Austen is Trustee of the Self Care Forum. He is also Director of the Self-Care Academic Research Unit (SCARU) at Imperial College London School of Public Health. He is Primary Care & Public Health Research Manager at Imperial College London, and is supporting the WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training, the NIHR London in vitro Diagnostic Co-operative and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT) Directorate of Public Health & Primary Care in the same capacity.
Austen holds a PhD in Medicine and is a Master of Public Administration. He sits on a number of advisory boards including the International College of Person-Centred Medicine.
Austen is author of the Self-Care Matrix: a unifying framework for self-care which offers a new point of departure for self-care thinking. He remains an active member of the WHO Expert Review Group for Self-Care Interventions and is currently working with a consortium of international partners and governmental organisations to advance the study and application of policy prescriptions to promote vitality in ageing, and the adoption of health-seeking lifestyles fit for 21st century living.