Dr Santosh Bhatta

• Qualifications:PhD, MSc (UWE, Bristol), PGCertHE
• Position:Senior Lecturer in Public Health
• Department:School of Health and Social Wellbeing
• Telephone:+441173281240
• Email:Santosh.Bhatta@uwe.ac.uk
• Social media:

About me

Santosh is an alumnus of UWE, where he completed his MSc in Environmental Health and PhD in Public Health. In his MSc dissertation, he explored the utility of using hospital emergency department records to understand the distribution of injuries with a view to informing future research and data collection. His PhD research employed a multi-method approach to explore the environmental risks associated with unintentional childhood injuries within the home environment.

Following the completion of his studies, he worked as a Research Associate at the University of the West of England (UWE, Bristol), based in the Centre for Academic Child Health (CACH). He was involved in many research projects at the Nepal Injury Research Centre (NIRC), funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Group and sponsored by UWE, Bristol.

Santosh is currently working as a senior lecturer in public health at School of Health and Social Wellbeing, UWE Bristol, and leads several modules on the MSc and BSc Public Health programme. He is the module leader for Research and Project Management Skills (MSc Public Health) and Introduction to Evidence-Based Population Health (BSc Public Health) programme. Santosh is also involved in module lead and teaching in UWE College of Hainan Medical University, Hainan, China.

Santosh is actively involved in dissertation supervision of MSc Public health students. He serves as personal tutor for several students on the MSc Public Health programme and BSc Public Health Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship at UWE Bristol, supporting students with their learning to enhance their academic performance and confidence.

Santosh is a Primary Member of the Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing (CPHWB). He leads the Global Public Health theme, which brings together social science, public health, and implementation research to address pressing population health challenges globally. Santosh also serves as a member of the Centre’s Management Group, contributing to its strategic leadership and development.

Area of expertise

Santosh is experienced in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies as well as evidence synthesis (systematic reviews and meta-analysis). He is interested in research on injury prevention and safety promotion in low- and middle-income countries.

Santosh has secured the following grants and awards as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator:

As Principal Investigator 

• 2026 - 2028 (External grants): United Nation Road Safety Fund (UNRFS), $500,000. As UWE Lead, collaborating with WHO Nepal, UNICEF Nepal, and Nepal’s Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport to strengthen helmet legislation, advance youth engagement, and improve universal helmet compliance in Nepal.
• 2024 - 2026 (External grant): Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND), Medical Research Council (MRC), UKRI, £150,000. PI leadership of an intervention development study focused on preventing home injuries among pre-school children in rural Nepal.
• 2025 - 2026 (Internal grant): Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), UWE Bristol, £8,000. Led a knowledge-exchange project translating child injury prevention research into practice in rural Nepal.
• 2024 - 2025 (External grant): Proposal and Partnership Development Award, NIHR, £10,000. PI responsibility for international partnership development and preparatory work for a competitive NIHR RIGHT call application.
• 2024 - 2025 (Internal grant): Engagement and Impact Fund, UWE Bristol, £20,000. Led impact planning and structured stakeholder engagement to support translation of injury research findings into policy- and practice-relevant contexts.
• 2020 - 2024 (Internal grant): Quality-Related Research Funding Awards, UWE Bristol, (multiple awards, including Research Investment Scheme). Supported publication development and preparatory work for external funding applications, contributing to the sustainability and progression of injury prevention research programme in Nepal. 

As Co-Investigator / Co-Applicant 

• 2017 - 2020 (External grant): NIHR Global Health Research Group on Nepal Injury Research, NIHR, £1.99 million. Contributed to programme design and delivery across multiple projects focused on injury surveillance and prevention in Nepal, including leadership of primary and secondary studies and production of peer-reviewed outputs.
• 2019 - 2020 (External grant): Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), £6,000. Building Global Partnerships for Global Challenges. Supported the development of international academic partnerships, including collaboration with Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, to strengthen South Asian research networks.

Publications

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