Congratulations to Professors Cresswell and Harden!

We are delighted that Kathrin Cresswell and Jeni Harden have recently been promoted to become Professors. These appointments take effect from 1 August 2024.

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Professor Kathrin Cresswell, Professor of Digital Innovations in Health and Care

Kathrin is a social scientist with extensive experience in conducting formative evaluations of digitally enabled change and improvement programmes in healthcare. She has consulted for the World Health Organization, Harvard Medical School, NHS England and Improvement, is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland, has received the Yvonne Carter Award for Outstanding New Researcher, and has been an invited speaker at the European Parliament and Harvard Medical School. She is also the co-chair of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and European Federation of Medical Informatics Evaluation Working Groups on evaluation. She has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in international academic journals and almost £40 million in research grant funding. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Usher Institute at The University of Edinburgh, Co-Director of External Engagement in a Doctoral Training Centre for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence, and Module Lead on a Scottish national digital health leadership programme. She was previously Module Lead on an English national digital health leadership programme and has taught over 400 national and international health information technology leaders about Technology Strategy and Health Information Systems Implementation.

Kathrin has researched the use of a variety of health information technologies in context over the last 17 years. These have included both patient- and professional-facing technologies comprising electronic health records, robotics, health and fitness apps, artificial intelligence and decision support systems. She is an expert in conducting evaluations of digital applications, having applied formative methods in a variety of health and care settings (hospitals, primary care, and home). Bringing together stakeholders with varying perspectives is key to her ongoing work, where she examines how political, commercial, organisational, patient and healthcare workers’ interests need to be aligned to transform health and care through safe and scalable technologies.

Read more at Kathrin’s profile

Full details of Kathrin’s research and project outputs

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Professor Jeni Harden, Professor of Social Sciences in Medicine

Jeni is a sociologist with extensive experience of teaching and research in higher education. In 2011 she moved to The University of Edinburgh to lead the social science theme in Undergraduate Medicine (MBChB). She has undertaken several leadership roles within the Edinburgh Medical School and College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM) - Director of Education for the Usher Institute, Director of Quality (Medical Education),  CMVM Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Beyond The University of Edinburgh, Jeni is co-chair of the network Behavioural and Social Sciences Teaching in Medicine (BeSST) and with her co-chairs has led several key developments in championing the social and behavioural sciences, including the development of the Core Curriculum for Sociology in UK Undergraduate Medical Education. Her passion for teaching and working in partnerships with students led her to co-author the book The Changing Roles of Medical Students. 

Jeni’s expertise as an educator was recognised in the award of Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Award for Teaching in 2023. 

Jeni has been a Co-director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR), a cross-College centre hosted in the School of Social and Political Science since 2012. Her research in the area of sexual and reproductive health has informed policy and practice on abortion and contraception in Scotland. 

Read more at Jeni’s profile

Full details of Jeni’s research and project outputs

Congratulations to all staff across the Usher Institute who have recently been promoted or regraded.