Dr Melanie Cooper

Biography

Mel practised as a nurse then as a midwife before beginning her career in higher education as a Lecturer in Midwifery and Reproductive Health in 1997.

She is now a Reader in Maternity and Migrant Health. In addition she is the Director for the Wellbeing Health and Communities pathway for the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership.

Mel’s research interests are around ethnic minority (including migrant) communities and co-designing, developing, implementing and evaluating interventions to support interaction with health and maternity services and overcome health inequalities. To date, interventions have included the use of digital technology and peer support. These include:

• Project DAISI uses digital animation to communicate key public health messages with women accessing maternity care.
• Interventions to support ethnic minority women accessing cancer screening services 

Engaging the seldom heard voice is essential to Mel's work. She works closely with the voluntary sector to ensure 'experts by experience', including people who are asylum seekers and refugees are central to all research activity. She recently worked on a project exploring the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on marginalised communities. This involved training peer researchers to reach socially isolated people to interview and helped the District recovery programme.

Mel co-developed the Maternity Stream of Sanctuary https://maternity.cityofsanctuary.org/ and within this recently established the Maternity Stream research network with an ethos of ensuring women who are 'experts be experience' at the centre of any research undertaken

https://maternityresearch.cityofsanctuary.org/

Mel has also worked to ensure the University of Bradford is welcoming and inclusive for people who are asylum seekers and refugees. She led the Faculty of Health Studies to be the 1st University department to achieve a 'Health Stream of Sanctuary award' and then led the University to be one of the 1st in the UK to achieve a 'University of Sanctuary award.' One aspect of this award involves enabling people, who cannot access student finance, the opportunity to study at the University. 

Professional activities