More About Dr Dalgarno

drdalgarno
May 30, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Apr 3

Women and Children’s Health and Justice Expert

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno

BSc (Hons), MRes, PTLLS, PhD, FHEA

Lecturer/Researcher, University of Manchester

Director and Founder, SHERA Research Group

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno is a world-leading educator, researcher and advocate in health and justice relating to women and children, with extensive expertise on overcoming challenges in complex systems, post-separation abuse, harms to health from family court, intimate 'partner' violence, gender-based violence, and health inequalities.

Her work has contributed to changes in international (Brazil) and National (UK) laws to protect child and adult victims of abuse.

She is a current expert advisor to global governments, from the UK (HM Government), to France, Nigeria and beyond. Dr Dalgarno also advises the United Nations, World Bank and World Health Organization on health, justice and abuse-focussed research.

She is a Lecturer in Health Sciences on multiple Masters level and Undergraduate programmes including on the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) - at the UK's largest Medical School at the University of Manchester. She is Director and Founder of the SHERA Research Group. In her lead role at SHERA (See Hear Empower Respond Act) she unites six university partners, nine non-governmental organisations, multiple charities and law firms and over 60 global experts and survivor representatives to improve health, justice, and human rights for women and children, especially in family courts and health systems.

With 20+ years’ experience working in the public and private health, education and social care systems, Dr Dalgarno champions co-designed research and training addressing inequalities and abuse affecting vulnerable groups. Her work on institutional abuse, family courts, domestic abuse/violence and ‘parental alienation’ has featured in a BBC documentary and major media, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council and citations to her work in UN reports in 2023 and 2025.

She has worked on major National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) projects and advises NHS and domestic abuse organisations, schools, employers and others including the Greater Manchester IRISi ADViSE pilot supporting clinicians responding to domestic abuse.

Elizabeth is a member of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) SDG 5 Gender Equality Working Group and holds trustee, advocacy and ambassador roles with Right to Equality, FiLiA Hague Mothers, Safe in Faith (Caritas Westminster), Resolute Women's Support Services.

She is the Chair of the National Board of Catholic Women’s VAWG Committee.