Dr. Tony Gatrell, Dean, School of Health and Medicine, Professor of Health Geography, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Tony’s research interests are primarily in the geography of health, particularly geographical epidemiology, the geography of health service provision, and geographical aspects of health inequalities.
Tony Gatrell earned his Masters and PhD, and did postgraduate study at the Pennsylvania State University in the United States, under the supervision of the late Peter Gould. He was a lecturer in Geography at Salford University, then moved to Lancaster in 1984, where he taught geography for some twelve years. He then was appointed Director of the Institute for Health Research, which he held until he was promoted to Dean of Arts Social Sciences in 2004. In March 2008, he was appointed as the first Dean of the School of Health Medicine.
Tony’s research made extensive use of spatial data analysis and geographical information systems (GIS). He coauthored Interactive Spatial Data Analysis, with Trevor Bailey (Addison Wesley Longman, 1995). His Geographies of Health (Blackwell, 2002) is being revised (with Susan Elliott ) for publication in late 2008. Prior to taking on his role as Dean, Tony was conducting research into: the benefits to health and mental well-being of gardening in later life; variation in place of death and care preferences among people with terminal cancer; health and environment in Halton Borough; and partners and parenting in Cumbria. He has published in Social Science Medicine, Health Place, and Journal of Public Health Medicine, among others. Tony was the recipient of the prestigious Murchison Award from the Royal Geographical Society in 2002, for contributions to the geography of health.
During his tenure at IHR, Tony taught at the postgraduate level, contributing to the module Health and Environment and convened the module Surveys and Questionnaire Design in Health and Social Care. He has supervised many research students, whose research has ranged from cancer survival to cancer epidemiology, the geography of health inequalities and the impact of air pollution on human health.
Tony may be contacted at a.gatrell@lancaster.ac.uk.
Updated: June 2008
Health and Medical Geography 