Gina Marie Higginbottom MBE (née Awoko) is a British academic, nurse, midwife, health visitor and a specialist in international migration and maternity. She is the first nurse of black and minority ethnic (BME) origin to hold a professorial role in a Russell Group university in England.[1][2][3][4]

Dr Gina Higginbottom
Born
Gina Awoko

Sheffield, England, UK
NationalityBritish
TitleProfessor
AwardsNational Primary Care Fellowship

Smith & Nephew Nursing Research Scholar

Mary Seacole Leadership Award

Canada Research Chair

Fellow Queens Nursing Institute

Fellow American Academy of Nursing
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield
Academic work
DisciplineHealth
Sub-disciplineEthnicity and Community Health
InstitutionsUniversity of Alberta, University of Nottingham
Websitehttps://ginahigginbottom.com

Personal life and education

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Higginbottom was born in Sheffield and is of white British and Ghanaian origin (Ga-Mashie, Jamestown, Accra. She is via her maternal family a descendant of the historic Bagley family. Edward Bagley of Dudley, executed the will of Lady Barnham, granddaughter of William Shakespeare [1][5] She passed the eleven plus examination and attended King Ecgbert Technical Grammar School for Girls.[5] Her cousin is Richard Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire and her brother in Law Martin Fry of ABC. She gained her PhD co-supervised by Prof James Nazroo at the University of Sheffield in 2004.[6] Higginbottom was the first BME nurse to be awarded a National Primary Care Fellowship.[7]

Career

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From 2007 to 2015 Higginbottom held a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Ethnicity and Health at the University of Alberta.[8][9][10][11] She is the first woman of BME origin to hold a Canada Research Chair.[12]

Higginbottom was appointed in 2015 as the Mary Seacole Professor of Ethnicity and Community Health at the University of Nottingham.[13] As of 2019, she is now Emeritus Professor.[14][5] She was ethnicity and health advisor, co-author of the critical research study on the Apgar score and other neonatal tests and infants with darker skin which challenged existing approaches to neonatal assessment.

She is Co-Convener of International Collaboration for Community Health Nursing Research (ICCHNR), a charity and professional organisation.[15] She is also a member of the Chief Nurse for England's Black Minority Ethnic Advisory Group.[12] In 2019 she became a vice-president of the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA), a professional organisation and trade union for nurses, together with Sara Rowbotham.[3][4]

Honours

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Higginbottom was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1998 for services to health promotion and young people.[16]

Selected works

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References

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  1. ^ "Prof Gina Higginbottom - Health Research Mentor". Healthresearchmonitor.org.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Gina Marie Awoko Higginbottom MBE – Black Female Professors Forum". Blackfemaleprofessorsforum.org. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Two high profile CPHVA vice presidents appointed". unitetheunion.org. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Ford, Megan (16 October 2019). "Community nursing union appoints new vice presidents". Nursing Times. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Sheffield, University of. "Professor Gina Awoko Higginbottom MBE - Wall of BAME - Race equality - Inclusion at Sheffield - The University of Sheffield". www.sheffield.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  6. ^ Howie, John (16 May 2011). Academic General Practice in the UK Medical Schools, 1948-2000. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748688388. Retrieved 9 January 2019 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ admin. "Prof Gina Higginbottom MBE". ICCHNR. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  8. ^ Gina Higginbottom; Pranee Liamputtong (18 June 2015). Participatory Qualitative Research Methodologies in Health. SAGE Publications. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-1-4739-2726-1. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  9. ^ "The challenge of migration". Folio.ca. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Canada Research Chairs Program : National Announcement - Spring 2013" (PDF). Chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Ethnic Diversity in UK Social Research & Public Policy Research". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  12. ^ a b "About Gina". Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  13. ^ Gina Higginbottom; Pranee Liamputtong (18 June 2015). Participatory Qualitative Research Methodologies in Health. SAGE Publications. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-1-4739-2726-1. Retrieved 12 February 2019. [verification needed]
  14. ^ "Honorary and Emeritus appointments - The University of Nottingham". www.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  15. ^ admin. "Who We Are". ICCHNR. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  16. ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 55155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1998. pp. 1–27.