Interdisciplinary Research in Health Sciences (IRIHS)
IRIHS, founded in 2015, is a mixed-method research unit led by Professor Sara Shaw and Associate Professor Chrysanthi Papoutsi. IRIHS aims to undertake high-quality interdisciplinary research, teaching and applied scholarship across a range of fields relating to the organisation and delivery of health and care services, the social science of health innovation, public health, health inclusion and equity.
Our IRIHS team comprises five Professors (3 clinical), one Associate Professor, 17 academic staff and 5 support/ academic-related staff. Four honorary IRIHS academics bring expertise and ideas from other Universities in the UK and abroad.
We currently supervising 31 DPhil students
IRIHS Annual Report 2025
Group Leads
Sara Shaw
ShawChrysanthi Papoutsi
PapoutsiResources
NASSS-CAT Tools
The NASSS-CAT tools have been developed to help you plan, undertake and evaluate technology-supported change projects in health or social care. They are based on the Non-adoption, Abandonment, and challenges to Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) framework which has been combined with a complexity assessment toolkit.
Aerosols and making spaces safe
Hands - Face - Space - Replace
A series of animated video summaries of Professor Trish Greenhalgh's research on preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Video consulting in the NHS
Developed by Professor Sara Shaw and Professor Trish Greenhalgh from the IRIHS Team in collaboration with Barts Health NHS Trust and Design Science.
Staff and patient guides - Group clinics
The staff guides will help practitioners deliver video and hybrid group clinics that are inclusive and efficient.
The patient guide will help patients or their carers prepare for a group clinic and get the most out of it.
Programmes
Projects
Research studies
Latest publications
Choreographing triage: Making patient requests ‘flow’ through digitally enabled systems of access and decision-making in NHS primary care
Journal article
Brenman N. et al, (2026), Sociology of Health and Illness
Teamwork and relational infrastructure: a qualitative study of modern UK general practice.
Journal article
Dakin FH. et al, (2026), Br J Gen Pract
Toxic experts in longevity business: A multilevel relational framing of emergence
Journal article
Mergen A. et al, (2026), Organization
Synthesis challenges in complex evidence: A critical analysis of systematic reviews of face mask efficacy
Journal article
Greenhalgh T. et al, (2026), Research Synthesis Methods
Patient removals: time to rethink exclusion in general practice?
Journal article
Brenman N. et al, (2026), British Journal of General Practice the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 76, 10 - 11