Mark is Professor of Health and Care Policy and Director of the Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care at the University of South Wales.

Since 2008 at WIHSC, he has undertaken more than 200 specialist research studies and evaluative reviews and gained considerable experience of managing and delivering complex and sensitive studies specifically in health and social care, and across the public sector in the UK. He has developed an expertise in applied research and evaluation methodologies and his work is focused on providing a robust and independent evidence-base in all of WIHSC’s work.

Mark graduated from University of Wales Swansea with both BA and PhD, and was a Lecturer there for two years. He worked for four years as Head of Qualitative Research at a social research company, before joining WIHSC in April 2008. Mark’s work has centred on the application and implementation of health and social care policy in practice, and the evidence of its effectiveness. This has involved the evaluation of interventions and innovative working practices in health and care and understanding the impact of the voice and control of service users across health and social care. He is also interested in the role and influence of the third sector in care, well-being and health, and the influence that independent, academic evidence has on policy at a national level.

He has authored more than 150 reports which have directly impacted upon policy decisions within the public sector, and has published numerous academic papers in journals relevant to the fields of social care, planning and health.

More detail about Mark can be found here.

Mark has developed an expertise in applied research and evaluation methodologies and his work is focused on providing an evidence-base upon which decisions around policy and practice across health, social care and the third sector can be taken. The focus for Mark over the last decade and more working in this field is the connection between evidence and policy, and the positive contribution that independent research and evaluation data can make. There are a number of key themes which connect the different projects and programmes Mark has worked on:

• Applying evidence to the practice of national policy making across health and social care;
• Rethinking the relationship between the citizen and the state;
• Leadership and influence through the production of accessible, evidential research reports;
• Role of the third sector in delivering and influencing health and social care;
• Evaluating outcomes for service users, patients and the public; and
• Service evaluation, results based accountability and mixed methodologies

Mark has been appointed to a number of roles, boards and groups to support the work of the sector, using his skills, knowledge and expertise:

• National Advisor, Development of Interdisciplinary evaluation centre of complex innovations in health & social care – the IDEAS National Evaluation Team, University of Northumbria (funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research) – February 2025-January 2030
• UKRI Policy Fellowships 2025, Chair of Panel 4 (An NHS for the future) – September 2025
• Scientific Committee Member, International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC26) – September 2025-April 2026
• Member, IMPACT Wales Network (Data to improve adult social care) – October 2025-April 2026  
• Wales Trustee and Chair of Wales Advisory Board, Carers Trust – August 2023 onwards
• Working Group Member, Independent Living Social Care, Disability Rights Taskforce, Welsh Government – October 2022 to July 2023
• Ministerial Appointment as Expert Group Member and Sub-Group Chair (Citizen Voice), National Care Service for Wales, Welsh Government – February to October 2022
• Board Member, Third Sector Research Partnership – July 2022 onwards
• Expert Reference Group Member, Social Care Research, Health and Care Research Wales – June 2022 onwards
• Commissioning Panel Member, ESRC Policy Fellowships – August 2021 onwards
• Member, IMPACT Assembly Wales – July 2021 onwards
• Advisory Group Member, ExChange Wales Adult Social Care Advisory Group, Cardiff University – May 2021 onwards
• Sounding Board Member, Engage Britain on the future of health and social care – January 2021 onwards
• Appointed Member, Welsh Government COVID-19 Stabilisation and Reconstruction Board: Social Care and Integration – July to November 2020
• Member, Carers Trust Wales Research, Policy and Engagement Advisory Group – November 2019
• Steering Group Member, Measuring the Mountain, Welsh Government – June 2019 to January 2021
• Multidisciplinary Stakeholder Lead and Executive Board member, PRIME Centre Wales – November 2018
• Editorial Board Member, EnvisAGE, the journal of Age Cymru – September 2018 onwards
• Advisor, Central Research Committee, Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) – October 2017-April 2020
• Wales Representative, Expert Reference Group on Options for Funding the NHS and Social Care, for Rand Europe – July 2017-April 2018
• Independent Member, Clinical Ethics Committee, Cwm Taf University Health Board – January 2017 onwards
• Trustee and Board Member, Wales Council for Voluntary Action – November 2015 onwards (Vice Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, January 2021 onwards)
• Member, Welsh Advisory Group, Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) – September 2015-April 2020
• Appointed Member, All Wales Academic Social Care Collaborative, Welsh Government (Social Services Directorate) – June 2013-August 2015