Rate My Professor Yvonne Birks

Professor Yvonne Birks is Professor of Applied Social Care Research in the School for Business and Society at the University of York, where she also serves as Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. With a professional background in nursing, she leads a dynamic team of researchers and support staff delivering a substantial portfolio of practice-oriented social care research. In 2024, Birks was appointed National Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, a partnership of six premier English institutions dedicated to advancing social care research. She was awarded NIHR Senior Investigator status in social care research in 2023 and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2025 in recognition of her impactful contributions to social science. Birks participates in key NIHR panels, including the Academy Advanced Local Authority Fellowship panel and the Health Technology Assessment social care prioritisation panel.

Her research specializations encompass services for older people and individuals living with dementia, with particular emphasis on those self-funding their social care, as well as enhancing research capacity within local authorities. Birks directs the Curiosity Partnership, an NIHR Health and Care Services Delivery Research award fostering research development across four Yorkshire and Humber local authorities through co-produced approaches. She contributes to extensive initiatives such as the Partnership for Responsive Policy Analysis and Research (PREPARE), the York Evidence Synthesis (YES) Group for NIHR evidence syntheses, an NIHR Research Support Service Hub, and the NIHR Policy Research Unit for Dementia and Neurodegeneration. Throughout her career, she has spearheaded and collaborated on projects totaling over £25 million. Notable publications include Heavey E, Baxter K, Birks Y, 'Care chronicles: needing, seeking and getting self-funded social care as biographical disruptions among older people and their families' (Ageing & Society, 2024); Gridley K, Baxter K, Birks Y, 'How do quantitative studies involving people with dementia report experiences of standardised data collection? A narrative synthesis of NIHR published studies' (BMC Medical Research Methodology, 2024); Read S et al., 'Long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of people with dementia and their family carers' (Age and Ageing, 2024); Gridley K et al., 'Standardised data collection from people with dementia over the telephone' (Dementia, 2023); and Baxter K, Gridley K, Birks Y, 'The role of uncertainty in planning for self-funded social care for older people with a diagnosis of dementia' (Ageing & Society, 2023). Her scholarship significantly influences social care policy, practice, and national research priorities.