Meet the team

Ashley Adamson is Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Newcastle University, Director of the NIHR Research Support Service Specialist Centre for Public Health hub delivered by Newcastle University and Partners and also Director of the NIHR School for Public Health Research.

After graduation in 1987, Ashley worked as a dietitian in the NHS before moving to Newcastle University as a Research Associate to work on the Northumberland cross sectional cohort studies. She was awarded PhD from the Faculty of Medicine Newcastle University in 1993.

From 1992-95 Ashley worked in clinical practice in a number of community dietetic posts and in primary care in London, returning to Newcastle University in 1995 to take up a post as a Lecturer.

Ashley was awarded a personal chair in 2010, Fellowship of Faculty of Public Health in 2011 and an NIHR Research Professorship in 2012. She was also Director of Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health from 2014-24. 

Sarah Sowden is driven to improve the effectiveness of action taken to reduce health and care inequalities and holds a number of roles with key infrastructure that aim to improve health equity and strengthen links between research, policy and practice.  

Sarah is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University and Deputy Director of the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health delivered by Newcastle University and Partners. 

Sarah is also a Public Health Consultant within the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in the North East of England, public health lead for the Newcastle Health Research Partnership Academy, and leads programmes of research within the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria and Fuse.  

Sarah has worked in public health since 2002, including within the NHS, local authorities, and academia, alongside wider systems partners, to improve health and reduce health inequalities.

Kay Howes is the Chief Operating Officer at the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health. Kay joined the Centre on its establishment on 1 October 2023 and works with the SCPH Director, Professor Ashley Adamson, to lead the strategic development and delivery of the Centre.

Originally a town planner, Kay has over 30 years of experience of leadership roles in local and central government, the NHS and Higher Education.  Most recently Kay was Head of Research for the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University with responsibility for research strategy, governance and performance.

Dr Louise Hayes is Research Design Lead for the Centre and has worked in epidemiology and public health research at Newcastle University for over 20 years.

Louise leads our central team of methodologists who are based across England and has experience of working on a range of research projects related to chronic disease and inequalities in health. 

Louise completed her PhD, which explored the role of physical activity in the prevention of the metabolic consequences of obesity in 2007, and continues to have an interest in the prevention and management of obesity and chronic disease through lifestyle intervention. 

She has been an adviser for the NIHR Research Support Service Hub delivered by Newcastle University and Partners (formerly Research Design Service North East and North Cumbria) for 10 years and has expertise in observational studies, using routine data, mixed methods research and trials.

Laura Renwick is the Public Health Senior Research Manager for the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health and has 19-years experience in research and public health roles across the NIHR and NHS.

Laura joined the Centre in May 2024 and leads our central team of Programme Managers for governance and ethics, training and development and local authority support and resources and has previous experience of working on an expansion project of public health research support in settings outside of the NHS. 

Laura Brown is a Research Programme Manager at the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health. She has over 15 years’ experience in a range of administration and research management roles in the NHS and university sector. 

Laura joined the Centre in April 2024 and is working on research governance and research ethics mapping and scoping. If you are willing to share your experiences of, or insights into, research governance and ethics processes, Laura would be keen to hear from you.

Mac  joined the centre from a background in education and widening participation to medicine and allied health careers. She contributes a vast experience in developing resources, delivering programmes of activity, and nurturing productive and welcoming communities of practice. 

Mac has previously worked for Queen Mary University of London, Kings College London, Royal College of GPs, FutureLearn and as a consultant for Health Education England.  

She joined the centre in June 2024 and is responsible for establishing and facilitating the Local Authority Research Practitioner (LARP) network, fostering a sense of belonging and sharing resources amongst our ambitious LARPs. 

If you are interested in the LARP role, or want to share expertise or resources with the LARP network, Mac would be delighted to hear from you.

Nicola Sheen is the Training and Development Manager, leading this strand of the SCPH offer. She has over 25 years’ experience in education, local authority and private sector organisations, where she held roles in human resources, training, governance, infrastructure building and policy development.

Nicola joined the Centre in August 2024 from an NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) and is currently scoping and mapping training needs for both the HDRC and LARP programmes. If you would like to get in touch with Nicola to discuss your training needs, or if you wish to share your experience / insights, she would be happy to talk to you.

Kasia Kurowska is the Public and Community Partnerships Manager for the NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health. Kasia has over 20-years experience working with public and patient communities to empower them to have a voice and influence change that matters to them. 

 Kasia has worked in charities, NHS and Local Authority roles. Most recently, Kasia has held various Public Involvement roles in The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Infrastructure organisations helping to create the right environment and processes for people to be involved as equal partners in the creation, delivery and impact of health research. 

Kasia joined the Centre in October 2024 and leads our Public Involvement and Community Engagement and supports our Research Inclusion work across the Centre and with local authorities and partners.

Lesley joined the centre in March 2025 and brings experience from the private sector as well as having 25 years' experience of working in higher education both in research and teaching and learning at Newcastle University, King's College London, Bath and Oxford. Lesley is working on research governance and ethics and training projects.  

Eleanor joined the Centre in April 2025 and brings 15 years of experience from a variety of project management roles in local government and the voluntary and community sector. She completed her PhD at Anglia Ruskin University in 2021 and has most recently focused on community-led research whilst working for a community development trust.  

Eleanor will be supporting projects in training and development, research governance and ethics. 

Alex is an experienced communications professional with over 10-years experience in the public sector. Alex joined the Centre in January 2024 and has led on the set up of our intranet, created a suite of marketing materials as well as managing webinars and national events.

If you'd like to write a blog, have news to share or an events to promote then please get in touch, Alex will be happy to support. 

Brady joined the Centre in March 2024 and is an experienced administrator, with a wealth of knowledge from both the private and public sector. Brady manages our database and our finance, including external funding for our LARPs and PHELs, with support from our Centre Administrator. 

Laura joined SCPH in July 2024 as Centre Administrator and has responsibility for our database, including supporting our methodologists across England and coordinating our regional and national meetings.  

Laura graduated from Newcastle University in 2021 with a Masters in English Literature and has a keen interest in publishing and volunteers with the Society of Young Publishers. 

Jonny joined SCPH in July 2025 as Centre Administrator and has a background in university operations and administrative support.

Jonny graduated from Newcastle  University in 2023 with a Masters in International Relations: Conflict and Security. Prior to joining the Centre, Jonny spent a year teaching English in Vietnam.