Daisy Fancourt
Bio
Professor Daisy Fancourt is an internationally recognized authority on how social connection, culture and community shape human health. As Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology at University College London and Head of the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, she integrates epidemiology, neuroscience and policy to translate evidence into action.
Backed by more than £30 million in competitive grants, Fancourt has produced over 300 peer-reviewed papers and delivered 50+ keynotes worldwide. Her scholarship has earned over two dozen honours, including the British Science Association Award for Arts & Sciences and recognition as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Clarivate lists her among the most highly cited scientists globally.
In 2019 she authored the World Health Organization’s landmark global evidence review on arts in health—now the organization’s most-read report—and today directs the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health, chairs the WHO Jameel Arts Health Lab at NYU and advises governments through multiple WHO expert groups.
“We actually now know a lot about the biological mechanisms that the arts activate. So when we feel happy when we engage in the arts, that’s not just ourselves willing ourselves happy; that’s because the arts are activating reward networks within our brains affecting things like dopamine release and uptake, which means that there are actually hormones in our brains that are increasing that happiness.
Similarly, when we think about the arts relaxing us, again, that’s not just perceived relaxation. We actually know from studies now that that’s about reductions in stress hormones like cortisol and also reductions in autonomic nervous system activity so that our heart rates slow down and our breathing slows when we’re engaging in relaxing arts activities. And in fact, the research that I’ve led in the UK at University College London, we’ve looked at immune function in particular, showing that arts engagement actually helps to reduce levels of inflammation in the immune system. This is so important because inflammation is not only related to physical illness, but also to mental illness symptoms like depression. One of the reasons that the arts help to reduce those low symptoms is because they’re reducing the biological inflammation that is associated with depression. Studies like this are so exciting because they’re showing this is not just a placebo effect. It’s not just what we wish was happening or want to happen when we engage in the arts. These are deep-seated biological processes that the arts activate.”
Daisy Fancourt, interviewed by Mia Funk of The Creative Process
Social Prescribing
Defined:
Social prescribing is a model of care delivery that enables health professionals to formally prescribe non-clinical community activities— including the arts, movement, nature, and service (volunteering)— to improve patient health, and at minimal patient cost. Social prescribing is designed to address social determinants of health, including social connection.
