Professor Alice Turner
Co-Director Midlands PSRC
Alice is the co-director of the Midlands PSRC, based at the University of Birmingham. Alice is the Associate Medical Director for Quality and Safety at UHBFT, where she contributes to a range of safety work (leadership and expertise section and care bundles case study). Her research background (e.g. clinical trials, epidemiology) makes her an advocate for use of data to drive change, while her leadership experience in safety has equipped her with an understanding of why practice does not correspond to evidence.
Professor Richard Lilford
Co-Director Midlands PSRC
Richard is the Co-Director of the Midlands PSRC, based at the University of Birmingham.
Richard has extensive experience in Patient Safety research. From 2001-2010, he led the successful UK Department of Health’s Patient Safety Research Programme (PSRP) which funded major studies such as the PINCER trial to reduce medication errors in primary care, use of simulation to reduce neo-natal birth injury, and studies of how the social and physical environment can threaten patient safety in the operating theatre and delivery room.
Jo Sartori
Senior Programme manager
Jo is an experienced programme manager with a specialty in research development and international stakeholder relations and engagement.
Sopna Choudhury
Programme manager
Sopna is a programme manager with extensive experience of working with different stakeholders in the NHS, health care settings, non-government and voluntary organisations, industry and Universities, as well as patient and community groups.
Dr Justin Aunger
Research Fellow
Justin has a background in behavioural science and is interested in working on complex behavioural challenges in healthcare; he has recently worked on projects seeking to understand and improve inter-organisational collaborations in healthcare, and to reduce unprofessional behaviours between healthcare staff.
Professor Russell Mannion
Collaborator
Russell is an internationally-recognised social science expert in quality and safety who has carried out ground breaking work in speaking-up and board governance. He is experienced in translating evidence into practical recommendations for change. Russell also leads the University of Birmingham’s contribution to the Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute, which aims to strengthen the evidence base for improving health care and create a world-leading asset for the NHS and for science.
Professor Justin Waring
Collaborator
Justin is an international expert in organisational perspectives on learning and safety, who has critically appraised data-driven safety interventions. Justin’s research interests are on the evolving structure of healthcare systems and how various factors, such as professional practices, cultures, and identities, influence the design, implementation, and integration of improvement interventions within these systems. Justin is also interested in the application of social theory to diverse social, cultural, and organizational settings to analyze and enhance the theoretical foundation of improvement initiatives.
Dr Magdalena Skrybant
Patient and Public Involvement Lead
Magdalena is Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Lead for NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands (ARC WM) and our Midlands PSRC. Magdalena’s role ensures that there is meaningful involvement with patients and the public in applied health research.
Professor Yemisi Takwoingi
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead
Yemisi is a biostatistician and Professor of Test Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis in the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham. She is also Deputy Director of the Institute. Yemisi is passionate about ‘People and Culture’ and leads on this for the Institute. She leads the new NIHR Race Equity and Diversity in Careers Incubator to support the careers of racially minoritised health and care researchers, a priority area for the NIHR and many funders in the UK.
Professor Lorraine Harper
Training and Professional Development Lead
Lorraine is Professor of Nephrology at the University of Birmingham. Lorraine is a strong supporter of academic training, supporting the development of the integrated academic training pathway for junior clinical researchers in Birmingham and is extensively involved in delivery of the Medical School undergraduate curriculum.
Professor Julian Bion
Professor of Intensive Care Medicine
Julian set up a patient and family ‘Pathfinder’ group to provide advice and feedback on quality of care across the critical care service. This has helped make important improvements to service provision and clinical behaviours.
Dr Sam Watson
Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer
Sam has expertise in applied statistics in public health and healthcare. His current research looks at methods of evaluation in low resource settings including cluster trial and survey methodology particularly using Bayesian methods.
Professor Elizabeth Sapey
Lead for acute care theme
Liz is the lead for the acute care theme. She is the Director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, a clinical, translational and data science hub delivering research on multimorbidity across the life course. Liz is a Consultant in Acute Medicine with considerable experience of patient
safety challenges in acute presentations.
Professor Shakila Thangaratinam
Lead for maternal health theme
Shakila is the lead for the maternal health theme. She is an NIHR Senior Investigator and consultant obstetrician; Developed and validated NIHR-funded patient safety
risk stratification models predicting complications in pre-eclampsia,
and epilepsy, which are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and RCOG (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists); Shakila also established two patient and public involvement (PPI) groups in women’s health – Katie’s Team (East London) and the Hildas (West Midlands).