Category / REF Subjects

World Drowning Prevention Day at BU

international, PG research, Publishing, writing

Next month on July 25th  Bournemouth University will join in with the world-wide celebrations of World Drowning Prevention Day 2025.  The first achievement to highlight is Dr. Jill Nash interesting piece recently published in The Conversation, in which she highlights Five ways to keep teenagers safe by the water [1]. It is also worthwhile to read last year’s contribution to World Drowning Prevention Day by Jill on the dangers of being near water and the role emotions play in making safer decisions [2].

The second major piece of research related to drowning prevention at Bournemouth University is the Sonamoni Project. The Sonamoni Project is working with communities in rural Bangladesh utilizing human-centered design (HCD) techniques.  The research project is identifying solutions to reduce the number of drowning deaths in newly mobile children (6-24 months), developing prototype, and assessing the acceptability and usability of potential  interventions. Sonamoni is coordinated by Bournemouth University in collaboration with the University of the West of England (Bristol), the University of Southampton, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Design Without Border (DWB) in Uganda and Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB). The interdisciplinary team at Bournemouth University covers three faculties and six academics: Dr. Mavis Bengtsson, Dr. Kyungjoo Cha, Dr. Mehdi Chowdhury, Dr. Yong Hun Lim, Mr. John Powell, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

This international project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme, also includes a BU-based PhD student, Mr. Md. Shafkat Hossein.  He recently published the first article related to drowning prevention in Nepal [3].

References:

  1. Nash, J. (2025) Five ways to keep teenagers safe by the water, The Conversation June 20th.
  2. Nash, J. (2024) Why so many people drown at the water’s edge The Conversation July 25th.
  3. Hossain, M. S., Pant, P. R., van Teijlingen, E., Sedain, B., & Rahman, A. (2024). Drowning Prevention should be a Public Health Issue in Nepal. International Journal of Social Sciences and Management, 11(4): 83–87.

MaGPIE Publishes Collaborative Paper in the IRRC

international

The MaGPIE (Mass Grave Protection, Investigation and Engagement) team, run out of the Humanities and Law department, have recently had their first collaborative paper published in the International Review of the Red Cross.

 

The paper entitled ‘Mass grave mapping and the protection of the dead gives’ insight into the current research being undertaken within the project, including the ongoing mapping of mass graves globally. It also asks, to what extent mapping can be considered a preventative process.

 

To read the full paper follow the link in the image below:

 

 

Dr. Catalin Brylla Leads Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives for the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image

Research Ethics

Dr. Catalin Brylla, Principal Lecturer in Film and TV has chaired the DEI Committee for the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image since 2022, launching several initiatives.  At this year’s conference at the University of Alberta in Canada he organised three related events:

DEI Roundtable and Workshop: Intersectionality, Bias and Positionality

This roundtable featured international scholars, including Charles Kebaya (Machakos University, Kenya), to explore how intersectionality, bias, and positionality shape our work in film and media research. The session was followed by two facilitated workshop groups: one focusing on teaching (including decolonising curricula and participatory learning methods), the other on research (including de-centralising publishing, engaging with Global South scholarship, and community-led research methods).

The workshops offered a space for critical reflection and practical strategies for fostering equity and inclusion in teaching and research, addressing the following questions.

  • How do we approach research and teaching when we acknowledge the researcher’s and teacher’s partial perspective shaped by their intersected social identities?
  • When the positionality of the researcher differs from that of the research participant, research collaborator, screen character or film viewer, how does this frame our analytic lens and the choice of research methods?
  • What happens when we study marginalised groups without their collaborative participation? Do we risk replicating epistemic hierarchies or social practices that have contributed to this marginalisation? (relates to slogan “Nothing about us, without us.” – disability rights movement)
  • In cross-cultural and cross-ability research and teaching, how do we account for not only difference, but for blind spots in acknowledging and respecting different positionalities?
  • How can we design curricula that properly balance between dominant and underrepresented academic and non-academic knowledge structures?

Mentorship Lunch: Learning from Academic Trial and Errors

This event provided an informal and supportive space where senior scholars shared candid reflections on the mistakes, challenges, and lessons that have shaped their academic journeys. We rarely speak openly about trial-and-error experiences in teaching, research, or media practice. Even more rarely do we celebrate these moments or fully recognise the valuable contributions they make to eventual positive outcomes. As a result, when we engage with the work of other scholars—whether through conversation, presentations, or publications—their research is often presented as a neatly packaged narrative of clear and successful results, with little acknowledgement of the mistakes, missteps, and failures that inevitably occurred along the way.

