The York Policy Engine welcomes new team members
Posted on Thursday 10 September 2026
Brian Ferguson MBE will join us as a Senior Advisor.
Kate Questa
Kate is joining the University of York in 2026 as the Project Manager for the New Horizons Fund.
The New Horizons Fund is a partnership between the University’s Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU), based in the School for Business and Society, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, established to drive research-led social change in the York and North Yorkshire area.
Kate’s role involves working with The York Policy Engine and SPRU to deliver the fund and to build impactful collaborations between key stakeholders, including researchers, local residents, grassroots groups and local councils.
About Kate
Prior to joining the University of York, Kate worked for nearly a decade in public health roles, originally training clinically, and qualifying as a Public Health Specialist in 2021. Working predominantly in West Yorkshire, Kate developed particular interests in community centred public health, health inequalities and co-produced policy making.
Kate now works in a non-medical capacity to support collaborations, empower community voice and mobilise knowledge to shape policy and practice. Kate is a trustee for a community based charity in Bradford, and is a member of the Faculty of Public Health’s Poverty Special Interest Group.
Professor Aniela Wenham, Co-Director of SPRU, said “We’re delighted to welcome Kate to the New Horizons team. Kate brings a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to turning ambitious ideas into meaningful change for the region. We’re excited to have her with us as we build the vision for New Horizons Fund together”
Professor Brian Ferguson MBE
The York Policy Engine is also pleased to announce that Professor Brian Ferguson MBE will join the team as a senior advisor.
Professor Ferguson has worked across academia, the NHS and Civil Service in a 40 year career in the health field.
In 2020 Professor Ferguson was appointed as the new NIHR Public Health Research Programme Director and undertook this role until July 2025.
Anthonia James, Head of The York Policy Engine, said: “We’re delighted that Professor Ferguson is joining our team. As an advisor, he will bring a wealth of experience and insight from his distinguished academic background and will strengthen our offer to colleagues looking to use their research to pursue policy change.”
Professor Ferguson said: "The work of the Policy Engine is really valuable and I'm looking forward to working with the team, particularly focusing on health and social care. There is great potential to further strengthen the impact on policy of the great research being undertaken at York".
About Professor Brian Ferguson
Professor Brian Ferguson was Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme from July 2020 to June 2025 and Public Health Strategic Advisor to the Department of Health & Social Care / NIHR between July 2025 and March 2026.
Prior to NIHR Brian was Chair of the Association of Public Health Observatories and joined Public Health England (PHE) in 2013 where he was Chief Economist until 2021. Whilst in PHE he was a member of, and chaired for two years, the OECD Expert Group on the Economics of Public Health.
Brian has previously held posts as Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Economics, University of York, and was the founding Professor of Health Economics in the University of Leeds. He was a member of the National Public Health Career Scientist Award Panel for five years and was an NHS non-executive director for four years. He was a member of NICE’s Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2008. Brian was admitted to the UK Public Health Register in 2007 and held professional registration until 2022 (choosing not to re-register for a further five years). He has been a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health for approximately 25 years.
Brian was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours 2026, for services to public health research.