Jan van der Scheer is a Senior Research Associate at THIS Institute.
Jan van der Scheer is a Senior Research Associate at THIS Institute and a Research By-Fellow at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. He originally trained in the Netherlands, completing a PhD on physical activity and neurological disability, and held postdoctoral positions in the UK, Canada, and Japan before joining THIS Institute in December 2019.
Driven by a commitment to addressing major societal challenges, Jan’s research focuses on improving healthcare quality and safety through collaborative, evidence-based approaches. He works across professional, disciplinary, and organisational boundaries to develop healthcare improvements that are grounded in real-world needs and shaped by the people they affect.
His research interests include co-design, consensus-building, and network-based methods for healthcare improvement. Much of Jan’s recent work has centred on maternity care, including co-designing improved intrapartum practices through the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme. He also led a collaborative project on managing obstetric emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, for which he received the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Impact and Engagement in 2021.
Jan is also developing a growing programme of work focused on advancing environmentally sustainable healthcare. He currently contributes to the development of a framework for organising healthcare decarbonisation research, advises on the implementation of Green Algorithms, and from October 2025 will lead a BRC-funded project to assess the environmental impact of AI technologies in NHS settings.
