Angela Difeng Wu

Research Interests

My research interests focus on applying psychological and anthropological knowledge to public health policy and using our understanding of human behaviour to prevent illness and disease. In particular, I am interested in studying how "unhealthy" behaviours may be reasonable responses to situations and environments.

Current Projects

I am a part of the Oxford Tobacco Addiction Group and the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Presently my work involves evaluating the implementation of brief smoking cessation advice in a financial support setting, developing and piloting smoking cessation interventions to be delivered in social housing settings, and systematically reviewing and producing evidence gap maps of the evidence on electronic cigarette use/vaping for quitting smoking and interventions to help people to quit vaping/e-cigarette use. I am the PPI lead for the SAVINGS trial looking at integrating smoking cessation services in financial support settings. 

Additionally, I act as a module coordinator for the Health Behaviour Change short course, module tutor for Systematic Reviews and supervisor for MSc student for Evidence-Based Health Care. 

Education

In 2024, I completed my DPhil in the Primary Health Care Department. My doctoral research investigated the relationship between smoking cessation and recurrence of cardiovascular disease and mental health outcomes. I also focused on developing a way to reframe how smoking cessation support is offered by doctors, to promote doctors to view as an addiction to be treated and not a matter of lifestyle choice. My research was funded by the British Heart Foundation.

In 2020 I completed an MSc in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, awarded Distinction, at the University of Oxford.

In 2019, I graduated with a first class BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin. My final year research project was awarded Regional Winner for Psychology Paper 2019 by the Global Undergraduate Awards.