The Translating and Implementing Sustainable Service Improvement theme will work to ensure that our research findings are widely shared with our public and partner organisations to improve health and social care. It will support education so that more of our collaborators have the skills necessary to do high quality research. Our research will focus on exploring how evidence-based interventions become sufficiently embedded and sustained, especially at the health system level.
Theme Lead
Professor of Healthcare Improvement Research & Health Foundation Improvement Science Fellow, University of Leicester
Natalie is a graduate of the Universities of Warwick (BA), London (MSc), and Nottingham (PhD). A medical sociologist by background, her work uses sociological ideas and methods to understand health and illness and to tackle problems in the delivery of high-quality healthcare. Following postdoctoral positions at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Warwick, Natalie took up her first academic post in 2008 as Lecturer in Social Science Applied to Health at the University of Leicester. She has remained at Leicester ever since, being promoted to Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in 2014 and to Professor of Healthcare Improvement Research in 2017. Natalie was the joint lead of the Social Science Applied to Healthcare Improvement Research (SAPPHIRE) Group from 2016-2018 and is currently Head of the Department of Health Sciences.
Natalie’s work covers a number of healthcare topics, although she has a long-standing special interest in women’s and children’s health and in preventative healthcare. While originally trained in sociology departments, Natalie has worked ever since in health sciences environments and is committed to applied research and the practical impact of social science learning within healthcare and healthcare improvement.