Kathrin's core research interests are: health information technology, evaluation, sociotechnical, qualitative methods, healthcare innovation and information systems.

What do I do?

I’m a social scientist examining how healthcare technologies are used in real-world settings. When technologies are developed, it is hard, if not impossible, to anticipate what happens when they are used by healthcare professionals and organisations. They may be used in different ways than those intended by developers. This may include unanticipated benefits of technologies that may not have been considered, but it may also include unanticipated risks emerging from technologies (e.g. risks to patient safety).

What is the real world applicability of my research?

I can help to optimise technologies, so that they fit in with the context of use.

How could this apply to commercial stakeholders?

I can help developers and implementers identify unanticipated benefits and risks associated with new technologies, and thereby help to maximise the likelihood of successful scale-up.

Kathrin's research findings have been shared with policy makers to assist in policy decision making. Her work has also been instrumental to the development of an ePrescribing Toolkit that is now used widely by the NHS.

Kathrin Cresswell is a health psychologist and experienced social scientist who has worked in the field of clinical informatics for over a decade. She has published around 80 scientific papers in this area in international peer-reviewed journals. During her career, she has collaborated with international leaders on a number of large projects and consulted for the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School. She is currently holding a prestigious Fellowship from the Scottish Government and a Chancellor’s Fellowship from the University of Edinburgh to investigate future strategic directions in health information technology.