Strategic Advisor – Community Health & Engagement

Professor Christopher Dowrick is one of the UK's leading voices in primary care, mental health and community wellbeing. An Emeritus Professor of Primary Medical Care at the University of Liverpool, a former practising General Practitioner and Chair of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) Working Party for Mental Health, Chris has spent his career exploring how people, communities and health services can work together to support wellbeing and resilience. 

 His work has influenced policy, research and practice both nationally and internationally, with a particular focus on mental health, social connection, health inequalities and improving access to support for marginalised communities. Chris is widely respected for championing person-centred approaches that recognise dignity, identity, creativity, and human relationships as essential components of health and wellbeing. 

 As a Strategic Advisor to Art in the Docks, Chris provides independent guidance on creative health, wellbeing, research and evaluation. His support helps ensure that our work is informed by both lived experience and robust evidence, strengthening our ambition to develop innovative community-led programmes that improve health, reduce isolation and create opportunities for people to thrive through creativity.