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Dr Joanne Atkinson

Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor

School: Communities and Education

Joanne Atkinson is Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor for the faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University.

As Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Joanne leads one of the University’s three faculties. In her role as a member of the University Executive, she represents the Faculty, working closely with her fellow PVCs and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor to implement and achieve the University Strategy.

The Faculty of Health and Wellbeing unites a diverse range of disciplines and expertise and comprises around 8000 students and almost 500 staff, encompassed within 4 academic schools: Healthcare and Nursing Sciences; Communities and Education; Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation; and Psychology.

Joanne works closely with the Faculty’s Executive Leadership Team to provide strategic and operational leadership, guidance and support for colleagues, developing the vision for the Faculty and its academic schools, also working with colleagues to ensure positive student outcomes and an excellent student experience across all the Faculty’s programmes. Additionally, Joanne drives culture and performance, continuing to provide effective leadership in the development and delivery of world-leading research, ensuring that the Faculty maintains its trajectory in delivering its ambitious objectives.  Joanne also works closely with colleagues developing and strengthening key partnerships with regional, national and international organisations.

With a clear focus on experiential learning and strong links with regional and national partners, the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing offers graduates the opportunity to learn and develop new skills in real and simulated situations, enabling them to demonstrate their skills, knowledge and experience to potential employers.

Led by world-leading academics, Health and Wellbeing students engage in real-world research and professional practice placements, not only contributing to the generation of impactful research outcomes, but also in identifying and driving changes to policy and practice, improving the experience of regional, national and international communities.

Faculty colleagues utilise a range of innovative approaches to learning and teaching driving widening participation, social justice and increased social mobility to improve student outcomes, helping them to achieve their ambitions and produce a knowledgeable, skilled and confident workforce, ready to take their place in the world of employment and contribute to both their community and the economy. The Faculty has a strong history of workforce development particularly in health and social care.

Joanne is a Trustee for a national cancer charity called mynewhair, which supports people with medical hair loss from cancer treatment.  Joanne has successfully led and influenced its growth from a small-scale not-for-profit organisation to an international registered charity. She is a governor of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Joanne Atkinson

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Development and Validation of the Family and Community Nursing Advanced Practice Scale, Unsworth, J., Oldman, C., Atkinson, J., Comparcini, D., Simonetti, V., Cicolini, G., Mikkonen, K., Tomietto, M. 1 Oct 2025, In: Journal of Clinical Nursing
  • Exploring UK residents’ views on substantive education reform: adversarially co-produced narratives indicate fluidity in support, Hudson, K., Mulholland, K., Croft, E., Benton, P., Stark, G., Littlefair, D., Atkinson, J., Johnson, S., Reed, H., Johnson, E., Johnson, M. 6 Oct 2025, In: Political Research Exchange
  • ‘People ring because they’re frightened’: findings from a realist evaluation on the impact of timely responsive care at home at the end of life, McEwan, K., Atkinson, J., Clarke, A., Bate, A., Jeffery, C., Dalkin, S. 14 Jul 2025, In: BMC Palliative Care
  • Make Politics Work for Us: A Common Sense pathway to democracy that delivers, Johnson, E., Neal, C., Stark, G., Duffy, S., Robson, I., Reed, H., Meehan, P., Warnock, C., Atkinson, J., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 16 Jan 2025
  • The delineation of advanced-level practice within UK district nursing: a cross-sectional comparative study before and after policy implementation, Unsworth, J., Oldman, C., Atkinson, J., Comparcini, D., Simonetti, V., Cicolini, G., Mikkonen, K., Tomietto, M. 1 Sep 2025, In: International Nursing Review
  • UK resident preferences on tax reform: Survey-based evidence suggests support for progressive change in the run up to the 2024 General Election, Johnson, E., Stark, G., Moseley, L., Littlefair, D., Atkinson, J., Johnson, M., Reed, H. 4 Nov 2025, In: Journal of Social Policy
  • What does transformation in Higher Education research culture look like? Evidence from action research within a diverse post-1992 department, Mulholland, K., Robson, I., Nichol, D., Counihan, C., Gray, W., Luke, C., Meller, S., Anderson, A., Heslop, K., Davies, J., Graham, P., Johnson, S., Hwang, S., Chan, W., Johnson, E., Hudson, K., Haighton, C., Littlefair, D., Defeyter, M., Kellehear, A., Atkinson, J., Johnson, M. 30 Oct 2025, In: Routledge Open Research
  • What principles ought to underpin ‘Radical Prevention Funds’? Ten principles capable of addressing social determinants to promote public health, Johnson, E., Duffy, S., Stark, G., Atkinson, J., Reed, H., Nettle, D., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, M. 8 Aug 2025, In: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
  • Delivering Regional Renewal: Public support for bold change in North East transport policy, Thew, A., Littlefair, D., Stark, G., Robson, I., Atkinson, J., Reed, H., Johnson, E., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 14 Nov 2024
  • ‘For Want of a Nail’: developing a transparent approach to retroduction and early initial programme theory development in a realist evaluation of community end of life care services, McEwan, K., Girling, M., Bate, A., Atkinson, J., Clarke, A., Dalkin, S. 3 Jul 2024, In: International Journal of Social Research Methodology

  • Zoe Booth 'Discussing preferred place of death during the final hospital admission; exploring the experience of these discussions from the perspective of bereaved informal care givers and staff. Start Date: 01/10/2020
  • Zoe Booth 'Discussing preferred place of death during the final hospital admission; exploring the experience of these discussions from the perspective of bereaved informal care givers and staff. Start Date: 01/10/2020 End Date: 17/10/2025

  • Health PhD January 20 2020
  • Education MEd January 05 1998
  • Education PGDipEd January 05 1998
  • Nursing Studies BA (Hons) June 30 1995
  • Teacher Training CertEd June 30 1991
  • CertEd June 30 1986
  • Information not provided Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 1985
  • Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2003


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