Professor Kate Jolly MBChB, MSc, PhD, FFPH

Professor Kate Jolly

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Professor of Public Health and Primary Care

Contact details

Address
Murray Learning Centre
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Kate Jolly is a Professor of Public Health and Primary Care.

Her main research interests are on the prevention and management of important non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions; behaviour change to reduce obesity and increase physical activity and maternal and child health.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health 2018
  • PhD in Public Health 2008
  • Membership of the Faculty of Public Health 1998
  • MSc in Public Health Medicine 1992
  • Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners 1990
  • MBChB 1986

Biography

Kate Jolly qualified in medicine from Bristol University in 1986. She firstly trained in general practice, then in public health medicine. Her academic training took place at the Universities of Southampton and Birmingham. Kate completed her training in public health in 1999 and became a senior lecturer in 2004. In 2011 she took on the role of clinical lead for public health in the then-named School of Health and Population Sciences and was promoted to chair in 2012. 

Teaching

Teaching Programmes

  • MBChB
  • BMedSci
  • Public Health MPH/PGDip/PGCert

Postgraduate supervision

Kate is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

  • Behavioural change programmes for rehabilitation and self-management of long-term conditions, and primary prevention of disease in the whole population and minority ethnic groups
  • Evaluation of lay or peer support or home-based interventions.
  • Interventions to support breastfeeding. 

Research

Maternal and child health

Work in this field has involved the use of high quality study designs to evaluate service innovations in maternity and child health services. Completed studies include:

  • A randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a pregnancy outreach worker service to see whether it improves antenatal care engagement, psychological health and infant outcomes of multi-ethnic women with social risk.
  • An RCT of the effectiveness of physical activity for reducing postnatal depression.
  •  An RCT trial of preventing obesity in pregnancy (POPS).
  • An RCT of a breastfeeding peer support service on breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates (HoBBIT).
  • Systematic reviews on the effects of peer support on breastfeeding peer support and the effectiveness and safety of interventions to limit weight gain in overweight and obese pregnant women.

Population-based behaviour change

Completed trials include:

  • Self-management for COPD in primary care: RCT of telephone coaching for people with mildly symptomatic COPD.
  • Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure. (Led by Professors Rod Taylor and Hayes Dalal, University of Exeter and Royal Cornwall Hospital - NIHR Programme Grant)
  • RCT evaluating the effectiveness of a range of commercial and NHS provided weight management

Other activities

  • Honorary clinical contract held with Public Health England.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Kudrna, L, Yates, J, Alidu, L, Hemming, K, Quinn, L, Schmidtke, KA, Jones, J, Al-Khudairy, L, Jolly, K, Bird, P, Campbell, N, Bharatan, I, Latuszynska, A, Currie, G & Lilford, R 2025, 'A Mixed-Methods Cluster Randomised Waitlist-Controlled Trial of a Goal-Based Behaviour Change Intervention Implemented in Workplaces', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 22, no. 3, 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22030398

REACH-HFpEF Investigators 2025, 'Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation enablement in chronic heart failure facilitated self-care rehabilitation intervention for people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and their caregivers: rationale and protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial - REACH-HFpEF trial', BMJ open, vol. 15, no. 5, e094254. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-094254

Price, J, Rushton, A, Ives, N, Jolly, K, Parmar, P & Greaves, C 2025, 'Co-designed neck exercise (EPIC-Neck) vs usual exercise care for people with chronic non-specific neck pain: protocol for a randomised feasibility study with process evaluation', Pilot and Feasibility Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-025-01608-6

Price, J, Rushton, A, Ives, N, Jolly, K & Greaves, C 2025, 'Co-development of an evidence-informed, theoretically driven exercise programme for people with chronic non-specific neck pain (the EPIC-Neck programme - "Exercise Prescription Improved through Co-design")', BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 26, 689. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-025-08918-z

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management, Paschoal, E, Olmos, RD, Gooden, TE, Lotufo, PA, Bensenor, I, Jolly, K, Lip, GYH, Neil Thomas, G, Greenfield, S, Lane, D & Goulart, AC 2025, 'Coping with a chronic condition that requires lifelong medication: a qualitative study with people living with atrial fibrillation in São Paulo, Brazil', BMJ open, vol. 15, no. 6, e088226. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088226

