Our People: Leading Experts
Our Director - Professor Jason Roach
Professor Jason Roach is a Professor of Crime & Policing in the Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences, School of Human and Health Sciences. He has been the Director of the Secure Societies Institute since November 2021 and is also currently the Director of the University’s Applied Criminology & Policing Centre. He is an established researcher who has been active in the criminological field for over twenty years and is an expert in policing. He is widely published having co-authored four books, nine book chapters, and written over 30 research papers on topics including self-selection policing, investigative decision making, criminal investigation, counter-terrorism, child homicide, crime prevention and many other policing and crime issues.
He has worked with police forces across the UK and works with the College of Policing and other national policing bodies. He is Editor-in Chief of the Police Journal.
He has lead a number of research projects: in 2021 he was Principal Investigator on ‘UK police wellbeing during Covid-19 survey’ funded by the National Police Wellbeing Service. He is currently PI for nudge research looking to increase uptake of referrals to Liaison and Diversion Services, by police cell detainees, funded by Staffordshire and is leading research looking at the high attrition rate of Rape and Serious Sexual Assault survivors from the CJS post charging offenders.
He chairs the SSI Steering Group, whose focus is on further developing the work of SSI, increasing membership and raising the public profile of the institute, both nationally and internationally.
Our Deputy Director – Dr Yun Gao
Dr Yun Gao works as an academic and an architect. She is a Reader in Architecture in the Department of Architecture and 3D Design, School of Arts and Humanities, and also an RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Chartered Architect and ARB (Architects Registration Board) Registered Architect. She has research expertise in the design of socially responsible and environmentally sustainable built environment and has conducted research on the subject of safety and wellbeing of urban and rural spatial design. Dr Gao has authored a number of books including ‘Being There: On Cross Culture Architectural Design’ and ‘Architecture of Dai Nationality in Yunnan’. She was awarded research funding including British Academy funding to examine The Temporality of Building: Chinese Perspectives on Architecture and Heritage; an AHRC Research Networking Highlight for International Development, and a Higher Education Academy to publish a book on architectural education.
Dr Gao is also the Director of the Sustainable Living Research Centre, one of the university funded ASRI (Area of Strategic Research Importance) research centres in 2021.
To see her full professional profile, including publications go to: https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/yun-gao
Steering Group
Dr Katie Addinall
Lecturer in Applied Sciences
Professor Rachel Armitage
Professor, Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences
Dr Rosie Campbell OBE
Research Fellow with SSI
Dr Gareth Parkes
Reader in the Department of Chemical Sciences
Dr Simon Parkinson
Reader in Computer Science
Professor Paul Thomas
Professor of Youth and Policy and Associate Dean – Research and Enterprise for the School of Education and Professional Development
Professor Alex Nikitas
Professor, Department of Accounting, Finance, Logistics and Economics
Membership
Our Members
Our members
SSI National Advisory Group
SSI members list
Local Practitioners Advisory Group
People and partners who work with the SSI