The session covered topics from research and publishing to teaching, grant-writing, and career development, this session invites open discussion with early career researchers about navigating the ups and downs of academic life.

Paper Presentation on Social Cognition, Bias and Audience Perception of Films

Together with Dr. Tico Romao (University of Alberta), Brylla proposed a framework for audience segmentation that focuses on the mapping of intersecting social identities across viewers and screen characters. This type of spectator segmentation offers a more granular alternative to explain divergent viewer responses and biases. This can reveal the often-overlooked gap between authorial intent and spectatorial reception. This framework is especially useful in comparing responses to structured and formalist narratives, as well as more open or ambiguous narrative forms.

Paper accepted on women and disability in Nepal

international, open access, Women's Academic Network, writing

The academic editor of PLOS ONE informed us yesterday that our latest paper ‘Life-time experience of violence among women and girls living with disability in Nepal: A cross-sectional study’ [1] has been accepted for publication.  The paper is based on research conducted as part of the Inclusive Partnership Against Violence (INPAV) project in Nepal.  Working with our long-term research paper Green Tara Nepal (GTN) and funded by The United Nations Trust Fund (UNTF) through Nepal Disabled Women Association (NDWA), we have been involved in InPAV. This project included a situation analysis of the existing government setup One-stop Crisis Management Center (OCMC) to understand the inclusiveness of the OCMC services for girls and women with disabilities.  The paper just accepted was part of this research.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

  1. Simkhada, P., Basnet, S., Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P., Dahal, T., Okyere, J., Silwal, R.C., Pyakurel, M. (2025) Life-time experience of violence among women and girls living with disability in Nepal: A cross-sectional study . PLoS ONE (accepted).

NEW DATE – Free Research Event – Wednesday 2nd July – A Celebration of ‘Novel Food’ Related Research

BU Research Centre CSSRC is celebrating its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around ‘Novel Foods’ on Wednesday 2nd July June 2025, 3.15-5.00pm in DG234.

The Centre for Sustainable & Socially Responsible Consumption (CSSRC) invites you to attend its research event on Wednesday 2nd July 2025 to celebrate its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around ‘novel foods’. After a welcome refreshment this interesting, interactive and informative event will comprise of two topical presentation sessions, each led by a member of CSSRC, as outlined below. Opportunity for discussions and networking over drinks and nibbles after the talks will round off the event.

Session 1: Timing, Fatigue, and the Message: Advertising Strategies for Insect-Based Foods

Dr Guljira Manimont will present this session, introducing her research on advertising and consumer perceptions of insect-based foods. These foods are often described as the future of sustainable eating. They are packed with nutrients, environmentally friendly, and a strong alternative to traditional protein. But despite these benefits, most consumers in Western markets still say… no thanks! From an advertising perspective, this presents both a valuable opportunity and a significant challenge: how can we communicate their benefits in ways that effectively encourage consumer engagement? Her recent work investigates not only the content of advertising messages—such as health, social, or environmental benefits—but also the importance of message timing and cognitive depletion on consumer receptiveness on messages. Dr Manimont will share findings from two experimental studies in Australia and the USA, showing how message framing interacts with mental state and timing to influence responses to edible insects.

Session 2: Farm Under Water

Dr Anastasia Vayona will present this session and introduce her work around seaweed as a food. This talk will discuss her recent outreach collaboration with Avonwood Primary School during the ESRC Festival of Social Science, aimed at raising awareness of edible seaweed as a nutritious and sustainable food source. She engaged pupils in understanding its ecological importance through interactive activities, including the concept of underwater farming—integrating seaweed, fish, and shellfish to promote environmental health and food security. Pupils also had the chance to taste seaweed-based treats, creating a tangible link between marine science and everyday life. She will discuss the educational, environmental, and gastronomic dimensions of this initiative.

