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Maternal, Child and Family Health Expert Group
Our mission is to integrate research with education and practice to support the delivery of high quality and innovative maternal, child and family health care. Our focus is across the lifespan, across health and illness, taking into consideration physical, mental and psychosocial health.
Our approach
We work with a number of professional groups - from nursing, midwifery, health visiting, psychology, public health, school nursing, and community nursing - alongside health service researchers with expert skills across both qualitative and quantitative research.
Our approach means we can impact positively on the education and professional development of students studying at Surrey, and beyond. We also develop new understandings that shape the physical and mental health care of the mother and her unborn child, the new-born, children, young people, and all family members.
Research interests
One focus is on children’s health, on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence, in the context of their family unit. Children may be born with health problems, or develop a health problem, some of these are preventable: we have a particular focus on cancer, rare and complex diseases, disability (cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, or sensory), child and adolescent mental health and well-being. It should be possible to protect children from accidents or injury: we have a further focus on community health and safety, parenting skills, accident prevention, and safeguarding.
In addition, we also focus on the well-being of the workforce, and its relation to patient care, and the organisation and delivery of healthcare in various physical and mental health settings: studying the organisational climate, job satisfaction, team work, integration of care, staff well-being, and their relationship to staff reported patient care performance. We have a particular interest in ensuring that adults’ and children’s mental and physical health needs are treated equally well.
Research methodologies
- Creative arts based approaches
- Participatory research
- Mixed methods
- Grounded theory
- Ethnography
- Ethnographic case study
- Phenomenology
- Randomised controlled trials
- Systematic reviewing (qualitative and quantitative).
Areas of interest for doctoral study
We welcome approaches from people wishing to undertake postgraduate research with us. We particularly welcome enquiries in the following areas:
- Cancer care, in children, teenagers and young adults
- Sexual Health
- Maternal and Infant Health
- Mental health
- Mental/physical health interface
Please contact Freda Mold (freda.mold@surrey.ac.uk) and Jenny Harris (jen.harris@surrey.ac.uk), our postgraduate research directors, if you are considering postgraduate research.
Researchers
Expert Group leads
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Professor Faith Gibson
Professor of Child Health and Cancer Care
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Professor Elizabeth Barley
Professor of Mental Health Sciences and Nursing
Expert Group members
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Dr Anand Ahankari
Lecturer in Maternal, Child and Family Health
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Susie Aldiss
Research Fellow (Child Health)
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Zoe Bedford
Teaching Fellow
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Melissa Benavente
Postgraduate Research Student
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Dr Gemma Bryan
Research Fellow
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Dr Alison Callwood
Senior Lecturer in Integrated Care (Midwifery)
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Sarah Clements
Senior Lecturer - Children & Young People's Nursing
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Professor Helen Cowie
Emeritus Professor
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Lisa Dennis
Lecturer- Children and Young People's Nursing
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Amy Dopson
Associate Professor & Head of Department: Continuing Professional Development and Post Graduate Education
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Bethany Gale
Lecturer (Nursing - Mental Health)
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Rebecca Greenacre
Lead Midwife for Education, Director of Studies, Teaching Fellow Midwifery
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Jordan Harrington
Lecturer in Child and Young People's Nursing
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Dr Jenny Harris
Senior Lecturer in Cancer Care and Health Statistics
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Sam Harrison
Midwifery Teaching Fellow
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Deanna Hodge
Lecturer
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Felicity Jones
Senior Lecturer in Integrated Care (Population Health), Director of Studies for Specialist Practice
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Guldane Damla Kaya
Postgraduate Research Student
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Heather Lane
Lecturer and Pathway Lead for Community Children's Nursing (CCN) SPQ Programme
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Dr Sarah Lea
Research Fellow
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Dr Fiona Mcgregor
Research Fellow
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Linda Moore
Teaching fellow
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Chidiebere Nwolise
PhD Student
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Dr Jennifer Oates
Senior Personal Tutor, Lead for Wellbeing, Senior Teaching Fellow
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Caroline Phillips
PhD Student
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Zoe Polly
Senior Lecturer, Children and Young People's Nursing
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Sarah Roberts
Lecturer, Pathway Lead for Health Visiting
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Dr Ann Robinson
Senior Teaching Fellow in Integrated Care (Midwifery)
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Betul Sanlan
Postgraduate Research Student
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Vikki Saravia
Programme Director for BSc (Hons) Midwifery
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Pippa Sipanoun
Research Fellow
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Yvonne Smyth
Postgraduate Research Student (PhD)
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Lyndsay Spencer
Postgraduate Research Student
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Jaime Sutherland
Midwifery Teaching Fellow
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Professor Cath Taylor
Professor of Healthcare Workforce Organisation and Wellbeing
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Suzie Thorpe
Midwifery Teaching Fellow (integrated)
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Hayley Ward
Director of Studies for Healthcare Practice Programme and Leadership in Healthcare Programme
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Ali Whitehouse
Lecturer in Integrated Care (Children's Nursing)