Dr Shaun Danielli

Shaun Danielli works at the intersection of policy, practice and academia, trying to turn good ideas into things that actually happen. Over the past couple of decades, he has held senior roles across the NHS, City Hall and research institutions, focusing on improving population health and reducing inequalities, often in large, complex systems where progress is not always straightforward.

He currently splits his time between the Ellison Institute of Technology and Imperial College London, where he works with Professor Lord Ara Darzi and the Mayor of London. In 2025, he founded the Centre for Urban Health and Healthcare, bringing together research, policy and delivery to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing cities.

Earlier in his career, Shaun led major London wide programmes on issues ranging from trauma care to mental health and prevention, and helped shape aspects of London’s devolution and health policy landscape. He started out in engineering and systems improvement, which probably explains his ongoing tendency to see the world as a set of problems that might, with enough effort, be made to work better.

He has a PhD in Urban Health and Healthcare Transformation, and remains cautiously optimistic about the ability of evidence, partnerships and persistence to improve things.