Dr Angela Hewett BA, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, SFHEA

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Advance HE, 2019
• PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Birmingham City University, 2017
• Chartered Psychologist, British Psychological Society, 2015
• PhD in Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool, 2011
• MSc in Evolutionary Psychology, University of Liverpool, 2003
• BA in Psychology; BA in Scandinavian Studies (Double Major), Concordia College, 2001

Angela earned her BA in Psychology from Concordia College, MN, USA, providing her with a deep understanding of human behaviour, motivation, and cognitive processes—all essential elements for effective health interventions. This was followed by an MSc in Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Liverpool, which broadened her perspective to the evolved traits and processes that explain human behaviour. Finally, her PhD research in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool focused on the cultural and psychological factors that affect menstrual experiences, blending elements of clinical, social and health psychology.

Angela began her academic career at the University of Liverpool, where she taught quantitative methods and epidemiology while serving as Deputy Director of the Master of Public Health program. Transitioning to Birmingham City University, she significantly expanded her leadership portfolio, first as Director of the MSc Public Health and subsequently as Deputy Director of the MSc Health Psychology program.

Beyond program management, Angela steered institutional research and governance as the Director of the Health & Wellbeing Research Centre and as the Business, Law & Social Sciences Faculty Ethics Chair. Joining the University of Birmingham in 2025, she now leads the Clinical Communication curriculum for Dentistry and continues to deliver specialist teaching across a diverse range of health and psychology topics.

Outside of academia, Angela served as a Health Promotion Coordinator in Manitoba, Canada, where she managed and delivered front-line health initiatives, including chronic health workshops, nutrition programs, and community mental health seminars. In this role, she cultivated a multi-sectoral network of health professionals and provincial stakeholders to develop unified, community-focused regional health strategies. Angela’s work empowered residents through the co-design of healthy living programs and interactive learning workshops delivered directly within their neighbourhoods. This practical experience was invaluable, providing her with firsthand insight into the real-world barriers and facilitators of health behaviour change and ensuring that her strategic initiatives were deeply rooted in the communities they served.

• Dental Surgery BDS
• Dental Hygiene and Therapy BSc

Angela is interested in supervising PhD students with interests in:

• Women’s reproductive health;
• Gender and/or socio-economic health inequalities;
• Health promotion - co-design, barriers and facilitators

She has supervised PhD students on topics such as: Period poverty during the Covid 19 pandemic, Adolescent experiences of endometriosis, Psycho-social determinants of perceptions of health inequalities and policy, Barriers and facilitators to physical activity recommendations for T2D patients in Oman, Feasibility and design of a culturally appropriate health promotion app for Black people in England, and Salutagenic approaches to mental wellbeing promotion in UK Black African and African Caribbean groups.

Angela’s primary research focuses on the psychological and systemic factors influencing women’s reproductive health and broader understandings of health equity. Her portfolio includes:

• Menstrual Health & Period Poverty: Angela specialises in menstrual health research, notably co-PI on a 2026-2027 NIHR PHR Development Award to co-design a UK menstrual health framework. Her work in this area has informed national advocacy efforts and includes research on adolescent experiences and awareness of menstruation and endometriosis, cross-sectional studies on adolescent experiences of menstruation and endometriosis, and several commissioned briefings on period poverty.
• Health Inequalities: Her research investigates public perceptions of socioeconomic health gaps. Through multiple recent publications, she has explored how the framing of inequality influences cognitive appraisals and social policy support.
• Primary Care & Social Determinants of Health: Angela examines how the social determinants of health are navigated in frontline medicine, specifically analysing how healthcare professionals identify and address the structural and socioeconomic drivers of illness that exist beyond traditional clinical boundaries.
• Methodology: Angela utilises a versatile methodological toolkit spanning quantitative and qualitative traditions. She leads and supervises mixed and multi-methods research across diverse health topics, bridging the gap between rigorous data analysis and nuanced human experience to address complex health challenges

• Senior Tutor for Dentistry
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for Dentistry
• PASS Academic Lead for Dentistry