Dr Joanna Raven

Biography

Joanna Raven is a professor in health systems, specialising in the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries. She began her career as a nurse and midwife, working in the UK, Australia, and South Asia. Over time, Joanna transitioned into teaching, delivering courses on maternal and newborn health and reproductive health. She holds a master’s degree in community health and a PhD in health systems and maternal health. Joanna has over 25 years’ experience of research, training and partnerships in Africa, Middle East and Asia. The insights gained while working as a midwife in in low- and middle-income countries has ensured her research is always relevant to these contexts.

Joanna has successfully managed multi-partner and multi-country research grants, fostering research networks based on trust, innovation and high-level, quality outputs. She is deeply committed to developing capacity of researchers, managers and health workers. Her effective communication skills have enabled her to build an extensive network within the health systems community, facilitating strong connections between research, policy and practice.

Joanna is the Deputy Head of Department of International Public Health and the Co-Research Director of the Institute for Resilient Health Systems at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). Additionally, she leads the Health Systems and Workforce Strengthening Unit.

Research interests

Joanna’s research primarily focuses on health systems and the health workforce, with a particular interest in fragile and conflict-affected settings, polycrisis contexts, and resource-poor environments. She is passionate about strengthening health systems’ abilities to prepare for, adapt to, and transform in response to shocks and stressors, ultimately reducing global health inequalities. She is a social scientist, with expertise in qualitative research and participatory action research and currently leads research consortia on health systems resilience and climate crisis and the health workforce. Key topics of her research include health systems resilience, health workforce, including community health workers, attraction, retention, and performance, gender equity and justice in the health workforce and health system, strengthening district-level health management and leadership, and scaling up complex health system interventions.

Teaching

Joanna has more than 25 years of teaching experience, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her teaching expertise covers health systems organisation and management, health workforce development, qualitative research methods, and participatory action research. She contributes to the master’s in International Public Health Programme, delivering courses on these topics. She is a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE.

Joanna provides supervision for PhD students who are pursuing doctoral research in her areas of expertise.

Selected research publications

Challenging gender norms through participatory action research: A cross-country study of women close-to-community healthcare providers in fragile settings – Journal: SSM – Health Systems – Published: 26th February 2026

Research capacity strengthening in fragile and shock-prone settings: Insights from a research consortium – Journal: SSM – Health Systems – Published: 14th February 2026

Mapping health system resilience in federal Nepal: perspectives and lessons from local government level – Journal: BMC Health Services Research – Published: 3rd December 2025

Navigating turbulence: analyzing the resilience of Lebanon’s healthcare system in a multi-crisis scenario – Journal: Health Research Policy and Systems – Published: 6th October 2025

Challenges and opportunities of human resource management activities for neglected tropical diseases in Liberia – Journal: SSM – Health Systems – Published: 23rd May 2025

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