Jenna’s research focuses on evaluating environmental and policy interventions, examining patterns and determinants of change in physical activity, and evidence synthesis. She brings a geographical perspective to public health research which includes spatial and equity focused analysis. She has led complex quantitative studies with multiple interacting work packages and qualitative and mixed-method analysis, mostly funded by NIHR. Current and recent examples of research leadership vary in scale and design, and include a feasibility study of a randomised control trial for financial incentives to promote alternatives to the car, and a national evaluation of the schools streets schemes. Team members are all part of the Population Interventions Programme.

Jenna was awarded a Bsc in Environmental Sciences (2006) and PhD (2010) from the University of East Anglia. Her PhD focused on the environmental and psychosocial influences on walking and cycling, using data from the SPEEDY and EPIC-Norfolk studies. She then moved to the MRC Epidemiology Unit to work as the lead quantitative researcher on a large mixed-method evaluation study. She then won an NIHR post-doctoral fellowship (2013 to 2015) which focused on understanding the effects of environmental changes on walking, cycling and physical activity, as well as understanding the mechanisms by which such changes in behaviour are brought about.

She has collaborated with academics from across the globe and provided an expert testimony and submitted evidence to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Programme Development Group for their guidance on promoting walking and cycling and also co-authored the chapter on ‘obesogenic environments’ part of a key British Government Foresight report entitled “Tackling Obesities: Future Choices”.