Kathleen Galvin is a Professor of Nursing Practice in the College of Life, Health and Physical Sciences at the University of Brighton.

Before joining the University of Brighton, she held a range of positions such as Professor of Nursing Practice and Associate Dean of Research, Enterprise and Scholarship at the University of Hull; Deputy Dean of Research and Enterprise in the School of Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University, and Professor of Health Research and Head of Research at the Institute of Health and Community Studies at Bournemouth University, following a post of Senior Lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Kathleen is a graduate of the University of Ulster (BSc Nursing Studies and registered nurse). She completed a PhD in Nursing Studies at the University of Manchester in 1997 while undertaking clinical nursing posts in older person care and acute vascular surgery.

Professor Galvin’s work has spanned phenomenology, philosophy, qualitative research, the arts and humanities in health, action research, multiple methods in service evaluation, and public and patient involvement and perspectives, in addition to issues in professional education.

She is particularly interested in the application of methodologies that can help the public and professionals to engage in a more embodied way with qualitative research findings for the purposes of pioneering deep insights with new understandings.

Professor Galvin’s current research programme explores peoples’ experiences of a range of health issues, as well as using phenomenological-oriented philosophy to develop novel theoretical frameworks for caring practices. This latter focus includes contributions to new theoretical perspectives on well-being, suffering and humanising approaches to human services. An important strand of her research interests concerns the use of philosophy and the arts in developing insights that can lead practice. Outcomes include interdisciplinary projects and public engagement with science events and contributions to the ethics of care.

Kathleen has published journal articles and book chapters that particularly focus on the values of services as experienced by people, new theoretical perspectives in caring and wellbeing, new methodology that draws on the arts - poetic inquiry and developments in qualitative research.

Professor Galvin was responsible (in collaboration with Professor Sally Borbasi as guest editors) for co-ordinating the submission of articles dealing with the journal's specialist theme, 'Evidence-Based Approaches and Practices in Phenomenology' (see the 'Scheduled Themes' section).