Dr Stephen Bell

Steve Bell is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney. With interdisciplinary training in human geography, anthropology, development studies and public health, he has over 21 years’ experience of community-based qualitative, participatory and ethnographic research, with a focus on the health and wellbeing of marginalised peoples, health inequity and injustice, and the socio-structural determinants of health. Based in academic, research consultancy and non-governmental organisations, he has undertaken research, evaluation and strategy work in countries in South-East Asia (India, Nepal), Western Pacific (Australia, Indonesia, PNG, Fiji), Africa (Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and Europe (UK, France).

Steve works in partnership with communities, community organisations and government institutions to build understandings of people’s everyday experiences of health and wellbeing, societal structures that produce health inequalities, and community action that effects change. He specialises in the use of community-based methods and interpretive approaches to access and amplify excluded voices, knowledges and experiences, and is committed to prioritising community expertise and leadership to strengthen health programs, services, polices and outcomes. He has published two edited collections in these areas: ‘Peer research in health and social development: international perspectives on participatory research’ (2021), and ‘Monitoring and evaluation in health and social development: interpretive and ethnographic perspectives’ (2016). He is Joint Editor, Sexual Health journal and Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board for Culture, Health & Sexuality. He is not currently taking on new PhD students.