Associated with UCSF since 2026 | heather.elizabeth.wilson@regionh.dk
I began my career at the University of Edinburgh, where I completed an honors degree in Nursing Studies. Clinical placements sparked my interest in public health, prevention, and policy. After qualifying, I joined the graduate scheme at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), rotating across policy and communications, while working clinically several times a month as an oncology nurse at the Royal Marsden Hospital.
I then moved to the Health Foundation, a policy think tank and research funder, as a Policy Officer, focusing on the wider determinants of health and the role of the workforce in reducing health inequalities. Alongside this, I continued clinical practice, including as a Senior Nurse in UCLH Accident and Emergency. During COVID-19, I served as a clinical lead at a mass vaccination centre, leading work to reach vulnerable communities.
I obtained my MPH in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine part-time whilst working and published by MPH thesis, titled ‘Newspaper Representation of Mandatory Vaccination Against COVID-19 for Healthcare Workers in England: A Qualitative Framing Analysis’.
Most recently, I worked at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, in the Health Workforce and Service Delivery Unit, Division of Country Health Policies and Systems. I was supporting 53 Member States both proactively and reactively to strengthen Nursing and Midwifery across a range of policy and research areas.
I am now undertaking my PhD project, Nurse Leadership and Policy Impact: Denmark and Global Exchange. I will utilize qualitative methodology (scoping review, interviews, observational study and policy analysis) to explore leadership in Denmark with case studies in Kenya, India and the UK. The project is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. I am enrolled as a PhD student at the department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.
Selected publications
- World Health Organization (2026) Safe Nurse Staffing: Policies and Approaches. Available:
https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2026-13146-52920-82459
- State of the world's nursing: investing in education, jobs, leadership and service delivery. Geneva: World Health Organization; (2025) Available:
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240110236
- Greenley, R., Aiken, L.H., Sermeus, W., McKee, M., Wilson, H. And Langins, M. (2024) Strengthening Europe's Nursing Workforce: Strategies for Retention.
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Available:
https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/i/strengthening-europe-s-nursing-workforce-strategies-for-retention
- Wilson, H. and McKee, M. (2024) Framing analysis of mandatory vaccination for health workers in national newspapers.
Journal of Public Health Communications. Available:
https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2024.2394763
- Wilson, H. and McGee, S. (2023) Reducing the barriers to work for people in ill health.
The Health Foundation. Available:
https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/consultation-responses/key-priorities-to-address-barriers-to-work-for-people-in-ill-health