A dynamic academic-service collaboration dedicated to transforming health and care across the East of England.
Healthy Futures East (HFE) is a collaborative programme designed to strengthen the interface between research and practice in health and care across the East of England. We support evidence-informed decision-making and service improvement through structured partnerships and shared learning.
Our mission is to strengthen the integration of research and practice in the East of England, leveraging collective expertise to address health challenges, reduce inequalities, and improve health outcomes for all. We aim to build capacity, enhance knowledge exchange, and drive impactful, sustainable improvements in health and care services with a clear focus on achieving population health impact.
Read our introductory blog: Healthy Futures East: Connecting knowledge, practice and place
We bring together universities, health and care systems, local authorities, and communities to tackle complex health challenges through evidence-based, place-sensitive solutions. By integrating research and practice, we foster innovation, equity, and real-world problem solving—building capacity, accelerating knowledge exchange, and improving health outcomes for all.
Our Aims:
- Connect and Collaborate: Establish cross-regional partnerships, structures, and processes to share insights on population health needs and research opportunities.
- Innovate Solutions: Develop HFE Task Force Approach to address pressing health and care issues through evidence-based approaches.
- Build Capacity: Strengthen skills and knowledge at the academic–service interface, enabling faster translation of research into action and effective evaluation of service delivery.
HFE Task Force Approach
Our unique task force model enables rapid, collaborative responses to pressing issues, ensuring that local context and lived experience shape sustainable improvements in health and care. Each task force brings together academics, practitioners, and service users to
- Co-define problems
- Synthesise diverse evidence
- Generate actionable recommendations.
This approach supports integrated care systems by aligning with population health management priorities and producing practical, place-based solutions that are ready for implementation.
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HFE has grown out of a strong foundation of regional collaboration, evolving from the East of England Population Health Research Hub (PHReSH). PHReSH brought together over 80 academics and practitioners to support the COVID-19 response, demonstrating the power of cross-sectoral partnerships in tackling urgent health challenges. It focused on evidence generation, knowledge exchange, and capacity building—principles that continue to underpin HFE’s work. PHResH resources remain available in the PHResH Resource Library.
In late 2023, a regional roundtable identified a shared ambition to deepen collaboration between academic and service partners to address complex population health needs. Recognising the limitations of fragmented efforts and the need for coordinated action, a Task and Finish group was formed to develop a new model for integrated working. Their recommendations led to the creation of Healthy Futures East—a forward-looking, action-oriented collaboration designed to harness the region’s rich expertise and resources.
In March 2025, we hosted the Healthier Futures for the East Symposium at the University of Cambridge to mark the transition from PHResH to HFE. This milestone event brought together over 90 leaders from academia, public health, the NHS, Integrated Care Boards, local authorities, and national funders. Together, we reflected on the region’s health challenges, celebrated PHResH’s achievements, and co-designed the vision for HFE. The symposium catalysed a shared ambition: to build a more collaborative, preventive, and data-informed health system that delivers deep and lasting impact.
The insights and recommendations from the symposium directly shaped HFE’s structure, priorities, and approach. With a dedicated core team, strategic governance, and a scalable operating model, HFE now leads a region-wide effort to integrate research and practice, pilot Health Challenge Task Forces and embed evaluation and knowledge mobilisation into service improvement.
Healthy Futures East is guided by a multi-tiered governance model designed to ensure strategic alignment, operational effectiveness, and inclusive representation across the East of England. Our Steering Group is responsible for resource allocation and decision-making, and an Operational Group oversees day-to-day delivery and problem-solving.
Our work is guided by the Advisory Group, which brings together expert members from academia and service partners to shape strategic direction and priorities. Activities are organised into dedicated Workstreams, each focused on specific thematic areas and projects. The Advisory Group ensures that regional needs are identified and addressed through collaborative, evidence‑informed action.
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Steering Group
| Edward Morris, Regional Medical Director for East of England |
| John Clarkson, Co-Director, Cambridge Public Health and Professor of Engineering Design, University of Cambridge |
| Sian Evans, Deputy Director Local Knowledge and Intelligence Service (LKIS) / Acting Associate Director LKIS East Office for Health Improvement and Disparities |
| Helen Green, Consultant in Public Health – Population Health and Quality (East of England), NHS England, East of England |
| Danielle Cannon, Head of Strategy, Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge |
Operational group
| Danielle Tucker, Programme Director |
| Sharon Chow, Programme Manager |
| Timos Kipouros, Systems Lead |
| Helen Green, Consultant in Public Health |
| Danielle Cannon, Head of Strategy |
| Judith Fynn, Workstream Lead for Prevention |
| Becky Wolfe, Communications Manager, Communications Manaager |
Advisory group
Our Advisory Group draws on expertise from academia and service partners to guide our work, with a membership that adapts over time to reflect emerging priorities.
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