Creative Health Research Centres in England
For anyone considering a PhD in creative health, or researchers looking to build collaborations, it helps to know where expertise is already established. In England, creative health research is typically housed within research schools under the banners of arts and health or health humanities. These centres are shaping new knowledge while building partnerships across healthcare, culture, and policy.
This page highlights some of the key places leading this work. It’s designed as a starting point for those seeking supervisors, networks, or collaborators in the field. If you notice a research group we’ve missed, please let us know at info@ncch.org.uk so we can keep this resource as up to date and useful as possible.
Creative Health/ Arts for Health Research Centres/Groups
North-West England:
- Edge Hill University – Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing
- Manchester Metropolitan University – Arts for Health
- The University of Manchester – Creativity, Health and Wellbeing, and Music, Health and Wellbeing
- University of Liverpool – Centre for Health, Arts, Society & Environment (CHASE)
Yorkshire and the Humber
- Leeds Beckett University – Creative Arts and Health Research Laboratory (CAHREL)
- University of Hull – Centre for Applied Research in the Arts (CARA) - Arts, Health and Wellbeing strand
- Sheffield Hallam University – Lab4Living (Design for Health & Wellbeing)
- University of Huddersfield - Creative Health Hub
- York St John University - International Centre for Community Music and the Institute for Social Justice (Converge workstream)
East Midlands
- University of Derby – Arts and Health Research Cluster
- De Montfort University (Leicester) – Mary Seacole Research Centre (MSRC) – Arts and Mental Health Specialism
- University of Leicester – The Heritage Hub's Creative Health Network, along with a creative health workstream within the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare
- University of Northampton and University of Derby – Creative Dementia Research Group
- Loughborough University – Storytelling Academy (applied storytelling with health/wellbeing projects)
- University of Lincoln – Arts and Humanities for Health Research Group
- Nottingham Trent University – Digital, Technology and Creative - Creative tech for wellbeing focus
West Midlands
- University of Worcester – Arts and Health Research Group
- Coventry University – Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities (CAMC) – Wellbeing and the Arts Research Theme
- University of Wolverhampton – Tackling Inequalities through Heritage and the Arts
East England
- Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge & Chelmsford) – Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR), Wellbeing, Care Aesthetics and Art Research and Education Unit (We CARE) and The Arts, Health and Wellbeing Research Network
- University of Essex – Arts for Mental Health Advocacy network
- University of Suffolk – Centre for Culture & Heritage – Creative Health workstream
South-East England
- Canterbury Christ Church University – Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health
- University of Brighton – Centre for Arts and Wellbeing
South-West England
- University of West of England, Bristol – DRAW: Special Interest Research Group for research and evaluation of the arts for health and wellbeing
- University of Plymouth – Arts/Health Research Group
- Falmouth University – Centre for Arts & Health
- Bath Spa University – Research Centre for Mental Health, Wellbeing & Creativity
London
- University College London – WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health
- University College London - Culture Nature Health Research Group
- Birkbeck, University of London – Birkbeck Centre for Medical and Health Humanities
- Royal College of Art – Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design – Healthcare research space
- Imperial College London & RCA – Helix Centre (Design & Health research lab)
- University of the Arts London (CCW) – HEARD: Health, Arts and Design research hub
- Trinity Laban Conservatoire – Dance Science Research
- Brunel University of London – Arts, Health and Social Change Research Group
- Goldsmiths, University of London – Music, Mind & Brain research
- University of Roehampton - Significant creative health workstreams embedded within both the Centre for Research in Arts and Creative Exchange and the Centre for Research in Psychological Wellbeing
- University of the Arts London (UAL) - Health, Arts and Design research hub (HEARD)
- Royal College of Art (RCA) - Health & Care Research Cluster
Health/Medical Humanities Research Centres/Groups
North-East England
- Durham University – Institute for Medical Humanities (IMH)
- Newcastle University – Medical Arts and Humanities
- Northumbria University – Medicine, Health and Wellbeing in the Humanities
North-West England
- Lancaster University – Queer Medical Humanities Network
Yorkshire and the Humber
- University of Leeds – Medical Humanities Research Group
- University of Sheffield – Medical Humanities
East Midlands
- University of Nottingham – Health Humanities (Institute of Mental Health)
- Loughborough University – Health Humanities Research Group
West Midlands
- University of Birmingham – Mental Health Humanities
- Aston University (Birmingham) – Research Centre for the Humanities (REACH) - Medical and Health Humanities subsection
East England
- University of East Anglia (Norfolk) – Exploring health through the Medical Humanities
- University of Essex - Health and Medical Humanities
South-East England
- University of Oxford – TORCH Medical Humanities
- University of Reading – Centre for Health Humanities
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School – Medical Humanities
- University of Kent – Centre for Health and Medical Humanities
- University of Southampton – Centre for Medical and Health Humanities
South-West England
- University of Bristol – Centre for Health, Humanities and Science
- University of Exeter – Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health
London
- King’s College London – Centre for the Humanities and Health
- University College London – Health Humanities Centre
Other specialisms
Creative health research doesn’t always sit neatly under titles like arts and health or health humanities. Depending on the context, projects can be found in a wide range of disciplines, with many opportunities emerging from related fields such as:
- Creative Research Methods
- Social Prescribing
- Social/Health/Cultural Policy
- Health Economics / Cultural Industries
- Architecture & Built Environment (especially Healing Environments)
- Cultural / Health Geography
- Sociology of Health and Illness
- Applied Arts / Museum and Heritage Studies
- Occupational Therapy / Nursing
- Public Health / Health Psychology
- Community Development
- Health Promotion / Communications
- Creative Enterprise / Service Design
This breadth of specialisms reflects the interdisciplinary nature of creative health, and means that students and collaborators may find relevant expertise well beyond the obvious hubs.