John established and leads the Bradford Institute for Health Research and Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research, speeding up translation of research into practice and policy. In 2007 he set up the Born in Bradford (BiB)  study following the lives of over 60,000 children and parents. Evidence from BiB studies has informed local, national international policies. He leads Connected Bradford, one of the richest datasets in the UK and ActEarly, a people-powered, whole systems City Collaboratory to improve the health and life chances of children from deprived communities.

He has worked to develop sustainable public health programmes in Africa for 30 years and has reported for the BBC on Born in Bradford, Ebola and most recently The NHS Frontline podcast.