Chris Thomas

Formerly head of IPPR's Commission on Health and Prosperity

Chris, principal research fellow at IPPR, is on secondment to DHSC until May 2026 as lead strategy advisor in the System Strategy Unit.

When at IPPR he heads the organisation's health work, and led the influential Commission on Health and Prosperity whose final report was published in September 2024.

Chris is interested in progressive solutions to the challenges faced by our health and care system. He regularly comments on health policy in the media, and has by-lines in The Independent, Health Service Journal, the Times and Tribune, amongst others - his articles can be found here. He has appeared on range of broadcast, including primetime shows on the BBC, Times TV, LBC and TalkRadio. Chris was also an editor of IPPR's journal of politics and ideas: Progressive Review.

Prior to joining IPPR, Chris led Macmillan Cancer Support's inequality policy team, and prevention research at Cancer Research UK. He has a Masters in International Policy from UCL. Chris writes widely on public health and its interaction with the economy. He is author of the Five Health Frontiers (Pluto Press, 2021), has advised and written for the World Economic Forum, and has published in a range of peer reviewed journals.

He has expertise in:

  • healthcare funding, workforce and reform
  • health inequality and public health
  • the impact of Covid-19
  • the interaction of health and economy.

More from this author:

  1. Our greatest asset: The final report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity

    The nation’s health challenges have reached historic proportions, and change is needed.
  2. A man works from home on a standup desk whilst walking on a treadmill

    Healthy industry, prosperous economy

    If we want both health and prosperity, then public health and economic strategy need to work in lockstep – but this is not the case today.
  3. A person stands on a weighing scale, overlooked by a doctor holding a tablet computer

    Scale of the challenge: Obesity and the labour market

    Obesity has a well-known and profound impact on people’s health. Yet, less research has looked at the impact of obesity on prosperity.