Research Priority Group

Meet The Research Working Group

Dr. Melissa Owens

Melissa Owens is an Associate Professor at the University of Bradford and is a Registered Nurse: learning disabilities by background. Melissa is a Board Member of CAIPE and is currently the co-lead for the CAIPE Research Group. Melissa Is the Lead for Interprofessional Education in her Faculty and has an active interest in IPE-related research.

Veronica O’Carroll. PhD, MSc, PGCertHE, BA (Hons), RGN, FHEA

Veronica O'Carroll is a Senior Lecturer and Registered Nurse (Adult) in the School of Medicine, University of St Andrews.  Since 2009, she has been involved in the design and implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional research in the academic and practice learning environment. Veronica supervises and examines MSc PhD/MD Prof Doc dissertations and theses related to IPE and IPC. She is a member of the UK Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) and a member of CAIPE’s research group.

Andreas Xyrichis  BSc, a MSc and a PhD

Andreas Xyrichis is an academic researcher and Senior Lecturer at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King’s College London. He has held clinical, research and policy posts in London and Brussels; and his training has been in nursing, research methodology, health policy and sociology. He holds a BSc, a MSc and a PhD all from King’s.

Andreas is passionate about interprofessional healthcare practice, education and research. His work is supported by the National Institute for Health Research and investigates interprofessional practice interventions for patient safety and quality improvement, specifically in the clinical setting of the intensive care unit. Andreas has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK since 2013, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Interprofessional Care since 2015 and a CAIPE Board Member since 2018.

Angus K McFadyen Previous Vice Chair, Deputy Editor JIC

Statistician. Semi-retired, PT consultant www.akm-stats.com

Research Interests: IPE in general + evaluation; research ethics; rehabilitation and
many other areas of clinical research see website for details.

Dr Maggie Hutchings. PhD, MA, BA, Cert Ed, PG Cert Research Supervision, PFHEA

Maggie is Associate Professor and Visiting Fellow in the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bournemouth University. Maggie was elected to the CAIPE Board in 2014 and appointed Vice Chair in 2017. Maggie has served on CAIPE working groups for Research, Policy & Consultation, and Publications.

Her research interests are in practice-based and professional education for interprofessional learning, using arts-based, lifeworld-led approaches and technology-mediated strategies for humanising care and widening participation. Her work is informed by critical theory, creative methodologies, narrative research, and photo-elicitation.

Professor Jacqueline Leigh

I am a Professor of Nurse Education Practice at the University of Salford and I am an Adult Nurse.

An advocate for inter-professional, evidence- based education, teaching and learning, I have significant experience in developing innovative curricula that meets workforce needs in health and social care. I lead the inter-professional Educational Research and Scholarship Cluster at the University of Salford and work across Greater Manchester creating opportunities for the development of the healthcare workforce around interprofessional supervision and assessment in clinical practice

My expertise in nurse education practice is recognised at the highest level receiving multiple learning and teaching awards including Advance HE Principal Fellow, National Teaching Fellow, Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, and multiple University of Salford Vice Chancellor Distinguished Teaching Awards.

As an Executive Coach I particularly enjoy supporting individuals to learn and develop and reach their full potential. I am an experienced NHS Leadership Academy Healthcare Leadership 360 Feedback Facilitator (individual and group) and I coach and mentor senior healthcare leaders as part of the North West Leadership Academy mentoring scheme.

I have expertise in promoting an ethos for innovative and research informed learning and teaching practice, including co-creating, and leading, Salford Community for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (SCELT). SCELT is a key enabler for Salford’s Academic Career Framework. We are busy organising our annual Scholarship scheme, funding projects that make a real impact upon student engagement and success. SCELT scholars become part of a community, working together to develop teaching and learning practice and academic leadership across the university.

Dr Shobhana Nagraj. BSc(Hons) MBBS MRCS MRCGP MPhil FHEA

Shobi has been actively involved in the Research Group, International Group, and Policy Group. She is a Medical Doctor and previously Lecturer in Medical Education UEA as she is currently undertaking a PhD at Oxford University. Her IPE research interests are Global Health, IPE & Workforce planning, Interprofessional Clinical Skills, Simulation and Human Factors in IPE

Michael P. Sy

Dr. Michael Sy is a Filipino occupational therapist and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines Manila - National Teachers Training Center for the Health Professions. He is also a Visiting Associate Professor at the Tokyo Metropolitan University and an Affiliate Faculty Member at the UP Open University. Apart from his research and works in occupational science, substance addiction and rehabilitation, health professions education, he has been actively championing interprofessional education in the Philippines and within the Asia Pacific region through various activities and platforms. His works in IPE since 2012 led him to co-establish the Philippines Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Network, generate research with the CAIPE Research Group, and serve as an associate editor for the Journal of Interprofessional Care. Presently, he is leading the IPE courses for master's and doctorate students in health professions education at the University of the Philippines Manila starting March 2021.

