Dr Kate Sykes

Assistant Professor

School: Communities and Education

Kate is an Assistant Professor in Community Wellbeing within the Social Work, Education & Community Wellbeing department. Kate teaches and is an active researcher. Kate teaches on multiple health and public health related programmes and is also a module leader. Kate is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

She is an expert in preventative health specifically cancer prevention and screening relating to people with learning disabilities or people with severe mental illness. Broadly, her research interests are in health inequalities, learning disabilities, avoidable and preventable deaths, health systems and access to health services. Her research has international relevance, with a current international project called Cancer- Understanding Prevention in Intellectual Disabilities (CUPID). This in an interdisciplinary network of stakeholders representing carers, service providers, advocacy groups, educators, healthcare professionals, researchers and people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the project is to address issues of policy and equity of access to cancer prevention initiatives by people with intellectual disabilities. Kate is a working group lead aiming to develop a research and practice agenda on how cancer prevention/screening can be equitable.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Advancing equity for people with intellectual disabilities: Closing the neglected cancer policy gap, McMahon, M., Denieffe, S., Sykes, K., Knapp, P., Cuypers, M., Soylar, P., Popa, A., Ibrahim, D., Aksoy, B., Akbulut, S., Flora, K., Dogan, S., Tuna, B., Ilgaz, A., Kulla, G., Mušanović, J., Hansford, R., Banda, A., Ünal, D., İşeri, Ö., Sahin, E., Uncu, F., Milutinović, D., Altın, D., Topkaya, M., Bolacali, E., Burke, E., Özdemir, Ş., Akciğer, B., Sprincean, S., Lima, K., Tadić, D., Kassymbekova, F., Passeri, E., Kisková-Šimková, T., Yilmaz, E., O'Connor, M., Thygesen, L., Horsbøl, T., Vukovic, V. 1 Mar 2026, In: Journal of Cancer Policy
Arts-Based, Digital, and Related Lifestyle Interventions to Improve Health and Wellbeing for Adults with Learning Disabilities: A Scoping Review, Carne-Watson , A., Bourne, J., Drinnan, M., Sykes, K., Tuschick, E., Milner, S., McGeechan, G., Smith, J., McNab, B., Giles, E. 13 Sep 2026, In: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
Belonging for women, LGBTQ+ and Black and ethnically minoritised people with learning disabilities: Findings from a qualitative, co-produced study in England, Mikulak , M., Abbott, D., Sykes, K., Budworth , P., Hatton, C., Mannion , J., Kaley , A. 21 Sep 2026, In: Sociology of Health and Illness
Cancer prevention and screening for people with intellectual disabilities in Europe: a systematic review and recommendations for policy and practice, Vukovic, V., Knapp, P., Sykes, K., Denny, M., Kowalczyk, O., Denieffe, S., Wells, J., Cuypers, M., Tyner, B., Lima, K., Popa, A., Ibrahim, D., Hansford, R., Allerslev Horsbøl, T., Milutinović, D., Güvenç Tuna, B., Şahin, E., Ilgaz, A., Banda, A., Sarac, E., Doğan, S., Akbulut, S., Aksoy, B., Tadić, D., Merzah, M., Soylar, P., Doğan, A., Simin, D., Mušanović, J., Altin, D., Topkaya, M., Kassymbekova, F., Trajkovski, V., Tar Bolacali, E., Lynch, L., Burke, E., McMahon, M. 20 Aug 2026, In: Frontiers in Public Health
Inequalities in routes to diagnosis for individuals diagnosed with breast cancer in England, Perchyk, T., Lemanska, A., T Mounce, L., Martins, T., Sykes, K., de Vera Hunt, I., D Nicholson, B., Lyratzopoulos, G., Whitaker, K., S Kerrison, R. 6 Jul 2026, In: International Journal of Population Data Science
Review of residential and nursing care home policies on safety incident reporting in England, Steer, M., Sykes, K., Waring, J., Mason, C., Dawson, P., Newman, C., Young-Murphy, L., Spencer, M., Scott, J. 1 Apr 2026, In: Journal of Health Services Research & Policy
The importance of cancer prevention policies to inform and guide preventative and screening measures for people with intellectual disabilities: The COST project “Cancer- Understanding Prevention in Intellectual Disabilities”, Vukovic, V., Banda, A., Carneiro, L., Dogan, S., Knapp, P., McMahon, M., Milutinovic, D., Soylar, P., Sykes, K., Tosun, B., Yava, A., Trajkovski, V., Wells, J., Cuypers, M. 1 Mar 2026, In: Journal of Intellectual Disabilities
Using a mobile unit for cervical screening: uptake and user experience of a pilot in the North-East of England, Sykes, K., Giles, E., Fozzard, J., Anderson, F., McGeechan, G. 2026, In: Women’s Health in Primary Care
Advancing a Universal European Cancer Prevention Methodology for People With Intellectual Disability: Findings From CUPID Workshops in Ireland and Türkiye, McMahon, M., Asi, E., Dimitrievska, V., Gozum, S., Ilgaz, A., Martin, C., O'Connor, M., Sykes, K., Knapp, P. 1 Sep 2025, In: British Journal of Learning Disabilities
How well are marginalised groups represented in electronic records? A codelist development project and cross-sectional analysis of UK electronic health records, Perchyk, T., De Vere Hunt, I., Nicholson, B., Mounce, L., Sykes, K., Lyratzopoulos, G., Lemanska, A., Whitaker, K., Kerrison, R. 11 Aug 2025, In: BMJ Open