Lesley Uttley

Dr. Lesley Uttley is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health. She holds a BSc and PhD in Psychology from the University of Sheffield and joined the institution in 2011 as a systematic reviewer for SCHARR-TAG, leading technology assessments until 2019. She is currently funded by UKRI MRC (Career Development Award 2020-2024, Transition Support Award 2025-2026), ESRC (Behavioural Research UK project 2023-2027), and NIHR (Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre 2024-2026).

Her research examines human influences in systematic reviews, research integrity, and methodology. Key interests include:

• Systematic review team dynamics and their impact on research outcomes
• Research waste reduction and reproducibility in evidence synthesis
• Development of living systematic review methodologies
• Meta-research on biases in academic publishing

Publication trends show consistent focus on methodological innovation in systematic reviews, with recent work exploring research culture impacts, living reviews, and health technology assessments. Her articles span oncology, neurology, psychology, and health economics, emphasizing quality improvement in evidence synthesis.

Awards and Grants

• MRC Career Development Award (2020-2024)
• MRC Transition Support Award (2025-2026)
• ESRC funding for Behavioural Research UK
• NIHR funding for Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre

She supervises PhD and Master’s students in systematic review methodology and leads the Systematic Reviewlution initiative. As EDI Fellow for NIHR Sheffield BRC and Open Research Champion, she promotes inclusive research practices. She co-chairs ScHARR’s Systematic Reviewers academic development group and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.