The Team: Programme Management
The Programme Management Team supports the running of the ACRC.
Programme Manager - Dr. Lucy McCloughan
Lucy McCloughan is the Programme Manager for ACRC having previously managed Health Data Research Scotland from 2018 and Farr Scotland from 2017. From 2012 she was eHealth Research Manager at the University of Edinburgh Medical School overseeing a programme of randomised controlled trials and qualitative studies investigating telemetric self-monitoring of long term health conditions along with a programme investigating ePrescribing systems in English hospitals.
Prior to that she managed the Scottish Mental Health Research Network from 2007-2009 and the Scottish Primary Care Research Network from 2002-2007. Before moving into research management, she was on the “coal face” as a researcher working with people with visual disabilities, working at the Oxford Eye Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Eye Hospital in Edinburgh.
Programme Coordinator - Louise Hartley
Louise Hartley is the Programme Coordinator for ACRC. Her background is in paediatric nursing within the NHS and facilitating contract research in the commercial sector. She also studied Biology and Health Sciences with the Open University. Prior to this post she was the research manager of Generation Scotland where she organised a remote sample collection process and advised, co-designed and gained ethical approval for, autonomous online adolescent consent.
Academy Project Manager - Kate Morris
Kate Morris is the Project Manager for the ACRC Academy. Prior to this, she was Project Manager for ThermaSMART, an international research project with 18 partners on five continents. She also worked as Project Manager on the teaching response to Covid in the School of Engineering. She has a background in publishing, where she was a non-fiction editor for firms including HarperCollins and Bloomsbury, and was Publications Manager for the Basic Skills Agency, a national educational charity.
Partnerships and Communications Manager - Dr. Janice Murray
Janice Murray is the Partnerships and Communications Manager for ACRC. She comes to us from the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), The University of Edinburgh, where she was the Research Impact Manager and REF coordinator. Prior to that Janice was lab manager of the Parasite Immunoepidemiology Group in SBS and the manager for the Out of Africa fellows for TIBA (Tackling Infection to Benefit Africa).
Janice’s research career started in the field of stem cells and then moved quickly into molecular parasitology. She gained her MSc with distinction and PhD, whilst working in the lab of Professor Rick Maizels (The University of Edinburgh); studying the immunomodulatory effects of parasite secreted proteins.
More recently, Janice was one of the leads for the REF2021 submission for the School of Biological Sciences, and has been working hard to embed impact within the school research culture.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Coordinator - Jenny Sharma
Jenny Sharma is the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Coordinator for the ACRC. Jenny previously managed the public involvement in research programme for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and developed an international public involvement group for a project focusing on patient reported outcomes in multiple sclerosis. Prior to this, she worked as a research assistant at King's College London, investigating the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy for people living with persistent physical symptoms. Jenny has a degree in Health Psychology.
Communications Officer - Rob Mackie
Rob joined the ACRC in December 2020. He started his career in the Scottish Government, working for the Reshaping Care for Older People Team. In 2011, he moved to an independent consultancy, where he was involved in client work across a number of sectors, including pharmaceuticals and retirement housing. In 2015, he moved to the third sector, becoming Communications and Policy Manager for Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland.
Operations Co-ordinator - Sharon Westwood
Sharon spent six years working in the Commercial Property sector where she gained vast knowledge of Property Management, Facilities Management as well as Finance. Prior to this she worked for a Public/Private body whose remit was to market Edinburgh as a destination: locally, nationally and internationally. Her career has included all aspects of office management, administration, marketing, and finance.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Officer - Anna Crawford
Anna Crawford is the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Officer for the ACRC. She is a graduate from the University of West London (UWL) with a BSc degree in Nutrition and Food Management. While at UWL, she worked as a Research Assistant at the School of Biomedical Sciences where she assisted in the development of a regional patient and public involvement network for those living with young onset dementia in collaboration with the University of Bradford and University of Northampton. Prior to this role, Anna was a field researcher at ICF on the EU Reformulation and Monitoring (EUREMO) study with an objective of delivering an interoperable dataset of nutritional information on processed foods sold in 15 EU Member States.
Research Impact Officer - Sarah Mackinnon
Sarah's experience includes working in communications, project coordination and public engagement within grass roots arts-science organisation ASCUS Art & Science, NHS Lothian and National Galleries Scotland. She has an understanding and awareness of what a true interdisciplinary approach to research projects can bring to researchers and to the public as research beneficiaries. She has worked to communicate complex ideas within the aims of different research projects to different audiences, assisting with applications for public engagement funds, devising evaluation strategies and reporting impact. Most recently, she worked with a project focusing on the intersections of AI and Arts. She has an educational background within the arts and journalism.
Her role is to support and build capacity for, and eventually embed, impact within the projects and wider goals of the ACRC. That includes helping with funding applications, tracking and reporting impact, choosing the best conferences and events for impact and selecting the right channels to disseminate outcomes for the best impact.
Administrator - Gregor Hall
Gregor provides the administrative support for the AIM-CISC project. He has worked in three previous roles at the University; in Admissions for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, then supporting undergraduate students in the School of Informatics, and latterly supporting PhD students in an Informatics CDT programme.
Gregor acts a a conduit between the affiliated ACRC and AIM-CISC programmes.