health and social care service research

Dr Amy Harwood is a registered AHCS Clinical Exercise Physiologist with a sustained programme of research and knowledge exchange activity focussed on exercise and other therapeutic interventions for clinical populations, most notably those with peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular disease. She is currently a Reader in Clinical Exercise Physiology with the Institute of Sport and Department for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, having previously worked as an Assistant Professor at Coventry University, a senior postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Sydney and postdoctoral fellow at Hull York Medical School.

Amy is currently deputy research lead for the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and theme lead for Health, Wellbeing and Communities. She is also currently chair of the Clinical Exercise Physiology UK practitioner working group and sits on the board. Amy has extensive experience with NIHR funding and committees and can support with research grant applications, fellowships and provide advice on NHS ethics.

Occupational Therapist and Health Sciences lecturer at University of Southampton. Clinical background in community neurorehabilitation. Research has focused on acquired brain injury, fatigue, wellbeing and using everyday resources ( such as digital technology or nature-based activities) to support self-management and promote wellbeing. Expertise in using co-design methods, public patient involvement, qualitative research methods and use of ecological momentary assessment and patient generated health data. I can also support with writing for publication and grant applications. I have been an OT educator for 20 years as well and have considerable expertise in adult education and course design.

Professor at Queen Margaret University and co-director of Health Design Collective Social Enterprise focussed on co-design and community. I have a background in Physiotherapy and early in my career I moved into research and development. I can advise on different routes into both. I started by focusing on using audit, service evaluation and research to advocate for people who are living with different long-term health conditions and for the people in their lives – families and informal carers. I have worked with people living with the impacts of breast cancer and its treatment, stroke, multiple sclerosis and renal disease. More recently, my time has been focused more specifically on experiences of living with and using devices for foot-drop from different causes.
I take a pragmatic approach and use various quantitative and qualitative methods to ask and answer questions from different perspectives. I have taught Research Methods at all levels for most of my career and so am familiar with different research designs, but I am most confident in using survey and qualitative research methods, as well as realist approaches. I have experience of ethical and governance approvals as well as ways of working with third sector organisations. As well as these topics, I can also provide mentoring in relation to Doctoral studies and supervision.
I am Chair of my Higher Education Institution’s Enterprise and Innovation Network and believe strongly in the importance of ensuring rapid impact from research through innovative, enterprising and entrepreneurial thinking and approaches. My research interests led to collaboration with others to form a spin-out social enterprise called the ‘Health Design Collective.’ We have been successful in gaining a NIHR invention for innovation (i4i) grant focusing on developing footwear for footdrop. I would be very happy to discuss possible ways of innovating from / commercialising ideas from practice and/or research, as well as on funding sources and grant applications.
I can also mentor/advise in relation to managing career progression while balancing parental responsibilities and managing return to work after maternity leave.

Practice Development Lead for Rehabilitation in Leeds Community Health Trust. Early career researcher, interested in (Adults) Complex rehabilitation. Clinical background is neurological rehabilitation. Research expertise/experience: I completed the NIHR MRes in 2018, my dissertation area was people with multiple sclerosis attitudes to the use of mobile apps for symptom monitoring. I went through university ethics for this. I undertook focus groups and 1:1 semi structured interview, using thematic analysis to analyse the results. I gained experience of dissemination at local, national, and international conferences with posters and oral presentations of my findings.
I was on the coordinating group and clinical expert for a research project that used participatory methodology to understand how people with long term neurological conditions the family and carers manage pressure ulcer prevention in the home. This was published at the end of last year, and we are now setting up a second study where we will be co designing a tool to support people management pressure ulcer prevention and care I the home environment. In my previous job I ran a Physiotherapy research group, in a large teaching hospital trust. This was a very active group with mixed experience from research curious, running clinical appraised topics, delivering research, on clinical academic career pathways (including doctoral fellowships) and university representatives.

Clinical and Operational Lead, Wandsworth Community Neuro Team. Able to provide mentorship for managers and team leaders wanting to explore how to better support their team’s research activities, even at a basic level. With over 30 years of experience as a qualified Occupational Therapist within the NHS, I have built a deep expertise spanning mental health, neurorehabilitation, and community neuro rehab — with additional roles in commercial and military rehabilitation settings. Currently, I lead a large, diverse multi-disciplinary community neuro team in Wandsworth, driving innovative, patient-centred care for people recovering from stroke or neurological illness or injury and supporting people living with a wide spectrum of neurological, often progressive conditions.
Beyond frontline leadership, I wear multiple hats influencing service and system improvements not only across SW London but also at London-wide and national levels — championing transformational change that truly makes a difference. Clinically, my passion lies in stroke rehabilitation and vocational rehabilitation, where I’m dedicated to helping people optimise their independence and thrive.
While I do not conduct research directly myself, I am deeply committed to cultivating a culture of curiosity and innovation within my team and wider network, hopefully inspiring and supporting people to engage and collaborate in impactful research, linking clinicians and academics to spark meaningful advances in stroke and neuro rehab, particularly in the community setting.

