Personal profile
Biography
Research interests
Rachel’s research focuses on inequities in urban health, taking an intersectional perspective and a community based participatory research approach, working with disadvantaged people living in cities to hold governments and other stakeholders to account for realising their rights to health and wellbeing. She currently collaborates with partners in Bangladesh, Kenya, India, Nepal and Sierra Leone as well as in the Liverpool City Region. This work includes improving health services and multi-sectoral responses to climate change in urban informal settlements and taking a creative health approach to tackle health inequities in Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton.
Teaching
Rachel jointly lead two master's modules, teaching on social determinants of health, equity, decolonisation and urban health, and qualitative research methods. She supervises PhDs using qualitative and participatory methods to explore issues concerning equity in urban health.
Themes
- Community Health and Resilient Health Systems
- Innovation to Impact: Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Vaccines
- Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Climate Health
- Equity and Capacity Research
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Climate justice as a public health imperative: a perspective from Sierra Leone considering the 2025 International Court of Justice opinion
Kamara, I. F., Tengbe, S. M., Vandi, M., Ashubwe, J., Hailu, B., Fofanah, B. D., Anissette, B., Osborne, A., Tolhurst, R. & Minssen, T., 22 May 2026, In: Infectious Diseases of Poverty. 15, 1, 59.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review
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Household determinants of healthcare utilisation in three informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone a cross-sectional survey
Sesay, S., Sesay, I. J., Tengbe, S. M., Wurie, H., Fullah, S., Vangahun, D., Gandi, I., Teixeira de Siqueira Filha, N., Lakshman, R. W. D., Conteh, A., Saidu, S., Koroma, B., Mansaray, B., Elsey, H., Whittaker, L., Dean, L., Wiltgen Georgi, N., Nganda, M., Refell, F. & MacCarthy, J. & 3 others, , 3 Mar 2026, In: BMJ Open. 16, 3, p. e108022Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Intersectional inequalities in healthcare utilisation in informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone a multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA)
Sesay, I. J., Sesay, S., Wurie-Kamara, H., Tengbe, S. M., Fullah, S., Vangahun, D., Gandi, I., de Siqueira Filha, N. T., Lakshman, R., Conteh, A., Saidu, S., Koroma, B., Mansaray, B., Elsey, H., Whittaker, L., Dean, L., Georgi, N. W., Nganda, M., Refell, F. & Macarthy, J. M. & 3 others, , 14 Apr 2026, In: International Journal for Equity in Health. 25, 1, 131.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Patient and public involvement, engagement, and participation in practice: co-production of a creative health approach and theory of change through the ReCITE consortium-building project in Liverpool
ReCITE Consortium, Holford, D., Hemingway, C., Ozano, K., Ismail, A., Glover, S., Maclennan, S., Lewis, D., Morris, M., Heneghan, M., Jolly, A., Ekpo, V., Essale, N., Madroumi, R., Tolhurst, R. & Taegtmeyer, M., 26 Feb 2026, In: Research Involvement and Engagement. 12, 1, 16 p., 26.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Gender and (In) Security in African Cities: A Crosscutting Report
Davis, K., Adzande, P., Banks, N., Dessie, E., Homonchuk, O., Kimari, W., Meth, P., Tengbe, S. M., Mudimu-Matsangaise, P., Mwangi, C., Anna Nyamangara, T., Sibanda, M., Theobald, S. & Tolhurst, R., 1 Apr 2025, Manchester: University of Manchester.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report › peer-review
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Datasets
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Dataset for the article “People here live in denial”: A qualitative study of the pervasive impact of stigma on asthma diagnosis and care in Kenya and Sudan
Ahmed, R. (Creator), Mulupi, S. (Creator), Taegtmeyer, M. (Creator), Ardrey, J. (Creator), Devereux, G. (Creator), Chinouya, M. (Creator), Osman, R. (Creator), ElHafiz, H. (Creator), Modawey, S. (Creator), Eltahir, H. (Creator), Kinyua, C. (Creator), Meme, H. (Creator), Shayo, E. H. (Creator), El Sony, A. (Creator) & Tolhurst, R. (Creator), tbc, 1 Jan 2002
DOI: 10.57978/cbqt-hj69
Dataset
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Dataset for the article: Household antibiotic use in Malawi: A cross-sectional survey from urban and peri-urban Blantyre
MacPherson, E. (Creator), Mankhomwa, J. (Creator), Dixon, J. (Creator), Pongolani, R. (Creator), Phiri, M. (Creator), Feasey, N. (Creator), O'Byrne, T. (Creator), Tolhurst, R. (Creator) & MacPherson, P. (Creator), tbc, 11 Aug 2023
Dataset