Dr Alla El-Awaisi. MPharm, MRPharmS, MSc, PgCert, PhD Assistant Dean for Student Affairs QU Health Chair of the Interprofessional Education Committee College of Pharmacy Qatar University Doha, Qatar

Dr Alla El-Awaisi received her Master of Pharmacy degree (2001) from Strathclyde University in Glasgow (UK), MSc in Prescribing Science (2009) from the Robert Gordon University (UK) and PhD in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (2017) from the Robert Gordon University (UK) with a thesis entitled: ‘Pharmacy’s Perspectives of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice: An Investigative Study in Qatar & the Middle East.

Prior to moving to Qatar University, she practised pharmacy in various hospital seetings and primary healthcare settings as clinical pharmacist and later on as a specialist clinical pharmacist. Currently, she is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Qatar University Health Chair of the Interprofessional Education Committee and has been instrumental in the leadership and delivery of successful IPE initiatives in Qatar and internationally including leading the First Middle Eastern Conference in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice in December 2015. Her research expertise lies in the area of interprofessional education and collaborative practice, pharmacy education and pharmacy practice.

Marion Huber

Marion began her career as a physiotherapist and complementary medicine practitioner, psychologist and neuroscientist. Her work focuses on the latter roles and she is the deputy head of Interprofessional Learning and Practice at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences Switzerland am head of interprofessional research.

Her research interests are methods are mixed-methods; phenomenology; qualitative document and media analysis and complex statistical analysis. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marion_Huber3

Noreen O’Leary. MSc Clinical Education, PGDip Clinical Education, BSc Speech & Language Therapy

Noreen, a qualified speech and language therapist, is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Allied Health, University of Limerick. Her research relates to practice-based interprofessional education and seeks to reflect the experiences of a range of stakeholders, influenced by principles of Public Patient Involvement. Other research interests include professional identity and socialisation, pedagogical theories and the application of qualitative research methodologies.  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1148-2186

Nichola McLarnon

Chulani Herath

Chulani Herath is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Psychology & Counselling, Faculty of Health Science, The Open University of Sri Lanka. She graduated from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2005 with a first Class in B.A. (Special) in Psychology Degree and completed her Masters in Social work in 2009. She obtained her PhD in Social Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. China. Her PhD research focused on interprofessional education and collaborative practice, and PhD thesis entitled: Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice in Medical and Health Field: A Practical Example from   Sri Lanka

Her research and teaching areas are focusing on the fields of Psychology, Inter-professional Education and Collaborative Practice, Multidisciplinary Team Work, and Social Work. She has given an opportunity to work with Japan College Social Work Joint Research Project on Internationalization & Indigenization of Social Work Education in Asia in 2013, and currently she is working with Asian Research Institute for International Social Work (ARIISW), Shukutoku University, Japan. She is a member of the research working group, Center for Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) since 2020.

Alison Power RM, SFHEA, MProfPrac, MSc, PGCTHE, PGCPE

Alison is a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery in the Faculty of Health, Education and Society at the University of Northampton.  She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; a member of the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) Research Working Group and an Associate Member of the Association for Learning Technology.  She is currently an Editorial Board Member of the British Journal of Midwifery, having previously been an Education columnist for the journal for five years.

She has a keen interest in Interprofessional Education (IPE), and as Faculty Lead co-ordinates the IPE ‘collaborative curriculum’ involving 17 programmes across the Faculty.  She champions the judicious use of technology in learning and teaching and has presented internationally on the University’s Active Blended Learning teaching approach.

Vikki Park PhD., PG Dip., PG Cert., BSc (Hons), FHEA, HEA Mentor, RN, RNT.

Vikki is a Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Northumbria University, UK. She has clinical expertise within adult critical care and has experience within Further Education and Higher Education. Prior to joining Northumbria University in 2011, Vikki was awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Academic Practice Development and Professional Learning, she gained status as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and became an NMC Registered Nurse Teacher. Vikki is passionate about interprofessional collaboration, learning and education, and her PhD was a focused ethnography which explored interprofessional learning within adult critical care. In her current role she has leadership responsibility for IPE across a suite of undergraduate health and social care programmes.

Kathryn Steven

Fiona Cust

Emma Pope

Hamde Nazar

Jane Greaves