Provisional Timetable:

3.15-3.30pm – Welcome refreshments

3.30-4.30pm – Presentation sessions

4.30-5.00pm – Discussion, networking and refreshments

This is a free event, but you must register to attend via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-celebration-of-novel-food-related-research-tickets-1372631601069?aff=oddtdtcreator

About CSSRC

The Centre for Sustainable & Socially Responsible Consumption (CSSRC) aims to promote and advance the understanding of sustainable consumption and socially responsible consumption through developing and delivering internationally renowned research. It provides a hub to explore and address topics that are currently globally relevant, through utilising a strong interdisciplinary focus. Webpage: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/centre-sustainable-socially-responsible-consumption

Successful academic writing, publishing and collaboration workshop at BU

PG research, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Last week’s workshop on ‘Academic Writing, Publishing & Collaborating’ held at Talbot Campus organised by Mrs. Anjana Paudyal, Ph.D. student in FHSS (Faculty of Health & Social Sciences) was very engaging and very well attended.  This event was part of the Doctoral College’s Research Culture and Community workshop series.  The workshop was opened by Anjana, who spoke about publishing her first PhD paper in the first half year of her part-time PhD journey.

Key sessions in this interactive workshop included presentations from Ms. Jillian Ireland based at UHD (University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust) and academics based at BU.  Jillian spoke about her experience of publishing in practice journals as well as publishing papers about practice in academic journals.

Whilst Dr. Pramod Regmi, Principal Academic in International Health in FHSS stressed the importance of paying attention to publishing metrics and identifiers, including h-factors, impact factors, and social media use in academic publishing.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, Research Culture Champion in FHSS outlined ideas for turning PhD chapters in papers and he also highlighted BU’s unique option of doing a so-called ‘Integrated thesis‘.  The integrated thesis format allows students to incorporate papers into their thesis.  These can be published papers, papers accepted for publication, papers submitted, prepared but not submitted papers and other unpublished papers or reports.

Dr. Orlanda Harvey is a senior lecturer in Social Work at BU, specialising in Developing Professional Relationships and Leadership, she presented replying to reviewers.   The Question & Answer session was lively and engaging.

Last, but not least, Anjana Paudyal, the organiser, and presenters would like to thank the Doctoral College for supporting this important event!

Leadership in disaster nursing

PG research, student research

On Wednesday (04/06) the Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH) and the Department of Nursing Science welcomed Kelsie Fletcher back to Bournemouth University to talk about her doctoral research – ‘Becoming leaders of change: adaptive moral navigation and the challenges of international disaster nursing‘. Kelsie, currently a Lecturer in Nursing at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, is supervised by Professor Steve Ersser and Dr Linda Agyemang.

Kelsie presented some of her initial findings from her qualitative research in which she has interviewed nurses currently involved in teams engaged in disaster management around the world. In the coming week, Kelsie will be presenting her research again, this time to a much larger audience at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Helsinki. If you would like to know more about Kelsie’s research, please email fletcherk@bournemouth.ac.uk.

We all wish Kelsie well as she moves towards submission of her thesis for examination later this year.

The CWLTH’s next and final research seminar for this academic year will be on Tuesday 17/06 when Jess Correia will be speaking about her research on ‘Understanding the decision-making process for women with common mental disorders around prescribed psychiatric medication use during pregnancy‘. All are welcome to attend and for more information please contact CWLTH@Bournemouth.ac.uk.

New systematic review published by PhD student

PG research, Publishing

PhD student Barbara Pope, supervised by Dr Leslie Gelling, Dr Chantel Cox and Dr Sharon Holland, has published a new systematic review in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. This review seeks to explore current evidence on the experiences of spouses when their partner with dementia moves into a care home. Analysis of the eight research studies included in this review identified three broad themes: (a) loss of a shared life, (b) visiting their partner in a care home and (c) grief, depression and ‘unable to move on’. The full paper can be viewed HERE. For more information about the review, please contact Barbara (bpope@bournemouth.ac.uk).

BU Professor to chair Sub-Panel for REF2029

Research assessment

Kate Welham, Professor of Archaeological Sciences at BU, has been appointed as chair of one of the 34 sub-panels that will assess research from universities across the country for the next Research Excellence Framework assessment in 2029.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers and is managed by Research England.

The outcomes from REF assessments are used to inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research.

Professor Welham will lead the assessment for Archaeology.

