Dr Melissa Kirby

Profile

I am a researcher in Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, where I work on a portfolio of research and community engagement that supports the inclusion of people with learning disabilities/autistic people in research that tackles health and social inequalities. My research utilises participatory and co-produced approaches to research to facilitate the active involvement of communities in all stages of the research process. 

My background is in the arts, and I utilise my interdisciplinary experience to approach health and social research though a creative lens. My research uses a range of arts-based and creative research methods (including visual arts, poetry, photography, music and storytelling), to share the expertise and experiences of communities who are often excluded from research.
 

Research interests

My PhD (completed in December 2023) utilised a participatory action research approach to explore the arts-based learning experiences of adults with learning disabilities. For this project I developed a long-standing relationship with Purple Patch Arts and established the Purple Research Group (PRG); one of few research groups in the country for people with learning disabilities. My PhD utilised a range of arts-based methods, including creative approaches to dissemination through the creation of a research comic book. Alongside Amy Russell, my doctoral research won the 2024 Research Culture Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in research practices, and I was shortlisted for the 2024 Research Impact and Engagement awards for ‘Societal Impact’.

During my PhD, I also led the ‘Making Research Accessible’ project, a collaboration with Purple Patch Arts, funded by UKRI, which identified the features of inclusive research practice from the perspective of researchers with learning disabilities. Additionally, alongside Karen Burland and Freya Bailes, I delivered an Enhancing Research Culture funded project, which investigated a multi-stakeholder perspective on approaches to research training for people with learning disabilities.

Since the completion of my PhD, I have held multiple research and teaching roles across UK HE institutions, including the University of Manchester and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I also held the position of Community Research Manager at Purple Patch Arts, where I continued to work with the Purple Research Group and developed research partnerships with The Creative Health and Wellbeing Alliance and The British Library. My experience of working across HE and third sector groups has supported my understanding of effective collaboration between academics and communities.

Since joining Leeds Institute of Health Sciences in January 2024, I have worked across a range of projects, including contributing to Russell’s Wellcome funded ‘Capacity, Consent and Autonomy’ project and ‘Changing the Pace of Change’ AHRC funded Network. In October 2024, I was awarded funding from the Participatory Research Fund for the ‘Creative Inclusion’ project (with Russell and Purple Patch Arts), which aims to develop resources to support academics’ inclusive research practice.

My research interests include:

Developing Inclusive research practice
•    Participatory, action and co-produced approaches to research 
•    Arts-based and creative methods
•    Research that tackles systemic challenges that affect people with learning disabilities’ active involvement in research, such as challenges with payment, physical access and lack of HE opportunities 

I am also interested in research in the areas of:
•    Health and social inequalities
•    Arts and health
•    Creative experiences of disabled people
 

Qualifications

• PhD, Music and Disability studies
• MA, Psychology of Music
• BA, Music (Industrial)

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences