Professor Alan Simpson

After qualifying and working as a Registered Mental Health Nurse in Somerset, Alan completed a BSc in Social Psychology at the University of Sussex, and then at the University of Brighton, a PhD in the coordination of community mental healthcare for people with severe mental illness. In between, he has worked in a range of clinical settings, is a qualified counsellor, and worked as a research nurse in addictions at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London. From 2001, he worked at City, University of London as a Research Fellow where he worked on a range of studies in inpatient and community mental health settings, employing qualitative and mixed methods. In 2009 Alan was promoted to Professor of Collaborative Mental Health Nursing and developed a programme of research in collaboration with mental health service users/carers, and clinical/academic researchers.

In February 2019, he joined King’s College London as Professor of Mental Health Nursing. With colleagues, he is developing a mental health research group, working across Health Services and Population Research in the IoPPN, and the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, and with South London and The Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Co-Director of the NIHR UCL-KCL Mental Health Research Policy Unit. Alan frequently employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in studies and has used a range of qualitative methodologies and methods, including innovative approaches involving lived experience researchers and remote working in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.