Prof Gill Windle
Professor

Overview
Gill Windle (BSc; MSc; PhD) is a Chartered Psychologist and Gerontologist who specialises in interdisciplinary research. She is the Director of DSDC Wales and the Associate Director of the Wales Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR). Gill’s research aims to improve the health, wellbeing and resilience of older people, people with dementia and their supporters, and improve care and service provision.
Gill leads and contributes to mixed-methods studies and intervention trials, and has led and contributed to externally won research funding totalling £19,858,090.00, representing £10,464,912.00 from UK Research Councils (ERSC; MRC; AHRC), £7,142,988.00 from Welsh Government research infrastructure awards and £ 2,102,190.00 from other sources including the Wellcome Trust. Her most research achievement is the award of £1,480,000.00 from the National Institute of Health Research to lead a randomised controlled trial of an e-health intervention ‘iSupport’ to help dementia carers develop skills and take care of themselves.
Gill’s work has been cited 4962 times, leading to an H-index of 26. She is ranked in the top 3.1% of 198,776 published authors worldwide on dementia (Source: Expertscape, November 2020). Her work has informed Welsh policy development, and in 2001 as a post-graduate research assistant she co-authored six literature reviews with Professor Vanessa Burholt to inform the development of the first Strategy for Older People in Wales. She also led a review to inform the Healthy Ageing Action Plan (Welsh Assembly Government 2005). Following her PhD in 2006, she was seconded to the Older People’s Strategy Unit at the Welsh Assembly Government during the 2006/07 interim review period of the strategy, and was a member of the Strategy Advisory Group.
Between 2016 and 2018 she was a member of the Welsh Government dementia strategy task and finish group, and is currently a member of a Welsh Government group overseeing the implementation and impact of the dementia strategy. As part of this work, she is involved in two working groups (implementation of dementia care standards; learning and development), and the North Wales dementia strategy implementation steering group.
In recognition of her work she was awarded a personal chair by Bangor University in 2018.
Teaching and Supervision
Please look at the research themes here http://dsdc.bangor.ac.uk/research.php.en
Postgraduate Project Opportunities
I'm particularly interested in highly motivated, output-focussed people who are interested in health, wellbeing and resilience in later life, especially when living with chronic and degenerative health conditions, such as dementia.
There are also possible opportunities within my recent grant which is looking at supproting people living with dementia, including those with rare dementias.
Please look at our research themes http://dsdc.bangor.ac.uk/research.php.en
Research outputs (121)
- Published
When One Health Meets the United Nations Ocean Decade: Global Agendas as a Pathway to Promote Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research on Human-Nature Relationships
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
- Published
Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers: A scoping review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Prof. activities and awards (24)
Working together under the OneHealth approach
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
North Wales Social Care and Wellbeing Service Improvement Collaborative (External organisation)
Activity: Membership › Membership of committee
Social Care Wales (External organisation)
Activity: Membership › Membership of committee
Projects (27)
CADR (Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research)
Project: Research
Media coverage (2)
Dementia Action Plan in Wales – strengthening provision in response to Covid-19
Press/Media: Research
Researching the best way to improve well-being for dementia carers
Press/Media: Research