The University of Stirling

United Kingdom

The University of Stirling is an international university with pioneering spirit and a global reputation for high-quality teaching and research. Founded in 1967, the University of Stirling has always been driven by transformative thinking and a will of innovation. Its aim is to be recognised across the world as a University that addresses the needs of society through innovative and interdisciplinary research, learning and teaching of the highest quality, and by sharing its knowledge with the world. The core strength of the University of Stirling is the people. To build on our success, they invest in the best staff from around the world to deliver on the ambitious strategies for research, teaching and international partnerships. The Institute for Social Marketing (ISM) is the UK’s leading social marketing research centre, bringing over 35 years’ experience to the study and dissemination of social marketing theory and practice. ISM conducts research in three areas: the use of social marketing concepts and theory to understand health behaviour and to inform the development and evaluation of behaviour change interventions; the critical examination of the effects of commercial marketing on health and society, and the impact of policies to control commercial marketing and to protect public health.

Sean Sample

Sean Semple is a Professor of Exposure Science at the University of Stirling in Scotland with over 25 years experience in quantifying human exposure to hazards. He has published widely on the measurement of second-hand tobacco smoke and on the benefits of smoke-free environments. His research examines the use of exposure information to challenge beliefs about smoking in the home and to encourage smokers and wider society to shift towards making all homes smoke-free spaces.

Kate Hunt

Kate Hunt joined the University of Stirling in 2018 as Professor in Behavioural Sciences and Health, in the Institute for Social Marketing and Health. Before moving to Stirling, she worked for many years in the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow. She has a longstanding interest in inequalities in health and in Gender and Health. In recent years, her research has focused on the development and evaluation of public health interventions and policy. Kate has served on several UK funding boards, including MRC Population and Systems Medicine Board, NIHR Public Health Research funding board, and MRC Population Health Intervention Development Scheme. She is Chair of CSO’s Health Improvement, Protection and Services Committee (2022-), and was a Trustee for the Foundation for Medical Sociology. She was President of the UK Society for Social Medicine and Population Health from 2020-1. Kate is an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, and Curtin University, Australia.

Rachel O’Donnell

Dr Rachel O’Donnell is a Senior Research Fellow and Patient and Public Involvement Lead at the Institute for Social Marketing and Health (University of Stirling, Scotland). She has over 15 years’ expertise in smoke-free homes intervention development and health behaviour change. She has led/worked on several national/international mixed methods smoke-free homes studies and has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in this area of work. Rachel currently leads a Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funded pilot randomised controlled trial of use of nicotine replacement therapy to reduce children’s exposure to second-hand smoke (2023-2025). She also co-leads SHINE, the smoke-free homes international research network.