Her role as chair will involve appointing the other members of her sub-panel and developing the criteria they will use to assess submissions. She will then work with her panel on rigorous evaluating submissions against those criteria and providing advice to the main panels on the quality of research.

After her appointment was announced, Professor Welham said: “I’m honoured to be invited to serve as chair of the archaeology Sub-Panel for REF2029. This is a valuable opportunity to support our discipline and ensure that its excellence—wherever and however it is expressed—is recognised fairly and consistently.

“Archaeology in the UK is a wide-ranging and globally engaged field, and I look forward to drawing on my experience from REF2021 and the current PCE pilot to help foster a collaborative and transparent process that delivers a rigorous and trusted assessment.”

Professor Welham’s appointment was made by the four UK higher education funding bodies – Research England, Scottish Funding Council, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland – and the REF Main Panel Chairs.

REF Director Rebecca Fairbairn said: “I’m delighted to welcome this outstanding group to lead the REF 2029 sub-panels. Their deep expertise and broad perspectives will be central to building an assessment process that is fair, rigorous, and trusted by the research community.

“We have been working in partnership with the sector throughout this process, and I’m grateful to everyone who expressed interest – your engagement is what strengthens the credibility and value of the REF across our research landscape.”

Academic Writing, Publishing & Collaborating event sold out!

international, PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

Bournemouth University’s (BU) Doctoral College aims to create a stimulating and motivating Research Culture and Community at the university.  As part of this goal, the Doctoral College has funded a proposal by Anjana Paudyal, Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) to organise a half-day workshop on ‘Academic Writing, Publishing & Collaborating’ on 28th May.

This event is part of BU’s Research Culture and Community workshop series.  The interactive workshop, facilitated by experienced BU with as guest contributor Jillian Ireland, Professional Midwifery Advocate at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.  Of all midwives working in the NHS (i.e. not in academic posts), Jillian is the most widely published midwife in the South of England; Jillian is also Visiting Faculty in FHSS.

Wednesday morning’s sessions will cover  academic writing, collaboration in writing, writing for practitioners’ journals, publishing identifiers and metrics, and responding to journal editors and reviewers. There will also be opportunities for Q&A and networking.

The event at Talbot Campus is now fully booked, but if you are a postgraduate student and you would like to be put on the waiting list: please email Anjana Paudyal at: apaudyal@bournemouth.ac.uk.

 

We would like to thank the Doctoral College for supporting this important event!

Dr. Orlanda Harvey & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

(Anjana’s Ph.D. supervisors)

Inaugural research meeting for British Academy grant

international, Publishing, writing

Today we had the introductory meeting of our recently funded ‘British Academy Project on Evidence-Informed Policymaking in Nepal’, the project is coordinated by the University of Huddersfield by Prof. Padam Simkhada, who is also Visiting Professor in Bournemouth University’s (BU) Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.  The co-investigator at BU is Dr. Pramod Regmi (Principal Academic in International Health), with other co-applicants based at the Keele University, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Sheffield, the University of Chester, the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Kathmandu University and the research-based charity Green Tara Nepal.

This one year grant is officially starting next month (1st June).  The plans for this project were laid some time ago, and expressed in our 2022 paper ‘Nepal urgently needs a National Evidence Synthesis Centre‘ [1].   Our funded project will focus on the activities of: (1) formative research; (b)  capacity building including evidence synthesis; (c) the establishment of a National Evidence Synthesis Centre; and (d) the evaluation of sustainability planning.  The British Academy see this award also as providing a developmental opportunity, enabling award holders to build connections within the cohort and critically beyond that as well.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

Reference:

  1. Simkhada, P., Dhimal, M., van Teijlingen, E., Gyanwali, P. (2022) Nepal Urgently Needs a National Evidence Synthesis Centre, Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 20 (3): i-ii.

 

Congratulations to Dr. Shanti Farrington & colleagues

international, open access, writing

Today ResearchGate announced that the paper ‘The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist’ [1] has been read 3,000 times.  The paper, with psychologist Dr. Shanti Farrington (previously Shanker) as lead author, was written with colleagues from (a) the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, namely Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen; (b) the NHS, Ms. Jillian Ireland, Professional Midwifery Advocate in University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust; (c) the University of Huddersfield, namely Prof. Padam Simkhada, who is also Visiting Professor at BU; and (d) the University of Greenwich, in the person of Dr. Sharada P. Wasti (previously based at the University of Huddersfield).

