Professor Sarah Cunningham-Burley
Sarah Cunningham-Burley is Professor of Medical and Family Sociology in the Division of Community Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. She is Co-Director, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships and is Co-ordinator of Postgraduate teaching on Qualitative Methods and the Sociology of Health and Illness.
Her research interests span medical and family sociology and include the social aspects of genetics and stem cell research, as well as research on families, health and illness across the lifecourse. Sarah's particular focus is on lay perspectives, understandings and experience, as well as on lay/professional relationships particularly in relation to public involvement and engagement in science and medicine. Some of this work is linked to her role as Co-investigator at Innogen. Much of Sarah's work has used and developed qualitative methods within the interpretivist tradition; it contributes to sociological knowledge in addition to being directly relevant to and disseminated amongst a range of practitioners and policy makers.
Sarah is a member of the Human Genetics Commission, the UK Government's advisory body on new developments in human genetics and their impacts. She chairs the Database Monitoring Group and is also an HGC representative on the National DNA Database Strategy Board.
Selected Recent Publications
- Backett-Milburn K., Wilson, S., Bancroft, A., & Cunningham-Burley, S. (2008) Challenging childhoods: Young people's accounts of 'getting by' in families with substance use problems. Childhood, Vol. 15, No. 4, 461-479
- Wilson, S., Cunningham-Burley S, Bancroft, A., Backett-Milburn K (2008) 'Joined up' thinking?: unsupported 'fast-track' transitions in the context of parental substance use. Journal of Youth Studies 11 (3) 283-299
- Phillips R, Amos A, Ritchie D, Cunningham-Burley S, Martin C (2007) ‘Not in front of the children’: A qualitative study of smoking in the home after the Scottish Smoke-free Legislation. British Medical Journal, 335:553, doi:10.1136/bmj.39301.497593.55
- Cunningham-Burley S, Backett-Milburn K and Kemmer D (2006) Constructing Health and Sickness in the Context of Motherhood and Paid Work. Sociology of Health and Illness 28 (4) 385-409
- Backett-Milburn K, Airey L, McKie L (2005) Intersections of health and well-being in women's lives and relationships at mid-life. In McKie L, Cunningham-Burley S. (eds) Families in Society: Boundaries and Relationships, chapter 8, The Policy Press, Bristol.
- Bancroft A, Wilson S, Cunningham-Burley S, Masters H, Backett-Milburn K. (2005) Children managing parental drug and alcohol misuse: challenging parent-child boundaries. In McKie L, & Cunningham-Burley S. (eds) Families in Society: Boundaries and Relationships, chapter 7, The Policy Press, Bristol.
- Cunningham-Burley S, Backett-Milburn K, Kemmer D. (2005) Balancing work and family life: mothers' views. In McKie L, Cunningham-Burley S. (eds) Families in Society: Boundaries and Relationships, chapter 2, The Policy Press, Bristol.
- Backett-Milburn K, Cunningham-Burley S, Davis J. Contrasting lives, contrasting views? Understandings of health inequalities from children in differing social circumstances. Social Science & Medicine 2003;57: 613-23
- Philip KL, Backett-Milburn K, Cunningham-Burley S, Davis JB. A match made in heaven or an unholy alliance? Bringing research and practice together in relation to children and health inequalities. Health Education Research: Theory & Practice 2003;18 (5): 1-12
- Kemmer D, Cunningham-Burley S, Backett-Milburn K. How does working work for lone mothers on low incomes? Benefits, A Journal of Social Security Research, Policy & Practice 2001;32: 10-14