Prof David French

David French studied at the Universities of Hull, Wales (Cardiff) and London (Guys Hospital), and has worked at the Universities of Leicester, Cambridge, Birmingham and Coventry, before being appointed as Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Manchester in 2012.

He has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including eight in the BMJ. He was an author and Scientific Advisory Group member for the 2021 update of MRC/ NIHR guidance on Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions (third edition). He was a panel member for Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, sub-panel 2: Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care. He was co-Editor for the official journal of the British Psychological Society: British Journal of Health Psychology for 5 years (2013-2017). In 2022 he became President Elect of the European Health Psychology Society.

David’s current research interests include:

• Screening programmes: behavioural, emotional and implementation aspects
• Cancer prevention and early detection
• Interventions to change health-related behaviours (development and evaluation)
• Understanding maintenance of changes in behaviour
• Walking, including walking groups
• Medication adherence
• Developing interventions with reach
• Evaluations of built environment interventions
• The role of self-efficacy in changing behaviour
• Risk communication
• Measurement reactivity