This methods paper addresses some of the pitfalls and barriers to being an interdisciplinary researcher. Being involved in interdisciplinary research is not an easy option for an individual discipline expert. It requires individual skills, ability to see beyond one’s discipline and perhaps personality characteristics such as a great team player. Interdisciplinary research may involve a mixed-methods approach underpinned by conflicting, and according to some, incommensurable research philosophies.

This paper on working interdisciplinary is part of a suit of academic papers on the topic written by some of the same authors [2-3].  All papers are fully open access and hence freely accessible across the globe to anyone with an internet connection.

 

References:

  1. Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences 3(2): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v3i2.317
  2. van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v18i1.19337
  3. Wasti, S. P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Public Health is truly interdisciplinary. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 6(1):21-22.

 

 

 

 

 

Bournemouth University Recognised at IEEE Artificial Intelligence Conference for Work in Human-Centred AI

Professor Huseyin Dogan was honoured with both the Best Service Award and the Best Paper Award at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence held in Silicon Valley, USA. This recognition highlights the importance of Human-Centred AI and Professor Dogan’s valuable contributions to the area.

Professor Dogan travelled to Silicon Valley in May 2025, supported by funding from Google, USA, to lead a special track focused on Human-Centred AI. The track included 24 paper presentations and addressed the crucial need for ethical considerations in the development and application of both autonomous and collaborative Human Centred AI systems.

The conference organisers stated that “these honours are a testament to Prof Dogan’s outstanding contributions and dedication to the field.”

IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence

Bournemouth University’s commitment to shaping the future of User Experience (UX) and Human-Centred AI extends beyond this prestigious conference. Professor Dogan also recently led a highly anticipated workshop at CHI 2025 in Yokohama, Japan, on “Defining a User Experience Research Point of View” also funded by Google. The ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) is globally recognised as the premier international forum for research in human-computer interaction.

This influential CHI workshop was a collaborative effort, organised alongside leading experts in the field: Stephen Giff (Google, USA), Renée Barsoum (Admiral, UK), Elizabeth Churchill (MBZUAI, formerly of Google and the ACM), and Alan Dix (Swansea University, Wales, UK). The participation of such prominent figures highlights the significance of the topic and BU’s contribution to the international research community.

CHI Conference Photo

These recent successes highlight Bournemouth University’s growing influence in the critical field of Human-Centred AI and User Experience research. Through international collaborations and impactful engagement at leading conferences like IEEE AI and CHI, the university is actively contributing to the discussion around developing AI systems that are both effective and aligned with human values.

 

PhD supervision is good for you

BU Challenges, international, Publishing, REF Subjects, student research, writing

Some people in academia (and many outside it) don’t appreciate the importance of PhD supervision .  An academic supervising PhD students is not merely for the educational purposes, or in other words, for the benefits of the postgraduate student.  The value of postgraduate supervision lies in pushing the boundaries of knowledge, about testing new ideas, new approaches or even new methods.

Interestingly, enough it means that PhD supervision for an academic is also about developing their own ideas, expanding one’s CV, and developing one’s career.  Whilst for the university it is also for the wider benefit of research for the wider society.  The latter means that PhD students help improve the REF (Research Excellence Framework) scores for a university, through metrics such as number and proportion of PhD completions, but also through papers based on PhD research co-authored with staff.  It always amazes me how some outsider regard PhD supervision as simply more of the same, i.e. not that different from supervising an undergraduate student.

Looking at my ow CV, some of my best papers have been co-written with PhD students, including my most cited paper on SCOPUS [1]. Moreover, as the graph of my h-index [checked SCOPUS for May 19th 2025] shows four of my top eight highest cited papers were co-authored with postgraduate students [1-4].  Papers that would not have been written without the postgraduate student conducting knowledge-advancing research!

