School welcomes new Associate Dean for Research
Professor Alison Metcalfe joined the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s College London on 1 February 2011 as the new Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Health Care Research.
Alison joins the School from the University of Birmingham where she held the position of Senior Research Fellow and led the implementation of a new Nursing and Physiotherapy research strategy.
Alison followed the traditional nurse training route in Manchester and registered as a nurse in 1987. In 1989 Alison commenced a full-time joint honours degree in psychology and biology at Keele University, whilst working part-time as a nurse. Following its completion in 1993, she was successful in obtaining a MRC/BBSRC studentship working on the immune system’s acute phase proteins.
Post-doctorally in 1997, she continued this work. However Alison’s main role was in research management for the NHS, firstly as Research and Development manager for North Staffordshire NHS R&D consortium and from 1999 as deputy director for R&D at Birmingham Heartlands & Solihull NHS Trust. These roles involved developing research governance and management systems. In addition the role involved supporting nurses and allied health professionals in carrying out research into their clinical practice.
In 2001, Alison joined the University of Birmingham as a research fellow to develop her research skills further. She had a strong interest in exploring the implications of medicine’s new genetic knowledge for patients and health professionals. In the last 10 years, she has developed a programme of work that examines genetic risk communication within families, and between patients and health professionals, and identifies the psychosocial outcomes. The work has been funded by the Department of Health, BUPA Foundation, the General Nursing Council and Breast Cancer Care amongst others. Alison has published widely on genetic risk communication and has given numerous presentations to health professionals, patient groups and academic colleagues.
Alison has carried out peer review work for fellowships and project grant applications for the Dept of Health in England, Scotland, Ireland, Cancer Research UK amongst others. She has worked on national and international committees advising on genetics education for nurses and midwives, and worked with charities and patient groups aiming to improve patient care for families affected by genetic conditions. Alison is a Council member and Conference Organiser for the Society for Genomics Policy and Public Health (SGPPH). She is also associate editor of BMC Research Notes.
Alison says: 'This is a very exciting time to be joining the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery and King’s College London. The School has made outstanding contributions to nursing and midwifery research. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to build on this legacy as we consolidate the excellent work currently taking place, and support further development and growth, locally through strong research partnerships within King’s College London and the King’s Health Partners but also internationally via our global collaborations.'
Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, Head of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s, spoke of Alison’s appointment: ‘I am delighted to welcome Alison to the School. Alison comes with an excellent clinical research pedigree and will lead the implementation of a renewed research strategy and the development of the clinical academic career pathway with our NHS partners'.