Dr Lana Whittaker

Biography

Lana Whittaker is a Career Track Lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). Lana is a geographer, and she obtained her BA, MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge. Lana’s current research focuses on the impacts of climate change on health in urban informal settlements.

Lana is joint Principal Investigator of Urban TRACS (Transformative Research for Adaptation to Climate change in informal Settlements, IDRC/FCDO 2025-2027), which works in equitable partnership with marginalized urban residents, government and non-state stakeholders in Sierra Leone and Kenya to enhance climate resilience in seven sites in Kisumu, Naivasha, Nairobi and Freetown cities.

Lana is joint Principal Investigator of Urban SHADE (Strengthening Health services Access and Delivery in Extreme Weather Events; NIHR RIGHT 2024-2026), which aims to work with people living in urban informal settlements, health system and other relevant stakeholders to co-develop and implement interventions to improve heath system responses to extreme weather events in Kenya, India and Sierra Leone.

Lana is co-investigator on WeSHAPE (British Academy, 2024-2026), which focuses on developing women’s role in policy-making processes: shaping gender equity and inclusiveness in climate action for health and wellbeing in Nepal.

Lana was previously a co-investigator on the £13 million Global Challenges Research Fund funded ARISE consortium (2019-2024), which focussed on accountability for the improved health and wellbeing of residents of urban informal settlements in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Sierra Leone. Prior to joining LSTM, Lana was a post-doctoral research associate in the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, where she worked on an impact evaluation of a livelihood intervention in Nepal.

Research interests

Lana uses mixed-methods research, combining qualitative, participatory and quantitative approaches to conduct cross-disciplinary research on key health and development challenges, particularly climate change and food security. Lana’s current research focuses on how extreme weather affects health and health systems in informal settlements, and how these can be addressed including through community-led interventions and inclusive policy. Lana also has a strong research interest in food security and a right to food and has several publications examining India’s school feeding scheme from this perspective. 

Teaching

Lana leads the teaching on climate change and health at LSTM. Lana is Module lead for both the face-to-face and online climate change and health modules LSTM offers and also teaches about climate change across LSTM’s other postgraduate programmes. Lana supervises Masters and PhD students on topics related to urban informality and climate change.

Selected research publications

Household determinants of healthcare utilisation in three informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone a cross-sectional survey – Journal: BMJ Open – Published: 3rd March 2026

The Economic Burden of Healthcare Utilization: Findings from a Health and Well-Being Survey in Informal Settlements of Freetown, Sierra Leone – Journal: Journal of Urban Health – Published: 10th March 2025

Holiday hunger in India: experiences of food insecurity during the school summer holidays – Journal: Development in Practice – Published: 20th February 2025

Underpaid, undervalued, and overworked: The working conditions of cooks in India’s school lunch programme – Journal: Development Policy Review – Published: 8th May 2024

Health inequalities at the intersection of multiple social determinants among under five children residing Nairobi urban slums: an application of multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) – Journal: PLOS Global Public Health – Published: 29th February 2024

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