Interdisciplinary Research and Practice Divisional Lead, University of Essex. Especially keen to work with anyone interested in acquired brain injury community and social care. Andrew has worked in research and clinical rehabilitation since 1990, the year I qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist (North East London Polytechnic, & London Hospital School of Physiotherapy). I completed a PhD in Neuropsychology in 1997 (University of Birmingham). I led NHS community rehab services including the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (Ely, UK) between 2002-19. I am interested in wide range of topics and open to offering post-graduate supervision including: 1) rehabilitation service innovation and evaluation 2) holistic neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation 3) assistive technology and exer-gaming 4) social media in rehabilitation 5) specific aspects of neuropsychology - executive functions, dyspraxia, attention impairments and interactions with movement disorders 6) patient reported outcome measures ("PROMS") analysis techniques including Rasch measurement models 7) single subject experimental designs.
I benefit from support from the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) and I contribute to our local and national NIHR infrastructure in several ways: In 2025 we will be launching our Brain Injury Social Care Network, an NIHR Incubator, part of the NIHR Academy With the BRAIN HRC [https://brainhrc.org/] I am working on the fellowship programmes and neuropsychology research topics My work as Director of NIHR Research Design Service for East of England finished March 2024 - the new Support Service for researchers is now open and I encourage people to apply for research support via [https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/support/research-support-service/] I have also enjoyed support from the NIHR ARC for the East of England [ https://arc-eoe.nihr.ac.uk/ ] April 2022 saw the launch of our two year "Heads Together" Brain Injury and Social Work research study - also funded by NIHR. I am also President of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology [https://www.acpin.net/] Honorary Treasurer and a Past-president of The Society for Research in Rehabilitation [https://www.srr.org.uk/] and Chair of the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum [https://ukabif.org.uk/]. see LinkedIn, x.com @Prof_A_Bateman and @andrewbateman.bsky.social for news

Lecturer in Psychology, Loughborough University. Research interests: health services and implementation research, community stroke rehabilitation, rehabilitation technologies, qualitative & mixed method designs, realist methodology. I am an applied psychologist with extensive research and teaching experience in neurorehabilitation and health services research. I specialise in the use of innovative methodologies to design and evaluate complex rehabilitation interventions in clinical and community settings. I have a particular interest in the implementation of e-health and rehabilitation technologies so that they offer real benefits for patients and their families. I currently lead a project examining how stroke tele-rehabilitation works and for whom to inform recommendations for practice. I supervise MSc and PhD students conducting qualitative or mixed methods research projects, scoping reviews and realist methodology projects and through the process of developing their research ideas and securing ethical approval to writing up for publication.

Professor of Assistive Technology and Tissue Health in the School of Health Sciences, at the University of Southampton. He is a qualified physiotherapist with a PhD in bioengineering, where he developed his interest in medical device innovation. He leads Southampton's Skin Sensing Research Group based in the Clinical Academic Facility at Southampton General Hospital. His work focusses on co-development and clinical evaluation of novel sensors and skin device interfaces. He has published in a number of areas including orthopaedics, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, imaging, assistive technology and tissue viability. His research interests include both quantitative and qualitative research methods, human factors assessment, lab studies and cohort trials in hospital and community settings. He has experience developing research protocols, IRAS ethics and dissemination. He has led and supported a range of grant applications for research, including personal fellowships, PhD studentships and larger projects funded by charities, NIHR, UKRI and the EU.

Principal Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. Research areas are broadly falls, frailty and rehabilitation with a current focus on falls in care homes and home care. I have experience of a range of methods (reviews, qualitative, observations, recruitment and data collection) am particularly interested in co-production and supporting inclusion. I have experience of being a PhD supervisor, applying for ethics and disseminating findings in a range of ways. I currently have an NIHR Advanced fellowship and have experience in applying myself and supporting others to apply for NIHR fellowships. I have recently completed a Zinc Innovation fellowship which has given practical research experience in a home care organisation. I have worked across NHS and HEI settings and have experience of some of the challenges of this.

Stroke Consultant Therapist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. I am currently working as a stroke consultant therapist, Occupational Therapist by background. My PhD was on ‘Rehabilitation of severe stroke survivors’- A mixed method study exploring recovery and rehabilitation of stroke survivors with severe disabilities and and decision-making determining provision of rehabilitation services and carers’ perspective of rehabilitation received. My areas of expertise and research interest that I am willing to provide guidance and support in are : Any aspects of Stroke Neuro rehabilitation , including UL rehabilitation , vocational rehab, tele rehab, service improvement including patient and carers experience, Multi-disciplinary pathway development , value based care etc including mixed methods approach, I am happy to support with developing research questions and proposal including methodological support and developing protocols for delivery and implementation plan/ evaluation, writing research applications and manuscripts, ethics proposal/ approval, IRAS application . I am willing to provide support at any stage of your research.

