Dr Joanna Garstang MBChB, MRCPCH, PhD

Dr Joanna Garstang

School of Nursing and Midwifery
Clinical Associate Professor of Child Protection

Contact details

Email
j.garstang@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
Address
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Joanna Garstang is a Clinical Associate Professor and Consultant Community Paediatrician. Her specialist areas are in safeguarding children, Child Death Review and Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood. Joanna's PhD was an evaluation of multi-agency investigation of unexpected infant death from both the parents' and professionals' perspectives, more recently her research has focussed on improving multi-agency working in safeguarding and preventable child mortality.

Qualifications

  • PhD Health Sciences University of Warwick, 2015
  • MSc Child Health, University of Warwick, 2010
  • Membership of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (MRCPCH) 2000
  • MBChB, University of Bristol 1995

Biography

Dr Garstang also works as a Consultant Community Paediatrician at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, and Designated Doctor for Child Death for Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board. Much of her clinical work involves learning from child deaths, supporting families and working with police and other agencies to determine why children die. Dr Garstang’s research interests are closely aligned with her clinical work, focusing on improving the Child Death Review process, reducing child mortality, and improving multi-agency working in Child Protection.

Dr Garstang is a specialist medical advisor to National Child Mortality Database based at the University of Bristol.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Garstang is happy to supervise doctoral research on:
• Child protection as a public health issue
• Child maltreatment
• Child abuse and neglect
• Child Death Review – process, outcomes and families experiences

Joint Agency Response to unexpected child deaths

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) – investigation and support for families

Research

Current projects

  • Involving parents and staff in learning from child deaths.  Funded by NIHR RfPB, 19 months from 01 August 2022
  • Improving safeguarding outcomes following adoption or special guardianship. Funded by Nuffield Foundation, 18 months from 01 September 2023

Other activities

Dr Garstang is Chair of the Association of Child Death Review Professionals, medical advisor to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood UK (SUDC-UK) and on the scientific committee of the Lullaby Trust.

Dr Garstang is Chair of the Child Death Review working group of the International Society for the prevention and study of infant and perinatal death (ISPID)

Dr Garstang works as an expert witness for courts in cases relating to Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy or Childhood

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Kenyon, S, Garstang, J, Shaw, K, Pease, A, Spry, J & Routledge, G 2025, '', BMJ Paediatrics Open.

Garstang, JJ, Spry, J, Routledge, G, Pease, A, Shaw, KL & Kenyon, S 2024, '', Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Garstang, JJ, Tosyali, M, Menka, M & Blair, PS 2024, '', Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Garstang, JJ & Menka, M 2024, '', BMJ Paediatrics Open, vol. 8, no. 1, e002419.

Quinn, LM, Dias, RP, Greenfield, SM, Richter, AG, Garstang, J, Shukla, D, Acharjee, A, Gkoutos, G, Oram, R, Faustini, S, Boiko, O, Litchfield, I, Boardman, F, Zakia, F, Burt, C, Connop, C, Lepley, A, Gardner, C, Dayan, C, Barrett, T & Narendran, P 2024, '', Diabetic Medicine.

Dowell, AC, Lancaster, T, Bruton, R, Ireland, G, Bentley, C, Sylla, P, Zuo, J, Scott, S, Jadir, A, Begum, J, Roberts, T, Stephens, C, Ditta, S, Shepherdson, R, Powell, AA, Brent, AJ, Brent, B, Baawuah, F, Okike, I, Beckmann, J, Ahmad, S, Aiano, F, Garstang, J, Ramsay, ME, Azad, R, Waiblinger, D, Willett, B, Wright, J, Ladhani, SN & Moss, P 2023, '', Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 3845.

Garstang, J, Dickens, J, Menka, M & Taylor, J 2023, '', Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 137, 106053.

Dowell, AC, Tut, G, Begum, J, Bruton, R, Bentley, C, Butler, M, Uwenedi, G, Zuo, J, Powell, AA, Brent, AJ, Brent, B, Baawuah, F, Okike, I, Beckmann, J, Ahmad, S, Aiano, F, Garstang, J, Ramsay, ME, Moss, P & Ladhani, SN 2023, '', Journal of Infection, vol. 87, no. 5, pp. 403-412.

Dickens, J, Cook, L, Cossar, J, Okpokiri, C, Taylor, J & Garstang, J 2023, '', Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 152, 107081.

Taylor, J, Dickens, J, Garstang, J, Cook, L, Hallett, N & Molloy, E 2023, '', Child Abuse Review.

Dickens, J, Cook, L, Cossar, J, Okpokiri, C, Taylor, J & Garstang, J 2023, '', Critical Social Policy.

Dowell, AC, Butler, MS, Jinks, E, Tut, G, Lancaster, T, Sylla, P, Begum, J, Bruton, R, Pearce, H, Verma, K, Logan, N, Tyson, G, Spalkova, E, Margielewska-Davies, S, Taylor, GS, Syrimi, E, Baawuah, F, Beckmann, J, Okike, IO, Ahmad, S, Garstang, J, Brent, AJ, Brent, B, Ireland, G, Aiano, F, Amin-Chowdhury, Z, Jones, S, Borrow, R, Linley, E, Wright, J, Azad, R, Waiblinger, D, Davis, C, Thomson, EC, Palmarini, M, Willett, BJ, Barclay, WS, Poh, J, Amirthalingam, G, Brown, KE, Ramsay, ME, Zuo, J, Moss, P & Ladhani, S 2022, '', Nature Immunology, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 40-49.

Quinn, LM, Shukla, D, Greenfield, SM, Barrett, T, Garstang, J, Boardman, F, Litchfield, I, Dayan, C, Gardner, C, Connop, C, Lepley, A & Narendran, P 2022, '', BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, vol. 10, no. 2, e002750.

Garstang, J, Hallett, N, Cropp, G, Kenyon-Blair, D, Morgans, C & Taylor, J 2021, '', BMJ Paediatrics Open, vol. 5, no. 1, e001103.

Preprint

Dowell, A, Butler, MS, Jinks, E, Tut, G, Lancaster, T, Sylla, P, Begum, J, Bruton, R, Pearce, H, Verma, K, Logan, N, Tyson, G, Spalkova, E, Margielewska-Davies, S, Taylor, G, Syrimi, E, Baawuah, F, Beckmann, J, Okike, I, Ahmad, S, Garstang, J, Brent, AJ, Brent, B, Ireland, G, Aiano, F, Amin-Chowdhury, Z, Jones, S, Borrow, R, Linley, E, Wright, J, Azad, R, Waiblinger, D, Davis, C, Thomson, E, Palmarini, M, Willett, BJ, Barclay, WS, Poh, J, Saliba, V, Amirthalingam, G, Brown, KE, Ramsay, ME, Zuo, J, Moss, P & Ladhani, S 2021 '' medRxiv.