Not surprisingly, three of the four former PhD students who co-authored these highly-cited papers are now in academic positions across the UK (the fourth one has retired).  These four highlighted papers are not just looking good on my CV, they are also highly ranked within their respective journals.  The first paper [1] is the 28th most cited paper in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, an impressive 28th position out of 12,762 articles ever published by this international journal.  Similarly, the paper ‘Women’s autonomy in decision-making for health care: Demographic study in Nepal’ [2] is the 10th most cited paper in Reproductive Health, whilst ‘ To tell or not to tell: Barriers and facilitators in family communication about genetic risk’ [3] is the 20th most article in Clinical Genetics.  Last, but not least, ‘Risk, Theory, Social & Medical Models: critical analysis of the concept of risk in maternity care’ [4] is the 17th most cited article (out of 3,910) in the international journal Midwifery.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

 

References:

  1. Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen E., Porter, M., Simkhada, P. (2008) Factors affecting the utilisation of antenatal care in developing countries: a systematic review of the literature, Journal of Advanced Nursing 61(3): 244-260.
  2. Acharya, D.R., Bell, J., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E, Regmi, P.R. (2010) Women’s autonomy in decision-making for health care: Demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health 9(15) reproductive-health-journal.com/content/pdf/1742-4755-7-15.pdf
  3. Forrest, K., Simpson, S., Wilson, B.J., van Teijlingen E, McKee L, Haites, N., Matthews E. (2003) To tell or not to tell: Barriers and facilitators in family communication about genetic risk,Clinical Genetics, 64: 317-26.
  4. MacKenzie Bryers H., van Teijlingen, E. (2010) Risk, Theory, Social & Medical Models: critical analysis of the concept of risk in maternity care, Midwifery 26(5): 488-496.

 

 

 

Pioneering Research to Tackle Maternity Disparities: BU Academics Lead Major NIHR Initiative

Women's Academic Network

We’re thrilled to announce that Bournemouth University (BU) is at the forefront of a significant national effort to address inequalities in maternity outcomes. Two distinguished professors from across our faculties, Professor Huseyin Dogan and Professor Vanora Hundley, have been appointed to lead crucial workstreams within the prestigious National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maternity Disparities project over the next five years.

This vital initiative aims to make a tangible difference in the lives of mothers and babies by tackling the complex factors that contribute to disparities in maternity care and outcomes.

Professor Huseyin Dogan will co-lead the Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science workstream. His expertise will be instrumental in leveraging innovative digital tools and robust data analysis to better understand and address existing inequalities. This workstream will focus on developing effective strategies for monitoring progress and ensuring that evidence-based interventions are successfully implemented in practice. Prof Dogan has also played a pivotal role in curriculum innovation at BU, co-founding several innovative MSc programs, including the UK’s first MSc Digital Health.

Professor Vanora Hundley has been appointed as a Capacity Training and Development Lead. As part of the Capacity Development Group, she will be responsible for developing an ambitious programme to inspire, develop and support the next generation of maternity disparities researchers. Vanora will also oversee the capacity development programme within the MIHERC collaboration. She is an experienced mentor for career young researchers and has received international recognition for her work in mentoring clinical academics: Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2020) and a European Recognition award (2023).

Adding further strength to this ambitious project, Professor Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr Deniz Cetinkaya will also be integral members of the team, providing their expertise and support over the next five years.

This significant involvement in the NIHR Maternity Disparities project is also anticipated to bring substantial research funding to BU, with projections estimating over one million pounds will be secured over the next five years through their respective roles and internal consortium project proposals. This investment will further fuel their research and impact in this critical area.

In a proactive move to lay the groundwork for the NIHR project, the BU team has collaborated with Sheffield Hallam University to establish the Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC). This dedicated centre will serve as a hub for cutting-edge research, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in maternal and infant health equity. We encourage you to explore the centre’s website for more information: https://miherc.org/.

MIHERC is already actively engaged in shaping the discourse around these critical issues. The team has commenced the organisation and chairing of impactful events, including the upcoming Artificial Intelligence for Maternity and Women’s Health and Wellbeing session at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AIiH 2025). Further details about this exciting session can be found here: https://aiih.cc/maternity-and-women-health-wellbeing/.

Locally, the project will benefit from strong collaborations within Dorset. The team is working closely with NHS Dorset and Dorset Women CIC to address inequalities in women’s health.

This collaborative effort has already seen the launch of a valuable Women’s Health resource this month, demonstrating the immediate impact of this work.

The BU team is deeply committed to this crucial research and will continue to keep the wider community informed of their progress and key milestones over the next five years. This initiative represents a significant step forward in our collective efforts to ensure equitable and positive maternity experiences for all. Stay tuned for further updates!

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25