Lecturer at Keele University. Areas of interest: Stroke and other neurological conditions, Lower limb impairment and function, Gait biomechanics, plantar pressure analysis, Interventions: exercise, physical activity, electro stim, orthotics. Emerging area of interest: women’s health in neurological conditions. Study design: observational cohort study design, additionally some qualitative methodologies and small clinical trials. Ethics: local level, IRAS (but over 10 years ago!)

Clinical Research Fellow, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. Area(s) of expertise/experience include: Musculoskeletal and spinal care, Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy, Community-based care, NIHR fellowship applications, Research capacity-building, Refining research questions, Ethics/ IRAS applications, Research delivery, Publication

Consultant AHP Lead, Community Stroke and Neurorehabilitation Service, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. Research interests include stroke rehabilitation, severely disabling stroke, and clinical decision making. I have experience in mixed methods research, ethnography, systematic reviews, and survey design. Currently working in community stroke and neurorehabilitation, although I have worked across all parts of the stroke and neurorehabilitation pathway- hyperacute, acute, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatients, community- for almost 30 years.

Executive Dean for the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University. Expertise includes quantitative and qualitative methodologies and support with research design. Rehabilitation research interests have roots in a background in engineering. Particular interests include methods of measurement and modelling to inform the development of technological solutions to alleviate the challenges faced by people with severe levels of activity limitations following a neurological injury (e.g. spasticity and electrical stimulation). More recently developing clinical decision-making algorithms and also exploring the digital barriers to accessing health and social care. Prof Pandyan is a supporter of inclusive research and is keen to help researchers from under represented and BAME backgrounds.

Senior Lecturer in Rehabilitation Science, Teeside University.
Research interests: Musculoskeletal assessment and management, chronic pain management, communication.
Experienced in mixed methods studies, RCTs, cross sectional studies, systematic review and scoping review, ethics, IRAS, co-design, secondary data analysis.

Katherine Broomfield is a speech and language therapist and a senior research fellow across North Bristol NHS Trust and Cardiff Metropolitan University. She worked clinically with adults who acquired communication disability in multi-professional post-acute and community rehabilitation teams before specialising in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) – external strategies and devices that support people who cannot speak clearly. Katherine completed a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) clinical doctoral research fellowship in 2022. Her research interests include: accessible and creative qualitative methods for inclusive research, person-centred care and person-centred outcomes, and AAC and assistive technology. She has experience in mentoring clinical academics on research training fellowships, public involvement with seldom heard voices, and qualitative methodology.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), which are external communication strategies and devices to support people with long-term communication disability. Young people and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds in the south west region. PhD in developing a person-centred outcome measure for people who use AAC.
I have a special interest in creative methods to involve seldom heard voices in research.

Katherine Broomfield is a speech and language therapist and a senior research fellow across North Bristol NHS Trust and Cardiff Metropolitan University. She worked clinically with adults who acquired communication disability in multi-professional post-acute and community rehabilitation teams before specialising in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) – external strategies and devices that support people who cannot speak clearly. Katherine completed a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) clinical doctoral research fellowship in 2022. Her research interests include: accessible and creative qualitative methods for inclusive research, person-centred care and person-centred outcomes, and AAC and assistive technology. She has experience in mentoring clinical academics on research training fellowships, public involvement with seldom heard voices, and qualitative methodology.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), which are external communication strategies and devices to support people with long-term communication disability. Young people and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds in the south west region. PhD in developing a person-centred outcome measure for people who use AAC.
I have a special interest in creative methods to involve seldom heard voices in research.

I am a Chartered Physiotherapist with experience in both trauma and elective care settings. My specialist interest is in musculoskeletal and |Orthopaedic conditions, which has formed the primary focus of my research to date. I have led and contributed to several research projects investigating unmet rehabilitation needs in both adult and paediatric populations. I am now keen to broaden the scope of my work by applying and adapting my research skills across a range of other clinical specialisms.

Diet, food and nutrition
Older adults
Care homes and community settings

My main clinical and research interest is developing evidence based rehabilitation for FND and related disorders.

Older people, frailty, multiple long term conditions, Parkinson's, multiple methods including evidence synthesis, randomised controlled trials, qualitative methods

Mike is an Associate Professor in Clinical Trials at the University of Warwick, with a professional background in podiatry and nearly 20 years of experience in applied clinical research. His work focusses on large-scale pragmatic clinical trials, but has included systematic literature reviews, imaging and mechanism of action studies. Mike's work aims to improve the outcomes for people with musculoskeletal and other long term conditions, and he sees developing the next generation of researchers as a key part of this.

Community stroke
Life after stroke
Health inequalities
NIHR Internship; NIHR funded MRes; NIHR PCAF Bridge
Qualitative and mixed methods research

Collecting evidence on the effectiveness of our interventions in the community; understanding the importance of dosage and partnerships; investigating the value of digital platforms to support our work, co-design of interventions, PROMs