Dr Petra Makela

Assistant Professor

School: Communities and Education

I am a social scientist with medical training. My work examines how health and care services respond to marginalised needs, drawing on medical sociology, implementation science, and co-productive approaches to understand and improve the translation of evidence into policy and practice.

My research interests grew from my work as a neurorehabilitation physician in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, I completed a doctorate alongside my clinical work, addressing a policy and practice gap in conceptualisations of support for self-management. Since my transition into academia, I have held posts at the at the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine before moving to Northumbria University as a Vice Chancellor's Fellow in Community Wellbeing.

Registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and holding a current Licence to Practise, I work clinically with the NGO Medical Justice. I am a member of the Royal College of Psychiatry Working Group on the Health of Asylum Seekers and Refugees and a trustee with the charity Torture ID. My research interests include health and wellbeing of sanctuary seekers, using inclusive, participatory approaches.

I am an editorial board member with Sociological Research Online.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My research interests encompass:

Health and social care integration, including workforce development
Complex intervention development, implementation and evaluation
The lived experience of people who draw on care and support
Understanding 'trauma-informed' approaches with forced migrants
Knowledge mobilisation, particularly through academic-policy engagement.

I am interested in discussing PhD or Prof Doc supervision in these (or related) areas with potential applicants.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The Identity Work of Torture Scars, Mäkelä, P. 1 Sep 2025, In: Sociological Research Online
A modified action framework to develop and evaluate academic-policy engagement interventions, Mäkelä, P., Boaz, A., Oliver, K. 1 Dec 2024, In: Implementation Science
Coproducing a film resource for asylum seekers in the UK—A field reflection, Mäkelä, P., Given-Wilson, Z., Al Berkdar, K., Aljumma, Z., Mostafanejad, R. 1 Jun 2024, In: Journal of Refugee Studies
Factors influencing the implementation of early discharge hospital at home and admission avoidance hospital at home: a qualitative evidence synthesis, Wallis, J., Shepperd, S., Mäkelä, P., Xi, H., Tripp, E., Gearon, E., Disher, G., Buchbinder, R., O'Connor, D. 5 Mar 2024, In: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

PGR Supervision

James Keith Start Date: 15/07/2026

Qualifications