Professor Sheena Asthana is the Director of the Centre for Health Technology and the Co-Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Plymouth. One focus of her research is on the potential of digital health technologies to support the 'shift left' agenda - from expensive, reactive hospital care to prevention, early diagnosis and care within the community - particularly in coastal and rural communities that are ahead of the demographic curve. Sheena has been an applicant on over £40 million of funded research projects, £29m since 2020. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She has also served as a non-executive director on several non-department public bodies and charities, including the Commission for Rural Communities, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, NHS Devon, the Royal Society for Public Health and Change Grow Live. Publications include Asthana, S. and Halliday, J. (2006) What Works in Tackling Health Inequalities? Pathways, Policies and Practice through the Lifecourse. Policy Press and Asthana, S., Agarwal, S. and Gibson (forthcoming). The Coastal Divide: the Challenges Facing Britain’s Coastal Communities. Policy Press.