Keele University celebrates academic promotions
Congratulations to the following members of staff who have recently received esteemed promotions within their schools.
Dr Julie Hulme has been promoted to Reader of Psychology. Her previous role Director of Learning and Teaching focused on enhancing all aspects of learning and teaching across the School of Psychology's undergraduate and postgraduate portfolio of programmes. Alongside responsibility for quality assurance, Julie works with staff in the School to facilitate sharing of practice and support pedagogically sound innovation. She collaborates with the University’s Learning and Professional Development Centre to support the TLHEP and HEA CPD programmes. Julie also works closely with students, to improve the student experience and raise the School’s performance on measures of student satisfaction, including the NSS, UKES and PTES surveys.
Dr Hulme is a Keele graduate, having studied her BSc (Hons) Biology and Psychology and her PhD in Neuroscience here. She remained at Keele as a Teaching Fellow in Psychology until 2004, when she moved to Staffordshire University as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology.
Professor Jonathan Wastling, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Natural Sciences, said: “Julie has developed a national reputation for her work on assessment and feedback, leading to her appointment as the Discipline Lead for Psychology at the Higher Education Academy (HEA). We are absolutely delighted at her promotion to Reader in recognition of her standing at a national level.”
Julie re-joined Keele in January 2015, as a Senior Teaching Fellow. She is also a National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the HEA text book for Oxford University Press: ‘Psychology in Everyday Life’.
Dr Ed Roddy has been promoted to Reader in Rheumatology. Dr Roddy came to Keele in 2007 as a Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology
and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011. His research sits within the Arthritis Research Primary Care Centre, within the Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences (iPCHS). He has published 65 original research papers in high-ranking specialist journals, been cited 4,183 times and has contributed to over £6 million in grant income. Dr Roddy is an Honorary Consultant in Rheumatology at the Haywood Rheumatology Centre.
Dr Roddy’s research focus is developing and leading two new research programmes in hitherto neglected areas: gout and foot osteoarthritis (OA). The overall aims of his research are to improve the diagnosis and management of gout and foot OA, particularly in primary care, in order to reduce the burden and impact of these common, painful, disabling conditions.
His research has provided new knowledge about the causes, consequences and treatment of gout and foot OA in particular, and has been cited in international guidelines for clinical practice published by the American College of Rheumatology (gout) and Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OA), and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance Standards of Care.
He has developed collaborations with other world-leading international researchers from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. His research has been supported by external grant income from NIHR and Arthritis Research UK.
Dr Roddy plays a key role in development of the Keele CTU as a Principal and Chief Investigator of clinical trials, and more broadly in his capacity as iPCHS’ Medical Lead for the CTU. As Reader in Rheumatology, Dr Roddy will co-lead the iPCHS’ Inflammatory Arthritis Research Programme and will further strengthen the links between the Haywood Rheumatology Centre and Keele with his leadership of the Keele-Haywood Academic Rheumatology Group.
Dr Samantha Hider has been promoted to Reader in Rheumatology. Dr Hider first came to Keele as a postdoctoral researcher in 2008, when she was appointed as a NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology in the Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences. Prior to this Dr Hider completed her PhD in Manchester, gaining experience in genetics and epidemiology. Having completed her clinical training, she was promoted to Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in 2012, and plays a key link role between the Arthritis Research UK and iPCHS at Keele, and our clinical partners in the multidisciplinary rheumatology department at the Haywood Hospital. Her achievements include establishing and leading a new research group concerned with applied research in the field of rheumatoid arthritis and contributing to 70 original publications in high ranking peer reviewed journals.
Dr Hider’s research focuses on Rheumatoid arthritis, particularly early recognition and diagnosis. Her research group is addressing, utilising routinely collected health data and bringing together general practice, statistical and rheumatological expertise. Dr Hider has recently secured funding from the Haywood Foundation and from the West Midland’s CLAHRC to pilot and evaluate a novel outreach service where skilled rheumatology nurses from the Haywood work in local general practices to perform an annual general health screen for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, in order to reduce the impact from serious comorbidities including cardiovascular disease and depression.
Dr Hider is committed to growing academic capacity and has worked closely with the medical school to develop medical student internships and intercalated degrees. As Postgraduate Research Director for iPCHS, she has recently taken on a broader role providing oversight and leadership of postgraduate research across applied clinical research in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.