Cunningham, Kathryn

Kathryn is a Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in the School of Health Sciences and a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. She is a Full Member of the Society’s Division of Health Psychology and an Associate Member of the Society’s Faculty for Oncology and Palliative Care. She has also been elected as an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society for her contribution to the field of psychology through the application of specialist knowledge.

Kathryn completed an M.A. (Hons.) in Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, an M.Sc. in Health Psychology at the University of Stirling, and a Ph.D. (Exploring loneliness in the context of cancer: A mixed methods study) at the University of Dundee. She has held research positions in a variety of areas, including cancer care, palliative care, health behaviour change, primary care and NHS staff wellbeing, at the University of St. Andrews (Schools of Medicine and Psychology), the University of Dundee (Schools of Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing) and the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre).

Kathryn has expertise in the design and leadership/conduct of several different types of applied health and wellbeing research and evaluation, including:

• evidence synthesis (including mixed method, systematic, scoping and realist reviews and concept analysis);
• intervention and service development/quality improvement, implementation and evaluation (including mixed method and realist evaluation and feasibility and full Randomised Controlled Trials);
• questionnaire development and validation;
• qualitative research.

In addition to her research and evaluation experience Kathryn is experienced in teaching, training and supervision.

Kathryn has worked half-time since the birth of her first child in 2015 due to childcare commitments.

Kathryn’s primary research interest is loneliness, particularly in health conditions and contexts.  She is specifically interested in understanding the experience of loneliness and developing, implementing and evaluating methods to identify and assess, and interventions to alleviate, this serious public health problem.

Her wider research interests include health behaviour change and social prescribing.

Additionally, Kathryn is committed to conceptual and theoretical advancement and methodological innovation in research.