John completed his PhD at Cambridge University, UK and has held an academic position at Bangor University since 2004. He has served as Head of Psychology (2013-2020), and Head of Faculty (2020-2023). He is a Professor of Behavioural Psychology (including neuroscience), focusing on the interactions between cognition, motivation and behaviour.  He has a particular interest in positive psychology and the promotion of optimal functioning, and how these can be harnessed to support health promotion and illness prevention across the population. Covid exacerbated health challenges and inequalities, and has demonstrated more than ever that for our communities and society to be sustainable (environment and human health), we need prevention-focused behaviour change to help people live healthy and disease-free lives. System-level change is also required for this to be successful.  John’s work aims to develop and evaluate interventions that promote healthy cognition and behaviour to promote quality of life across the lifespan and reduce the risk of illness and impairment. He is the Director of the Wales Centre for Behaviour Change at Bangor University and works with external partners to embed behavioural science in real world contexts. He works within Bangor University’s Academy for Health Equity, Prevention and Wellbeing and in 2024 became an Honorary Behavioural Science Advisor to the Behavioural Science Unit in Public Health Wales, UK.