Professor Tony Gatrell

Research Interests

My most recent interests have been in the geographical aspects of global health, and in the unequal access to healthcare, both in the Global North and the Global South.

I have been interested for some time in ‘mobilities’ and health; in essence the relationships between different forms of movement and health and wellbeing. This covers, for example, different modes of travel (whether on foot, by cycle, car, train or air) and migration and health. Such flows can have positive and negative consequences for health. For example, walking can be therapeutic but this depends on the context of the walk. Journeys by train can be very enjoyable and thereby contribute to wellbeing, but not if the train is crowded or seriously delayed. Migration might find people living in a healthier environment, but not if the relocation is forced on them by other circumstances. Yet ‘mobilities’ includes other forms of movement; for example, the spread (diffusion) of infections and disease, and the delivery of health care on the move and in virtual environments.

I have also undertaken research on the geographical dimensions of palliative care provision, working with a former research student, Justin Wood, on the provision of specialist adult hospices in England. This used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map and analyse access to services and to relate this to spatial variation in service provision.

I remain interested in geographical aspects of health inequalities and in the socio-spatial theorising underlying these. I continue to be fascinated by the work of Pierre Bourdieu in this regard.

My methodological interests are quite broad. While I have undertaken research using GIS and spatial data analysis I am sympathetic to a range of approaches to the geography of health. As ever, the research problem or questions dictate the methods!

Additional Information

Until July 2014 I was Dean (and founding Dean) of the Faculty of Health & Medicine (FHM) at Lancaster University. Prior to my appointment as Dean of FHM I was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2005-08). I am Emeritus Professor of the Geography of Health at Lancaster University, and was for eight years Director of the Institute for Health Research (IHR).

As Dean I was a member of the University’s senior management team (formerly known as the University Management Advisory Group: UMAG). Externally, I was a Board member of the North West Coast Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and I represented the University on the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA).

I hold a First Class Honours degree in Geography from Bristol University and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, where I was awarded a Fulbright graduate student Fellowship. I am the author of ‘Geographies of Health: an Introduction’ (third edition, 2015, published by John Wiley, fourth edition in progress, with Susan Elliott) and author or editor of six other books: Who Cares?: Unequal Geographies of Healthcare; Global Health: Geographical Connections; Mobilities & Health; GIS and Health; Interactive Spatial Data Analysis; and Distance and Space. I was presented with the Murchison Award from the Royal Geographical Society in 2008 for my contributions to the geography of health.

PhD Supervision Interests

Geography of health, including:

geographical epidemiology

health inequalities

environmental change and health

mobility and health

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