Stavroula Leka

Biography

Stavroula Leka is Professor of Work, Health & Policy and Director of the Centre for Organizational Health & Development - a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in Occupational Health. Stavroula is Chair of the School of Medicine Work, Health & Wellbeing Committee and member of the Strategic Staffing Committee. She is also a member of the Executive, and Lead for Impact in the Division of Psychiatry & Applied Psychology. She is Chartered Psychologist, member of the International Commission on Occupational Health, and the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health. She studied Psychology at the American College of Greece, followed by postgraduate studies in Occupational Health Psychology at the University of Nottingham. Stavroula is member of the Executive Committee of the WHO Network of Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health. She is member of the Executive Committee of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP). She is also Chair of the scientific committee 'Work Organization & Psychosocial Factors' of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). Her main research interests are the translation of occupational health and safety policy and knowledge into practice, psychosocial risk management and the promotion of mental health in the workplace. She has been invited as a keynote speaker to a number of international conferences and is expert advisor to the European Commission, the WHO, the ILO, the European Agency for Safety & Health at Work and the European Parliament. She has also been awarded an early career achievement award by the American Psychological Association for outstanding contribution in occupational health psychology and the study of work-related stress.

Research Interest

Professor Leka's expertise lies in the translation of occupational health and safety knowledge and policy into effective practice. More specifically, Professor Leka's research focuses on the evaluation of occupational health and safety regulation and policy and its associated infrastructures and supporting systems at different levels (such as international, European, national and organisational). Her research has a strong applied focus and aims at facilitating effective occupational health and safety management in different organisational contexts, with a particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises. Key themes in her research are work organisation and the management of the psychological and social (psychosocial) work environment for business and societal sustainability; the management of psychosocial risks and work-related stress; and the promotion of mental health and well-being in the workplace. As part of her interest in policy implementation she has been conducting research on the promotion of occupational health and safety through a corporate social responsibility framework. She is author of the first textbook in occupational health psychology and technical author of the first standard on the management of psychosocial risks in the workplace. She is also author of several other books in the area of psychosocial risk management and the editor of two book series.