Dorothy Newbury-Birch

I came to Teesside University in early 2015 as Professor of Alcohol and Public Health Research. As a woman who grew up on the Meadowell Estate in North Tyneside, and a single parent after a divorce at aged 22, the road to academia was hard. I have a chapter coming out later this year in The 10% Braver book edited by Vivienne Porritt and Keziah Featherstone which talks about this struggle.

At Teesside, I lead a team of 20 individuals who are students, research staff on projects I lead and mentees (#TEAMALPHA). I have been able to grow and have been nurtured by amazing female role models (Professor Natasha Vall and Dr Maggie Leese). It is important that women in leadership roles like mine HAVE good role models and ARE good role models for their team.

Over the last year I have become co-president elect of INEBRIA (the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol and other Drugs). From September both myself and Professor Maria Lucia Formigoni from Brazil will be co-presidents. We are the first women ever to be co-presidents of the organisation and have been acting as co-presidents elect since last September.

From June 2020, I have become a member of the Crime and Justice Coordinating Group of the Campbell Collaboration. The group aims to coordinate, facilitate and encourage the production, updating and accessibility of high quality systematic reviews. These reviews of research on the effects of criminological and criminal justice interventions are developed to inform criminal justice policies, to reduce crime and increase justice in society. I was nominated by one of the existing committee because of my expertise in criminology and systematic reviewing.

Co- Production is at the heart of the work that I do, collaborating with practitioners, policy makers and members of the public to ensure that everyone's voice is heard in the research being carried out.