Contact information
Research groups
MSc in Translational Health Sciences
Jackie coleads the following modules on the MSc in Translational Health Sciences:
- Critical Social Sciences in Health Care
- Technological Innovation and Digital Health
Jackie van Dael
BSc, MSc, PhD, FHEA
Health Services Researcher
I am an interdisciplinary social scientist who utilises qualitative and ethnographic approaches to study digital health and innovation in healthcare. Drawing on theory from medical sociology, organisation studies, and science and technology studies, my work examines the social and ethical implications of various ‘digital transformation’ projects in the NHS, focusing on how caring practices, patienthood, and mechanisms of exclusion are being reconfigured in light of this.
I colead the SEARCH study (2025-26), a mixed-methods study that examines social and ethical aspects of (remote) care provided to patients on the 'Special Allocation Scheme', a scheme for patients who have been excluded from their GP practice following (alleged) violence. Alongside this, I support the qualitative and theoretical work in DECIDE, a new centre focused on rapid evaluation of technology-enabled remote monitoring. In my Social Sciences Engagement Fellowship, I am responsible for translating critical social science insights from our DECIDE research into the development of the NHS digital health check programme through working with non-academic partners. I also lead the ethnographic work in the Together-2 study (2022-2025), a mixed-methods evaluation of video and hybrid group consultations in general practice, with collaborators from the Universities of York and Exeter.
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have taught and supervised at postgraduate level, on topics such as patient knowledge and the politics of evidence, complexity and sociotechnical innovation, and critical data studies. I also co-lead the department's Social Theory Group which meets bimonthly to discuss theoretical papers in fields spanning sociology, STS, organisation studies, and medical anthropology.
Prior to joining Oxford, I held several research and teaching positions at Imperial College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). I completed my PhD in 2021 at Imperial College (in collaboration with LSE) in which I examined formal complaints and their handling in the NHS.
Recent publications
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Abdelaziz S. et al, (2024), BMJ Open, 14, e089026 - e089026
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Payne R. et al, (2024), BMJ Quality and Safety, 33, 573 - 586
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Greenhalgh T. et al, (2024), Sociol Health Illn
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Papoutsi C. et al, (2024), NIHR Open Research, 4
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Papoutsi C. et al, (2024)