Researcher profile

Cheryl D. Metcalf

Professor Metcalf is Head of School of Healthcare Enterprise and Innovation in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton and holds a joint position in the School of Health Sciences in the Faculty of Environmental & Life Sciences. She held a prestigious Research Council's (UK) Roberts' Fellowship in Life Sciences Interface from 2008-2011. She was the Faculty Director of Enterprise where she worked directly with the Associate Dean of Enterprise to oversee the knowledge exchange and enterprise activity across five schools and two enterprise units. She was also the Director of Enterprise for the School of Health Sciences and is responsible for the strategy development and implementation. She has an international reputation in healthcare innovation and technology as evidenced by numerous guest lectures, keynotes and research collaborations. She works specifically on the user-led design of innovation in health systems and technology. Over the years, her research has evolved to understand how health systems can and do support the people they serve, whether as a means to implementing new technological solutions to increase access, or by optimising parts of the service working alongside stakeholders. With a diverse background spanning computer science, biomechanics, health sciences and an entrepreneurial spirit, she has developed a unique set of tools to work with stakeholders to understand their needs and support change embedded in values perceived by users and influencers of the health system. She places a particular emphasis on working in a sustainable way with her project partners; always mindful that project research funding is transitory, and uses her experience in value-led design thinking and methods traditionally developed for business planning, to engage stakeholders to work toward transformative, innovative and sustainable health systems. Much of this work is within the amputation rehabilitation and mobility sector, and spans UK and Lower- Middle-Income Country contexts. "I believe that in order to facilitate the next generation's healthcare provision, health systems and technologies must be capable of capturing and presenting clinically useful, personalised information to rehabilitationalists, patients and carers in environments that go beyond the traditional rehabilitation clinic; making access ubiquitous irrespective of location or personal finance, while maintaining a high-quality, sustainable service." Professor Metcalf has a large international network of academic, industrial and clinical contacts. She is an inventor on 3 patent applications and has started two companies; one of which is a global exporter into the Prosthetics & Orthotics sector. She also works as a consultant helping organisations and individuals scope competitor markets to assess viability in new health technology domains.