Professor Judith Smith, Professor Yemisi Takwoingi and Professor Justine Davies have been appointed as NIHR Senior Investigators.
Professor Judith Smith, Professor Yemisi Takwoingi and Professor Justine Davies from the University of Birmingham have been appointed as NIHR Senior Investigators. The award celebrates their individual outstanding contribution to health and social care research.
As explained by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) the Senior Investigator Award is one of their most prestigious accolades and celebrates the most outstanding and exemplary researchers funded by the NIHR. The research is grounded in innovation, improving health and wealth nationally and globally.
Professor Smith, is a highly experienced and a widely published health services researcher and policy analyst, specialising in health care organisation and management, and primary and integrated care, having spent over 30 years working in health services research and development. She is Co-Director of the NIHR-funded Birmingham, RAND and Cambridge Evaluation (BRACE) Centre which conducts rapid evaluations of promising new services and innovations. The Centre’s approach is both rapid and thorough, and produces rigorous, timely and useful evidence to inform the implementation of new services and help improve outcomes across the NHS.
Find out more about the Birmingham, RAND and Cambridge Evaluation (BRACE) Centre
I am delighted to have been appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator based on my expertise in applied health research and rapid evaluation methodology in particular. I am looking forward to using this opportunity to work with colleagues to build further our University of Birmingham social science capacity and excellence in undertaking impactful and rapid research to inform health and care policy and practice.
Professor Takwoingi is a biostatistician and methodologist whose research has contributed to evidence-based diagnostics and healthcare decision-making worldwide. Alongside her research, Professor Takwoingi’s commitment to the NIHR Race Equity and Diversity in Careers (REDiC) Incubator is a powerful demonstration of her work to ensure equity across the NIHR talent pipeline and influencing cross funder approaches to inclusion. She is also actively engaged in advisory and capacity building roles, contributing to improving the wider research ecosystem.
This announcement coincides with World TB Day; find out more about how Professor Takwoingi’s research has informed the World Health Organisation’s latest recommendations for TB detection.
I am delighted to be appointed an NIHR Senior Investigator. This honour reflects the collective efforts of colleagues, patients, and partners dedicated to strengthening the evidence base for better healthcare decisions about medical tests. As an NIHR Senior Investigator, I look forward to continuing to advance research in diagnostics and evidence synthesis, and to supporting diverse researchers committed to equitable, high-impact health and care research.
Professor Davies is Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Emergency, Critical, and Operative Care at the University of Birmingham. Her work focuses on using evidence to strengthen health systems in resource-limited settings. Professor Davies’s research prioritises ensuring quality emergency care is available for all people, wherever there are. This currently includes working with the government of Rwanda to improve ambulance services and developing emergency care systems which can be transferable to other low resourced settings.
Find out more about the University of Birmingham’s Department of Applied Health Sciences designated as WHO Collaborating Centre for Integrated Emergency, Critical, and Operative Care.
I’m extremely grateful for the recognition that the NIHR Senior Investigator award brings. As a Senior Investigator, I hope to expand my work with the World Health Organisation and other global policy makers to develop tools and guidance to improve access to quality care for people with emergencies in low- and middle-income countries. I would also be delighted to be more closely involved in UK government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) policies around research funding for global health.
Senior Investigators become members of the NIHR Academy, where they play a crucial role in shaping the future of health and social care research, helping mentor and support earlier career researchers locally and nationally, and act as ambassadors for NIHR.
Read the press release from the NIHR on the NIHR website.
For more information, please contact the University of Birmingham press office on +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:
Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health, and social care;
Investing in world-class expertise, facilities, and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
Partnering with patients, service users, carers, and communities, improving the relevance, quality, and impact of our research;
Attracting, training, and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
Collaborating with other public funders, charities, and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low- and middle-income countries.
NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.
Professor of Health Policy and Management
Professor Judith Smith is a highly experienced and widely published health services researcher and policy analyst in HSMC at the University of Birmingham.
Head of the Department of Applied Health Sciences
Staff profile for Dr Yemisi Takwoingi, Head of the Department of Applied Health Sciences and Professor of Test Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Professor of Global Health Research
Staff profile for Justine Davies, Professor of Global Health, Department of Applied Health Sciences
