Dr Ben Verboom

Profile

Dr Ben Verboom studies the politics of global health governance. He has written on the various ways in which scientific evidence and expert knowledge can be used to shape public policy, including how such knowledge is sometimes distorted and misused by political actors. He is also a global health activist and some of his research examines the role of civil society organizations and health justice movements in shaping health policy and governance.

Ben has a special interest in systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis methods, and how they are used to inform contemporary policy processes through so-called “evidence-based” decision-making. He applies various qualitative and critical approaches in his work.

Ben is part of the Global Health Unit within QMUL’s Wolfson Institute of Population Health. He teaches on the MSc in Global Public Health and Policy, serving as module lead for Health systems: policy and practice and interim module lead for Global health, governance and the law.

Ben holds a PhD and MSc from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto. Before joining Queen Mary in 2023, he lectured at the University of Oxford.

Research

Research Interests:

• Global health governance
• Health justice and activism
• Political economy
• Case study methods
• Evidence synthesis methods

Publications

Verboom, B., & Baumann, A. (2022). Mapping the qualitative evidence base on the use of research evidence in health policy-making: a systematic review. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 11(7), 883-898. DOI: 10.34172/IJHPM.2020.201.

Klinger, C., Burns, J., Movsisyan, A., Biallas, R., Norris, S. L., Rabe, J. E., ... & Verboom, B. (2021). Unintended health and societal consequences of international travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review. Journal of Travel Medicine, 28(7), taab123.

Bach-Mortensen, A. M., Verboom, B., Movsisyan, A., & Degli Esposti, M. (2021). A systematic review of the associations between care home ownership and COVID-19 outbreaks, infections and mortality. Nature Aging, 1(10), 948-961. DOI: 0.1038/s43587-021-00106-7.

Burns, J., Movsisyan, A., Stratil, J. M., Biallas, R. L., Coenen, M., Emmert-Fees, K. M., ... Verboom, B. & Rehfuess, E. (2021). International travel‐related control measures to contain the COVID‐19 pandemic: a rapid review. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2021, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD013717. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013717.pub2.

Bach‐Mortensen, A. M., & Verboom, B. (2020). Barriers and facilitators systematic reviews in health: A methodological review and recommendations for reviewers. Research Synthesis Methods, 11(6), 743-759. DOI: 10.1002/jrsm.1447.