David A. Richards is the Professor of Mental Health Services Research at the University of Exeter Medical School in the United Kingdom. A nurse by professional background, he is a UK National Institute of Health Research Senior Investigator, President of the European Academy of Nursing Science and chair of the European Science Foundation REFLECTION Research Network Programme, an interdisciplinary European Faculty of researchers, equipped to design, plan and implement programmatic, mixed methods and complex interventions research. He is prominent in international efforts to improve access to treatment for those suffering from high prevalence mental health problems such as depression. This work has involved developing and testing evidence based treatments, and then translating these into routine clinical environments, particularly low-burden, low-intensity treatments. More recently he has taken a lead in developing evidence based essential nursing care interventions through leadership of the ESSENCE programme in the UK. Professor Richards has written over 190 peer reviewed papers, articles, books and book chapters on nursing, research methods and mental health care. He is an expert in health services research methods including systematic reviews, clinical trials and complex interventions research methods. He is joint editor of the recent seminal international textbook ‘Complex Interventions in Health: An Overview of Research Methods’. David regards the translation of research evidence into skills based educational courses should be a critical activity for all active researchers and research units.