ProfEmily Munro

Professor Emily Munro was appointed Director of the Tilda Goldberg Centre for Social Work and Social Care (TGC) in May 2016. The following year she also took up the role of Director of the Institute of Applied Social Research (IASR). Prior to this she held academic posts at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education and the Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University.

Emily is an applied researcher with an international reputation in relation to child and family welfare, policy and practice. She has directed over 30 research studies, (as PI or Co-I), for a range of funders including the Economic and Social Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Department for Education and Big Lottery, with an income value in excess of £8 million.

During her career Emily has undertaken an extensive body of research on transitions from care to adulthood, with activities including: co-editing the first book in the field to compare legal and policy frameworks, welfare regimes and innovative practice across 16 countries; leading Government evaluations on implementation of practice innovations, including the first national evaluation of extended care in England; cross-national comparative outputs and special issues on leaving care and social justice. Her work has also advanced the use of participatory research methods involving care experienced young people across the research cycle. She was Executive Chair of the International Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care (INTRAC) (https://globalintrac.com/) from 2017 to 2022 and currently chairs the UK-Ireland regional chapter of INTRAC.

Emily currently leads a programme of research on safeguarding children and adults with complex needs funded by NHS England as part of the Integrated Care Research Hub (https://www.beds.ac.uk/blmk-ics/). She is also Deputy Director of the Economic and Social Research funded CAM Doctoral Training Partnership (https://www.cam-dtp.ac.uk/about/) which attracts talented doctoral researchers from a range of backgrounds to undertake PhDs.

Findings from Emily’s research have informed the Review of the Child Care Proceedings System in England and Wales, the Munro Review of Child Protection and the Review of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and been used internationally to lobby for legislative reforms aimed at improving outcomes for care experienced people.