Justin read Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Liverpool before completing his Master degree in Healthcare Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham. After a spell with Aston Business School, he undertook is doctoral studies at the University of Nottingham on 'The social construction and control of medical errors'. He has held posts in Sociology, Medical Sociology, Public Services Management, and Health Policy before his appointment at Warwick Business School.

Justin's research centres on the changing organisation and management of professional work, especially healthcare professions, in the context of contemporary public service reforms. This involves making theoretical connections between sociology of professions, organisation studies and medical sociology. A prominent feature of his work is to explore the interaction and co-construction of professions and their organisational contexts, with a particular emphasis on changing symbolic systems, cultures and identities. The primary focus of Justin's research relates to the changing organisation of healthcare systems. Here he has particular expertise in the area of patient safety and reforms aimed at engendering learning and quality improvement. As well as exploring the impact of this safety agenda of professional work, he has also contributed to a wider socio-cultural analysis of safety. More recently he has also lead research on new organisational forms in health (PPPs), the introduction of Lean Thinking, and new information technologies. Justin's research has been funded by the ESRC, NIHR SDO & HSR, the Department of Health and the charitable foundations. He has worked with various regional and national healthcare providers, delivered recommendations to the NPSA and Department of Health, and consulted to the former Chief Medical Officer on the NHS Next Stage Review. His research is largely ethnographic and has involved extensive fieldwork in a variety of healthcare settings, including operating theatres, risk management departments, clinics, pharmacies, and wards. More recently this has involved qualitative forms of social network analysis