Sarah Tonkin-Crine
Professor of Health Psychology
Sarah has worked in the Department since 2014 and leads programmes of research utilising behavioural science approaches and qualitative methods in primary care research. She is an expert member of the Government's Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Prescribing, Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (APRHAI) which provides practical and scientific advice to the government on minimising the risk of healthcare associated infections.
She leads projects aimed at promoting antimicrobial stewardship in primary care. This is important because antibiotics are a scarce resource and evidence indicates that they are often prescribed unnecessarily for uncomplicated acute infections. She has a particular interest in qualitative methods and undertaking exploratory research with populations to find out why people behave in a certain way. She has led the development of complex behavioural interventions to support clinician and patient behaviour change and has led several process evaluations alongside clinical trials to understand how interventions are working. She frequently leads research involving primary and/or secondary analysis of qualitative data and triangulation of mixed methods data.
Sarah leads a theme on Advancing Stewardship Approaches as part of the current National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections at Oxford, 2025-2030. She is lead of the UKRI-funded PEOPLE AMR Network, one of eight national networks to support research in AMR (2024-2028). Sarah provides methods expertise on behaviour and implementation science and qualitative methods within the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Community Healthcare.
Sarah is a member of the board for the School of Primary Care Research, representing the department, contributing to strengthening primary care research and capacity building. She is a member of the NIHR Health and Social care Delivery Research (HSDR) funding committee and the Royal College of General Practice Scientific Foundation Board.
She is a registered Health Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and is a Chartered Psychologist within the British Psychological Society (BPS).