Professor Aisha Holloway (BSc (Hons) Nursing RGN PhD PGCHE FRCN FHEA FNMRCSI Ad Eundem)
Professor of Nursing Studies and Co-Director of Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative

Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0) 131 651 1525
- Email: aisha.holloway@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Room 2m6, School of Health in Social Science, Doorway 6, Old Medical Quad, Teviot Place
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
Professor Aisha Holloway, Chair of Nursing Studies, provides strategic leadership to support the propagating and delivery of the School and College academic, teaching and research within the Subject Area. Leading learning, teaching and research activity at all levels in the disciplines relevant to Nursing Studies including internal- and external-facing dimensions, and including local, national and international contexts. Directly responsible for the management, leadership and effective administration of activities and resources of the Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative and research programme contributing to the development and implementation of the School and University strategic plan.
Providing leadership for the largest global network of early career nurses, midwives and student workforce as Programme Director of the Nursing Now Challenge across all 6 WHO Regions, working closely with other organisations across Scotland, UK and across the globe to transform the personal and professional development of nurses and midwives. Successfully building relationships, coalitions with employers of hospitals, universities, clinicians, academics, as well as third sector, NGOs, nursing associations, WHO, ICN, Sigma, CNOs and governments. This has led to the Nursing Now Challenge growing significantly with local relevance and action at grass roots to global impact across countries, organisations and global regions. To attract, recruit and retain early career nurses and midwives within our profession and enable them to not only deliver care but to inform and be the generation of trailblazers, paving the way as evidence informed leaders, agents of change, contributing to UHC and the SDG. This is at the very heart of the Nursing Now Challenge.
Aisha is the Co-founder and Co-Director of the Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative (EGNI) and holds a number of Advisory and Board roles within the UK and Internationally. She has worked at WHO HQ in Geneva as a Consultant in the Workforce Department with a particular focus on The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-25 working to support Member State GCNMOs implement and monitor the identified policy priorities. Aisha has also sits on the current WHO State of the Worlds Nursing Report Steering Committee.
Overarching research programme has two distinct elements: 1) a global public health and alcohol related harm and 2) nursing workforce with a strong professional health policy and political nurse leadership focus. The main aims of both programme are to reduce the risks and harms of alcohol in society, influencing and shaping alcohol policy alongside alongside, development of an evidence base focused on global political nurse leadership. Programme of research funding by MRC-PHIND, NIHR-PH, CSO, ESRC, NIHR-GCRF and Alcohol Change UK as well as others.
Alcohol related harm focuses specifically on (i) the development and evaluation of nurse led alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) across a wide range of health related settings, (ii) the education and teaching development of the nursing workforce in responding to alcohol-related harm and (iii) the use of innovative multi-disciplinary, public engagement methodologies for co-production of alcohol research.
Nursing workforce focuses on (i) political leadership in nursing (ii) nurses influence on health policy and (iii) innovative nurse and midwifery advanced clinical practice and leadership development in Africa
Alongside this, Aisha has a larger focus on global public health and health related factors with a particular interest in Low and Middle Income Countries and developing countries where health workforce and its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals is fundamental. With the Global Health Academy at the University of Edinburgh and the Director, Professor Liz Grant, Aisha launched the Edinburgh Global Nursing Initative in 2020. Developing strategic and operational opportunities for clinical academic research application to strengthen the positioning, role and educational attainment of nurses and midwives globally, with a particular focus on Africa as well as LMICs . This is particularly relevant to Aisha's professional and political nurse leadership collaborations and partnership with Governments and her work as Programme Lead for Research and Evidence for effective practice for the Global Nursing Now campaign and partners, ICN and WHO. Here she looks to advise, influence, inform and shape health policy and the global position of nurse leadership through development of a strong evidence base.
With a strong interest in nurse political leadership both nationally and globally, Aisha works at the interphase between nurse led health and social care research and influencing relevant health and social care policy. She was previously an Hon Nurse Consultant for Alcohol Policy and Research at Scottish Government. In 2016, Aisha also submitted written evidence on political leadership in nursing to the All Party Parliamentary Group (UK APPG) on global health, Chaired by Lord Crisp. This evidence was subequently used in the Triple Impact report published by the APPG http://www.who.int/hrh/com-heeg/triple-impact-appg/en/ Invited to submit written and oral evidence to the Scottish Health & Sports Committee. Scottish Parliament, Round table evidence session at Scottish Parliament as part of the Prisoner Health Inquiry.
