Directory/Victoria Lowers

AcademicHealth service researcher
AdultsWorkforceGeneral population
No condition
EducationBehaviour changePopulationComplex interventionsTrainingCommunity-basedPsychologicalHealth Service Delivery
Patient and public involvement and engagementProject managementService evaluationKnowledge mobilisationCo-designEvidence synthesisImplementation scienceObservational studiesQualitative studiesRandomised controlled trialsStatistical analysis
General Dental ServiceHospitalCommunity-based organisationPublic HealthAcademic institutionCommunity Dental Service
Research deliveryResearch leadershipStudy management

The RETURN Project www.returnproject.co.uk Most recently, I was Programme Manager and Senior Trial Manager for RETURN, an NIHR-funded programme that aimed to support adults who use urgent dental services to move towards regular dental care. I coordinated the programme and its large multicentre randomised controlled trial across 14 NHS dental sites, overseeing trial delivery, governance, dental team training, intervention implementation and stakeholder engagement. I also worked closely with local communities to ensure that lived experience informed the intervention and study materials. My PhD was embedded within RETURN and examined intervention fidelity in behaviour-change trials delivered in primary dental care.

My oral health research focuses on reducing inequalities in access to and uptake of dental care, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged and underserved communities. I was Programme Manager and Senior Trial Manager for the NIHR-funded RETURN programme, which evaluated an intervention designed to support adults using urgent dental services to access regular dental care. My work spans behaviour-change interventions, intervention fidelity, mixed-methods research, trial management and meaningful community engagement and co-production methods. My PhD examined how assessing and enhancing intervention fidelity can strengthen behaviour-change trials delivered in primary dental care.

I would be keen to connect with members who can advise on, or offer opportunities for, greater involvement in oral health research as a non-clinical researcher. I am particularly interested in collaborations where my experience in health services research, behaviour-change interventions, implementation, trial methodology, health inequalities and PPIE could complement clinical expertise.