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Dr Sarah Kate Smith
Name:
Dr Sarah Kate Smith
Job title:
Research Fellow
Place of work / study:
Area of Research:
Self-management of long-term conditions using digital technology in the NHS
How is your work funded?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR 2021-2024)
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am mum to two amazing sons; Joe is 25 and Jude is 16. Since leaving school at 18, I was a manager at the John Lewis Partnership but decided to change career by undertaking a BSc Psychology part-time with the Open University when my youngest son was 6 months old. I achieved a 1st Class Honours in Psychology and then a Scholarship with the ESRC White Rose DTC to study my PhD in the School of Health & Related Research at the University of Sheffield. I completed my PhD in 2015 and since then have worked as a post-doc on a multitude of programmes funded by the ESRC, Horizon 2020, NIHR and some smaller charitable funders in Sheffield, Bradford and Manchester.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I was born in Scotland, grew up in Ireland and now live in England. Happy to be European due to my Irish passport 😊
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
I spent some years volunteering as a Samaritan and was so saddened to receive so many calls from older adults living with dementia. Not necessarily because they had dementia, but many were lonely and socially isolated and the only regular contact that they had was calling a suicide helpline.
What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?
Grab every opportunity that presents itself and run with it.
Dr Clarissa Giebel
Dr Aida Suarez-Gonzalez
UK DRI
Dr Jodi Watt
