After her PhD, Fancourt moved to
Imperial College London as a
postdoctoral researcher, where she was based in the Centre for Performance Science from 2013 to 2017. The Centre for Performance Science is a partnership between
Imperial College School of Medicine and the
Royal College of Music. Fancourt studied the biological impact of the arts, with a particular focus on the use of music in clinical settings. Her work led to the publication of a new theoretical model for how music affects
immune response. She also developed and researched a number of new arts programmes to support clinical outcomes, including a community drumming intervention for people with mental illness, a singing programme for mothers with postnatal depression, and a choir programme for people affected by cancer. Some of these programmes have since received clinical commissioning within the
National Health Service. The study was awarded a prize by the Medical Journal of Australia. During her time at Imperial, Fancourt also acted as Director of Research for Breathe Health Research, an organisation that looked to support children with
hemiplegia through magic training. In 2017 joined University College London as a
Wellcome Trust research fellow in epidemiology. During her Fellowship, Fancourt carried out the first epidemiological analyses of arts engagement and health, showing longitudinal associations with incidence and management of a range of mental health conditions and aspects of age-related decline. She also published studies showing how loneliness and social isolation affect neuro-immune markers, cardiovascular events, and hospital admissions for respiratory disease. The same year, Fancourt was selected as one of the
BBC Radio 3 Next Generation Thinkers. As part of the award, Fancourt had the opportunity to create content for BBC Radio 3 and
BBC Radio 4. In 2018, Fancourt began working with the
World Health Organization to develop an agenda that connected the arts, health and well-being. In a report with WHO, Fancourt concluded that arts interventions, including singing in a choir to improve the outcomes of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, present low-cost treatment options for healthcare workers. The report was named the Global Aesthetic Achievement of 2019. To further global research and policy work on arts and health, in 2021, Fancourt was appointed Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Fancourt established the network
COVID Minds that looked to better understand the impact of
coronavirus disease on mental health. The network collated longitudinal international mental health studies during the pandemic, offering opportunities for researchers to join projects and sharing regular updates with members of the public. Fancourt also led the COVID-19 Social Study, an investigation looking at the social experiences of adults in the United Kingdom during the outbreak. The study collected information on the psychological and social challenges that people in the UK faced during the pandemic. In particular, the COVID-19 Social Study looked to better understand how the virus and enforced social isolation impacted mental health and loneliness. The outcomes of the survey were reported. At the end of April 2020 the social study had over 75,000 participants and by April 2022 had collected over 1.2 million responses. Her results showed that prior to the lockdown officially beginning there was a decline in happiness. However, over the course of April Fancourt showed that levels of well-being had increased and levels of anxiety had decreased. In January 2026, Fancourt published the book
Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health with Penguin Random House (UK) and Macmillan (US). The book was endorsed by celebrities including Angela Rippon, Gillian Anderson, Melvyn Bragg, Renée Fleming and Xand van Tulleken.
Art Cure was named as the Bookseller's Non-Fiction Book of the Month for January 2026, and listed in The Guardian's "Ones to Watch" list, Blackwell's "Books of 2026", Waterstones' January Best Books round up, The i Paper's "Best new books to read in January 2026", New Scientist's "Best new popular science books of January 2026", Publishers Weekly "Top spring 2026 lifestyle books", and The Echo's new health and wellbeing titles for 2026. It was longlisted for the 2026
Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.
Awards and honours • 2016
British Science Association Jacob Bronowski Award Lecture for Science and the Arts • 2017
World Economic Forum Global Shaper • 2017
BBC New Generation Thinker • 2022 ESRC Outstanding Societal Impact through Research Award == Selected publications ==