Dr Suzanne Grant

Senior Lecturer

Population Health and Genomics, School of Medicine

Portrait photo of Suzanne Grant
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Contact

Email

S.M.Grant@dundee.ac.uk

Phone

+44 (0)1382 388657

Biography

Suzanne Grant is Senior Lecturer in Medical Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She studied Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews (MA First Class Honours (1999) and PhD (2006)) followed by an MSc in Public Health Research at the University of Edinburgh (2010). Her doctoral research was funded by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) studentship and an Emslie Horniman/Sutasoma Trust Award from the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI). Based on ethnographic fieldwork amongst the Nivaclé indigenous people of the Paraguayan Chaco, her PhD examined the impact of Mennonite settler colonisation on Nivaclé wellbeing. She has since held research positions at the Universities of Dundee and Glasgow examining the impact of financial incentives on UK general practice organisation and culture. In 2009, she was awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) Population Health Scientist Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews (2009-13). She was appointed as a Lecturer in Medical Anthropology at the University of Dundee in 2013 and Senior Lecturer in 2019.

Research

Suzanne is a medical anthropologist, and her research focuses on understanding and improving the quality and safety of healthcare and wellbeing contexts through ethnographic research that is both methodologically innovative and theoretically engaged. Drawing on insights from anthropology, sociology, improvement science and design, her research applies both ethnographic and video reflexive ethnographic (VRE) methods to understand and co-design improvements with NHS staff and patients across a range of settings including general practice, acute medicine, and care homes.

Research Grants, PhD Studentships and Consultancy Work

  • ‘Improving medicines management across healthcare organisational boundaries using video reflexive ethnography (VRE)’. Grant S (PI), Morales D. Funder: The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute PhD Fellowship. (2019-present)
  • ‘Understanding and improving antimicrobial prescribing in care homes: a multidisciplinary approach’. Marwick CA, Donnan P, Guthrie B, Grant S, Hughes C, Francis J, Lorencatto F. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (2018-present)
  • ‘Politics and practices of frailty’. Goodwin D, Shelton C, Weiner K, Grant S. Funder: Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness. (2020-present)
  • ‘NHS Scotland polypharmacy reviews: a qualitative evaluation’. Grant S (PI), Guthrie B. Funder: The Scottish Government. (2019-20)
  • ‘Improving the safety of inter-professional collaboration in an acute medical unit: an examination of the feasibility and implementation of video reflexive ethnography in UK healthcare’. Grant S (PI), Guthrie B, Mesman J. Funder: Tenovus Scotland Major Research Grant. (2017-18)
  • ‘Enhanced Medication Summaries to reduce high-risk prescribing in people with polypharmacy in primary care: a cluster randomised trial (POEMS)’. Guthrie B (PI), Donnan P, Grant S, Mellon N, Dreischulte T. Chief Scientist Office (2015-19)
  • ‘From origins to output: an ethnographic study of routinely collected social care data creation, processes and management’. Witham M, Grant S, Kroll T, Atherton I. Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Scottish Government Co-Funded Postgraduate Studentship. (2014-19)
  • ‘An ethnographic evaluation of laboratory test results handling in primary care’. Grant S. (PI). NHS Education for Scotland (NES). (2012)

PhD Supervision

  • ‘Improving medicines management across healthcare organisational boundaries using video reflexive ethnography’. Grant S, Morales D, Gordon L. Student: David Scott (2019-present)
  • ‘A multisite ethnographic study of patients, carers and interprofessional relationships and roles in polypharmacy reviews’. Grant S, Guthrie B. Student: Alpana Mair (2014-22, part-time)
  • ‘From origins to output: an ethnographic study of routinely collected social care data creation, processes and management’. Grant S, Witham M, Kroll T, Atherton I. Student: Anne Canny (2014-2019)

Suzanne also co-convenes the British Sociological Association (BSA) Medical Sociology Scottish Regional Group and is a member of the Video Reflexive Ethnography International Association (VREIA).

View full research profile and publications

Teaching

Suzanne’s teaching focusses on the integration of ethnography, improvement science and design thinking methods to understand and improve health, care and wellbeing across different healthcare settings. Her teaching profile includes course and module leadership at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Her current roles are:

  • Co-Course Lead, BMSc Healthcare Improvement (intercalated degree programme for undergraduate medical students)
  • Module Lead, ‘Ethnographic Methods in Healthcare Research and Improvement’, BMSc Healthcare Improvement
  • Module Lead, ‘Health, Care and Wellbeing Contexts’, MSc Design for Healthcare (cross-School collaboration between Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the Schools of Medicine and Health Sciences)
  • Module Lead, ‘Ethnography in Healthcare Research and Improvement’, Master of Public Health (School of Medicine)