Ask the experts: how can we connect in an era of loneliness?

Loneliness affects one in six people globally, and in the UK, more than a quarter of adults report feeling lonely often.

In a world that is more connected than ever, why do so many of us feel lonely? How can we change this? And what more can policymakers do to help address feelings of isolation and disconnection in society?

Put your questions about loneliness and its impacts on health, wellbeing, and society to our panel of experts. Together, we will unpack the causes and effects of loneliness – and explore innovative ideas and practical solutions for fostering meaningful connections and belonging in our communities.

Professor Fay Bound Alberti

Fay Bound Alberti is Professor of Modern History and Director of the Centre for Technology and the Body at King’s College London. She is a cultural historian of medicine, emotion and gender. In 2019 she became one of the first UKRI Future Leaders Fellows, undertaking leading research into the emotions and ethics of face transplants. She is the author of A Biography of Loneliness and The Face: A Cultural History, due to be published in 2026. Her work has featured in many international media outlets, including the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Guardian, CNN and BBC Radio. She is a TED speaker and consultant on loneliness and mental health.

Dr Timothy Matthews

Timothy Matthews is Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. He completed his PhD at King’s College London in 2017, having developed a programme of research into loneliness in young people. In 2019, he was awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. Tim’s research focuses on loneliness and its impacts on health across the lifespan, with a particular focus on adolescence and emerging adulthood. His work integrates longitudinal, epidemiological and behavioural genetic methods to study the implications of loneliness for mental health, employment, technology use, sleep, inflammation and other markers of health and functioning. Most recently, he is interested in researching how novel technology can be leveraged to advance ways of understanding, measuring and combatting loneliness.

Professor Andrea Wigfield

Andrea Wigfield is Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies and the Campaign to End Loneliness, both based at Sheffield Hallam University. She is a leading researcher on loneliness and social isolation, specialising in the wider health and social determinants and implications through research, programme evaluation, and evidence-based policy and practice. Andrea has spearheaded interdisciplinary research collaboration and established strong networks in both academia and with external stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary sectors. She has been awarded research funding of over £13 million and has published over 50 books, chapters, articles, and reports, and worked on approximately 90 externally funded research projects. Andrea recently authored Loneliness for Dummies and regularly appears on TV, radio and in newspaper articles for her expertise on loneliness. She frequently gives keynotes speeches on loneliness, evaluation of loneliness interventions, and the wider societal determinants and impacts.

Hetan Shah

Hetan Shah is Chief Executive at the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences. He is Chair of Our World in Data, which brings together research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems.

Hetan was appointed in 2024 by the UK Parliament to the board of the National Audit Office, the UK’s independent spending watchdog. He is Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, Kings College London and a Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Hetan serves on a number of advisory boards including the UCL Policy Lab and the Resolution Foundation.

• Doors and bar open: 18:00
• Event starts: 18:30
• Audience Q&A: 19:15
• Event ends: 19:45
• Bar closes: 20:30

Free event, donations welcome, booking required.

As tickets are free, people sometimes book and don't attend, so we have to issue more tickets than there are seats available to allow for this. Entry into this event is on a first-come, first-served basis and we recommend arriving in good time to avoid any disappointment.

Registering for a ticket does not guarantee you entrance to the SHAPE Room. If the SHAPE Room reaches capacity, you will be directed to the Wohl Gallery next door to watch a live stream of the event.

This event will also be recorded and live streamed on YouTube.

This event has live subtitles delivered by 121 Captions.

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The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London, United Kingdom

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