Kate Robinson, Senior Research Midwife and Knowledge Mobilisation and Communications Lead at Bradford Institute of Health Research, has been awarded a place on the prestigious NIHR Senior Research Leader Programme.
The three-year programme aims to transform research culture in NHS organisations whilst building sustainable research capacity across nursing, midwifery and allied health professional disciplines.
Kate brings a distinctive combination of skills to the programme: eight years of research experience spanning frontline clinical operations to strategic leadership, combined with a background in Public Relations prior to transitioning to midwifery. This rare trajectory provides expertise in clinical research, strategic communications and knowledge mobilisation.
Her career progression has included roles as Senior Research Midwife at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, where she led the Reproductive Health and Childbirth Team, Lead Midwife for the BaBi Network of research studies, and as Knowledge Mobilisation Lead for NIHR ARC Yorkshire & Humber.
Through her leadership of the BaBi Network, Kate coordinated national setup of 13 sites, resulting in 10% of UK clinical midwives being trained in research consent for the study. The network has consented over 70,000 mothers and babies, capturing over 10% of England’s births, and established three sustainable communities of practice for maternal health research.
Kate has identified three core priorities, co-produced with Bradford Teaching Hospitals staff:
- Making research everyone’s business through embedded knowledge mobilisation: An “Evidence Translators” training programme will equip midwives and nurses to translate research evidence into accessible information for women and families, shifting perceptions of research from “something others do” to an integral part of daily practice.
- Building sustainable research capacity: A co-production framework will pair experienced researchers with clinical teams to identify practice-based research questions, provide structured mentorship, and establish protected time for research activities. The framework will create pathways from research awareness through to research leadership.
- Establishing Bradford as a regional hub for evidence implementation: An evidence implementation collaborative will bridge the gap between research generation and clinical care, with particular focus on digital technology. The initiative aims to document implementation journeys and develop resources for national sharing through NIHR infrastructure.
Kate’s SRL priorities align with national strategic objectives including the Chief Nursing Officer Strategy’s emphasis on nursing leadership in research and innovation, the Chief Midwifery Officer’s vision of midwife-led research, and the Multiprofessional Research Capabilities Framework’s focus on building research confidence across underrepresented professions.
