Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow
Behavioural Epidemiology of Young People’s Activity Behaviour
Qualifications
- 2014: PhD Epidemiology (Cambridge)
- 2010: MPhil Epidemiology (Distinction, Cambridge)
- 2009: MSc Health Psychology (Merit, UCL)
- 2005: MA Psychology and Physiology (PPP) (First Class, Oxford)
Background and experience
Kathryn is a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in Epidemiology. Her work focuses on Maternal and Child Health, and provides evidence to help promote activity behaviours in families with young children.
Kathryn completed her MPhil and PhD in Epidemiology at the MRC Epidemiology Unit and CEDAR, University of Cambridge. She then joined UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) as a Research Associate, leading a project to explore clustering of health conditions and health behaviours using data from the Millennium Cohort Study. She was awarded her Wellcome Fellowship in 2015, working as a Senior Research Associate at UCL GOS ICH and subsequently moving back the MRC Epidemiology Unit in 2021. Kathryn’s fellowship has allowed her to collaborate widely, working with colleagues at UNC, Chapel Hill (NC) and Johns Hopkins University (MD), USA; and Bristol, Durham, Manchester and Strathclyde Universities, UK.
Work and interests
Using longitudinal data from UK, US and Australian cohort studies, Kathryn’s work provides novel information about physical activity in women during the transition to motherhood, and in children up to 5 years. Her interests include:
- Establishing what factors drive change in physical activity during pregnancy and post-partum in women, and during the preschool period in children;
- The link between parent-child health behaviours in early childhood;
- How physical activity influences health in women and development in children.
She is also interested in methods to measure physical activity during pregnancy and in early life.
Kathryn was part of the expert working group revising the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) Physical Activity Guidelines for Under 5s (2019) and subsequently led the pregnancy and preschool work elements of the CMOs’ Physical Activity Surveillance Committee. She has also contributed to the CMO’s Obesity reports and collaborates with local policy and practice partners.
Aside from research, Kathryn also enjoys teaching. She has experience supervising and examining BSc, Masters and PhD theses and at UCL GOS ICH led an MSc module on Nutrition, Growth and Physical Activity. At Cambridge, she teaches the Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness (SECHI; undergraduate medics); Foundations of Evidence-based Practice (FEBP, undergraduate medics) and Soc13 – Health, Medicine and Society (3rd year module). She also contributes various lectures to the MPhil in Population Health Sciences, and supervises MPhil and PhD students in the fields of preschooler/ pregnancy/ parental health behaviors and risky play in preschool-aged children.
Professional memberships and roles
- Editorial Board Member, IJBNPA
- Expert Working Group, UK CMOs’ Physical Activity Guidelines (under 5s) 2019
- CMOs’ Physical Activity Surveillance Committee
- Member of the British Psychological Society (Health Psychology Subdivision) www.health-psychology.org.uk
Publications
Current and previous grants
- SPHR Accelerator Award – Promoting healthy behaviours in preschoolers through collaboration with policy and practice partners (2022; £5,000 (pending £20,000); PI)
-
Health Data Exploration Summer Institute, UCSD (2016; $2000)
- Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015-2022; £250,000; PI)
- Australian Government Endeavour Post-doctoral Fellowship (Awarded in 2014 but not taken up; AUD$19,000)
- Columbia/ Princeton Fragile Families Summer Data Workshop (2014; $2,000)
- ESRC Overseas Institutional Visit, Duke and Harvard Universities (2012; £2,500)
- CEDAR Research funding for pilot/feasibility studies (2012-13; £6,000)
- Scholarship award, Johns Hopkins Fall Institute (2011; £2,000)
- ESRC Government Internship Scheme (2011; £2,500)
- ESRC Advanced Quantitative Methods Enhanced Stipend, CEDAR (2010-13; £9,000)
- 1+3 ESRC Studentship, CEDAR (2009-13)
- MRC Studentship, UCL (2008-9)
- Child Health Research Appeal Trust Summer Studentship, Institute of Child Health, UCL (2006)