Hester Kan is currently working as a Research Officer on the UK COVID-19 response project, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The project assesses the UK government’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of crisis management and capabilities, governance and use of expertise. It is a comparative project and is aimed at lesson-learning for future crises. The project also intends to provide the building stones for a long-term crisis management hub within the Blavatnik School. 

Hester has a PhD in Governance from the University of Bath and holds an MA in Politics from the University of Amsterdam integrated with Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, and an MSc in European Social Policy at the London School of Economics. 

She has been involved in various projects on governance, examining the complex interrelations between actors and institutions within a variety of network settings both on the national and EU level, culminating in several book chapter publications. Besides research, she has worked for different organisations including the Dutch government department of Social Affairs and Employment and has recently chaired a local school charity.