_FP): A systematic review of complex interventions to identify effective programme components and characteristics in low- and middle-income countries. UK AID Centre for Excellence for Development Impact and Learning (CEDIL), UK.
• Increasing boys’ and girls’ intention to avoid teenage pregnancy: feasibility trial of an interactive video drama based intervention in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. National Institute of Health Research (NIHR, UK).
• Positive Choices: Optimisation, feasibility testing and pilot randomised trial of Positive Choices: a school-based social marketing intervention to promote sexual health, prevent unintended teenage pregnancies and address health inequalities in England (NIHR, UK)