Awarded a Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholarship, which provided a bespoke programme of strategic leadership development, Aisha completed a Leadership programme at Harvard Business School and visited Congress, Washington DC, USA as part of the Scholarship working with Nurse leaders in the USA to explore the development of nursing political and strategic leadership to influence health policy.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Nursing RGN
PhD
PGCHE
Cert ILM
Responsibilities & affiliations
WHO State of the Worlds Nursing Steering Committee
Scottish Government Ministerial Taskforce on Nursing & Midwifery (Global Nurse Advisor)
Chair and Founder of the Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) www.sarn.ed.ac.uk
Adjunct Professor Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, USA
Advisory Board member Harvard Global Nursing Leadership programme
Advisory Board member Nursing Now Challenge
Law Society of Scotland Non Executive Director
Research summary
Global public health and alcohol related harm (i) the development and evaluation of nurse led alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) across a wide range of health related settings, (ii) the education and teaching development of the nursing workforce in responding to alcohol-related harm and (iii) the use of innovative multi-disciplinary, public engagement methodologies for co-production of alcohol research.
Nursing workforce (i) global political leadership in nursing (ii) global skills partnership (nurse migration) (ii) innovative nurse and midwifery advanced clinical practice and leadership development in Africa.
Current research interests
Health and wellbeing in marginalised populations, specifically prison health and alcohol interventions in prison for men on remand. Identifying research priorities for prison health in Scotland. Developing research capacity, capability and sustainability for global health workforce. Workforce and contribution to SDGs. Political and health policy research . RTAs and alcohol in Sri Lanka. Child and Maternal Health (DIPLOMATIC) study in Africa.Past research interests
Selection of past research projects: Chlamydia Screening funded by HTA (ClaSS) multi-centre collaborative project led by Bristol University, School of Social and Community Medicine and Primary Care and General Practice at the University of Birmingham. Anxiety and Depression experiences of families and significant others. Photovoice in Recovery. Increasing Public Health Workers capacity to respond to alcohol related harm.Knowledge exchange
With a strong interest in nurse political leadership both nationally and globally, Aisha works at the interphase between nurse led health and social care research and influencing globally relevant health and social care policy. Most recently Aisha developed a Masters course, "Nursing & Global Health Policy: developing your political leadership." In its first year we welcomed a range of nurse leaders working in a health policy political landscape, including, Howard Catton, CEO of the ICN, who engaged with our global Masters nursing students to provide insight into influence, position, voice and presence. Aisha also mentors a number of early career nurses, a great passion of hers.
In 2017 she was recently invited to submit written and oral evidence to the Scottish Health & Sports Committee. Scottish Parliament, Round table evidence session at Scottish Parliament as part of the Prisoner Health Inquiry. In 2016, Aisha also submitted written evidence on political leadership in nursing to the All Party Parliamentary Group (UK APPG) on global health, Chaired by Lord Crisp. This evidence was subequently used in the Triple Impact report published by the APPG http://www.who.int/hrh/com-heeg/triple-impact-appg/en/
In 2015 at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament a Motion brought by Shona Robison (Cabinet Secretary Health) on making progress on the Scottish Government’s in “Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action” Thursday 4th June acknowledged the work of Aisha and colleagues in their Photovoice research work with those in recovery from alcohol. The Photovoice research study raised by 3 MSPs and The Minister for Public Health.
Affiliated research centres
Current project grants
NIHR-PH funded APPRAISE study (Chief Investigator)
NIHR-GCRF funded DIPLOMATIC study (Co-applicant)
CSO funded SCARF study (Co-applicant)
ESRC IAA funded Delphi Study (Chief Investigator)
RCN Foundation YARNS funded study (Co Chief Investigator)
Burdett Trust funded STAY-SAFE study (Co-applicant)
Burdett Trust funded IGNITE programme in Africa
Past project grants
Highlighted previous grants held:
Alcohol Research UK ORBITAL study (Co-applicant)
MRC-PHIND PRISM-A Study (Chief Investigator)
CSO Clinical Academic Research Fellowship
SFAAD (Chief Investigator)
ARUK (Co-applicant)
SHAAP (Chief Investigator)