Palmer, JC, Davies, AL, Spiga, F, Heitmann, B, Russell, J, Summerbell, CD, Higgins, JPT & Inequity in Obesity Prevention Trialists Collaborative Group 2025, 'Do the effects of interventions aimed at the prevention of childhood obesity reduce inequities? A re-analysis of randomized trial data from two Cochrane reviews', EClinicalMedicine, vol. 81, 81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103130

Hurley, KL, Jolly, K, Brown, H, Scott, S, Akhter, Z, Dyer, E, Nguyen, G, Lake, AA, Möller-Christensen, C, Flint, N, Baker, A, Brennan-Tovey, K, Dickie, S, Gibson, E, Jackson, C, Loopstra, R, Nagra, H, Rankin, J, Williams, D, Wiseman, A & Heslehurst, N 2025, 'Food, Pregnancy & Me: Exploring food insecurity in pregnancy in the UK to inform future public health intervention needs - A mixed-methods study protocol', PLOS One, vol. 20, no. 5, e0321638. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321638

NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery 2025, 'Global Variation in Out-of-Pocket Payments for Cancer Surgery', World journal of surgery. https://doi.org/10.1002/wjs.12637

Watkins, R, Jones, L, Clare, K, Coulman, K, Greaves, C, Jolly, K, Shuttlewood, E & Parretti, H 2025, 'Making do in the absence of specialist support: Exploring healthcare professionals’ views, experiences, and behaviours around long-term post-bariatric surgery follow-up care in the UK', Clinical Obesity, vol. 15, no. 4, e70016. https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.70016

PERFORM research team, Steele, L, Krauth, SJ, Ahmed, S, Dibben, GO, McIntosh, E, Hanlon, P, Lewsey, J, Nicholl, BI, McAllister, DA, Smith, SM, Evans, R, Ahmed, Z, Dean, S, Greaves, C, Barber, S, Doherty, P, Gardiner, N, Ibbotson, T, Jolly, K, Ormandy, P, Simpson, SA, Taylor, RS, Singh, SJ, Mair, FS & Jani, BD 2025, 'Multimorbidity clusters and their associations with health-related quality of life in two UK cohorts', BMC Medicine, vol. 23, no. 1, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03811-3

Jiraporncharoen, W, Buawangpong, N, Angkurawaranon, C, Jolly, K, Thomas, GN, Phrommintikul, A, Krittayaphong, R, Nathisuwan, S, Lip, G, Lane, D, Mathers, J & TREATS-AF consortium 2025, 'Qualitative study of patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of an educational intervention for warfarin therapy control in atrial fibrillation in Thailand', British Medical Journal Open, vol. 15, e096490. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096490

Daley, AJ, Griffin, RA, Sanders, JP, Gokal, K, Ives, N, Skrybant, M, Parretti, H, Edwardson, CL, Biddle, SJH, Jolly, K, Greaves, C, Greenfield, SM, Maddison, R, Esliger, DW, Sherar, LB, Frew, E, Mutrie, N, Maylor, B, Yates, T, Tearne, S & Moakes, CA 2025, 'Snacktivity™ to promote physical activity in primary care, community health and public health settings: A feasibility randomised controlled trial ', International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-025-10352-3

Damery, S, Jones, J, Harrison, A, Hinde, S & Jolly, K 2025, 'Technology-enabled hybrid cardiac rehabilitation: Qualitative study of healthcare professional and patient perspectives at three cardiac rehabilitation centres in England', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 3, e0319619. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319619

Review article

Evans, R, Donaldson, C, Aslam, R, Kirby, J, Robinson, S, Clarke, J, Hanley, SJ, Lee, S, Chandan, JS, Garside, R, Thompson-Coon, J, Jolly, K, Maguire, K, Harrison, S & Melendez-Torres, GJ 2025, 'Peer support and community interventions targeting breastfeeding in the UK: Systematic review of qualitative evidence to identify inequities in participants’ experiences', Maternal and Child Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.70041

Gidlow, CJ, Mankoo, AS, Jolly, K & Retzer, A 2025, 'Systematic Evaluation of How Indicators of Inequity and Disadvantage Are Measured and Reported in Population Health Evidence Syntheses', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 22, no. 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060851

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Obesity

Weight Management