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Sundus Mahdi
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

Sundus is a Research Associate and project manager in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, specialising in food systems and public health policy with a focus on child nutrition and health inequalities. Her work has primarily centred on the multidisciplinary UKRI-funded FixOurFood programme, where she managed the Early Years and Schools subsystem. In this role, she led impactful projects such as the Free School Meal (FSM) auto-enrolment initiative, which has supported over 100 local authorities in implementing registration processes that have secured meals for over 20,000 children. Her contributions to this work were recognised with the Inclusive Impact Award for Social Inclusion in 2023.

Sundus has completed an MSc in Health Psychology at University College London and a Wellcome Trust funded PhD in Public Health Economics and Decision Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Her research was focused on exploring feasible approaches to evaluating dietary digital interventions with a focus on the Change4Life Food Scanner app and its impacts on clinical, economic and health outcomes. This research included mapping of behaviour change techniques onto the Change4Life Food Scanner app, stakeholder engagement for the conceptual modelling of a dietary digital intervention, a pilot and feasibility study investigating the effects of the Change4Life Food Scanner app on dietary intake, and a cost-consequence analysis of the Food Scanner app.

Throughout her PhD, Sundus established various public and third sector experience and collaborations. This included publishing a report on the salt content within crumpets in collaboration with Action on Salt and conducting consultations with local authorities in collaboration with OHID Y&H on issues relating to food in a school setting. Sundus has also led public engagement initiatives in delivering healthy eating workshops to primary school children.

Through her extensive teaching experience, Sundus was awarded recognition as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2023. She is also active in the wider research community as a co-chair of the Faculty of Public Health Food Special Interest Group (SIG), a national group addressing health and sustainability priorities in food systems. She also serves as a committee member for the UK Public Health Science Conference and as a Policy Officer for the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO). 

Qualifications

  • BSc Psychology, University College London
  • MSc Health Psychology, University College London
  • PhD Public Health Economics and Decision Sciences (Wellcome Trust funded), School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research

Overview

Sundus' current research focuses on addressing health inequalities within the secondary school food system. The primary aims of this work involve identifying secondary school food priorities and policy gaps through extensive public engagement and involvement. This includes establishing dedicated advisory groups and utilising co-design methods with pupils to ensure that future research reflects lived experiences and community priorities. Parallel to this, she is an Honorary Embedded Researcher with the Bradford City Council Public Health Team and the Health Determinants Research Collaborative (HDRC), where she collaborates on regional school food strategies and evaluation methods.

Sundus is passionate about food policies that aim to improve children’s diet and overall health whilst also reducing health inequalities. She also has a keen interest in whole systems approaches to see successful changes in behaviours and health outcomes.

Her additional research interests include development and evaluation of public health interventions, school food settings, economic evaluations of childhood dietary interventions, behaviour change theory and the behavioural sciences.

Sundus is keen to develop her skills in partnership working and welcomes opportunities for collaboration within and outside of academia.

Projects

  • Secondary school food policies: a priority setting exercise
  • Exploring parents’ perspectives on shame and stigma associated with free school meals
  • Transformation towards healthy and sustainable school meals: A FixOurFood experimental school project developing new school food menus that benefit children's and planetary health
  • Implementation and evaluation of auto-enrolment processes for Free School Meals across Yorkshire and beyond: A legacy project to inform and influence regional and national policy
  • Fix our Food in Schools: A Yorkshire based experimental school cohort supporting the co-design, implementation and evaluation of strategies aiming to transform food systems

Research group(s)

Grants

School Food Matters: Exploring parents’ perspectives on shame and stigma associated with free school meals (June 2026 – May 2027): £24,973 [role: Co-PI]

  • NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme (April 2026 – March 2027): £6388 [role: Lead Applicant]
  • NIHR Pre-Application Support Fund (March 2026 – February 2027): £65,918 (role: Lead Applicant).
  • ESRC Festival of Social Sciences Grant (Nov 2023): £1,520 (Role: Lead Applicant).
  • White Rose Prosper Development Grant (Feb – April 2026): £650.
  • Wellcome Trust Doctoral Studentship (2017–2023): Public Health, Health Economics and Decision Science.

Supervision

If you are interested in studying for a PhD in any of the following areas, and have PhD funding confirmed, please get in touch:

  • Development and evaluation of public health nutrition interventions
  • Food policies
  • School food settingsChildhood dietary interventions
  • Dietary mobile interventions 
  • Behaviour change theory and the behavioural sciences in relation to public health nutrition.

Publications

Selected publications

Contact details

Dr Sundus Mahdi
Research Associate

External activities

Memberships

  • Co-chair of the Food Special Interest Group (SIG), Faculty of Public Health.
  • Policy Officer, Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO).
  • Organising committee member of the UK Public Health Science Conference.
  • Organising committee member for the Transforming UK Food Systems annual meeting 2026.
  • Organising Committee Member, Public Health and Society Culture Club (research culture committee), Department of Health Sciences, University of York
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Invited talks and conferences

  • Invited webinar: "Closing the Hunger Gap: the case for Free School Meal Auto-enrolment”. Nutrition Society Special Interest Group. June 2026.
  • Invited speaker: "Closing the Hunger Gap: the case for Free School Meal Auto-enrolment”. School Food People (LACA). June 2026.
  • Invited webinar: "Food for Thought – FixOurFood in Schools – Making School Meals Work for All." Food Standards Agency. October 2025.
  • Invited webinar: "Supporting Free School Meal auto-enrolment in Yorkshire and beyond." Local Government Association. June 2024.
  • Invited talk: "Supporting Free School Meal auto-enrolment in Yorkshire and beyond." APSE Catering Advisory Group. March 2024.
  • Invited talk: "Evaluating the Change4Life Food Scanner app in improving psychological and dietary outcomes: a randomised pilot and feasibility study." ASO Yorkshire network event: Sheffield Hallam. December 2023.
  • Invited talk: "Supporting Free School Meal Auto-Enrolment in Yorkshire and Beyond." Faculty of Public Health, Food Special Interest Group. Online meeting. September 2023.

Media coverage

  • National Public Radio (2025): "Using an app to rate food for nutrition? Take the results with a grain of salt"
  • The Guardian (2024): "free school meal allowances too low for healthy lunches, study finds"
  • BBC News (2023): Featured coverage on the success of the Free School Meal auto-enrolment project.
  • NutritionInsight (2023): "Mixed bag: Research finds dietary app has “modest” health outcome terms but hails nutritional education"