Key details
Professor Sharon M Weldon
Associate Head for Research and Knowledge Exchange; School of Health; SIM Group Lead, Centre Lead for Professional Workforce Development; Professor of Healthcare Simulation and Workforce Development
Professor Sharon Weldon is an internatioanlly renowned Professor of Healthcare Simulation and Workforce Development. She leads the Centre for Professional Workforce Development and the Simulation Group, and is Associate Head for Research and Knowledge Exchange in the School of Health Sciences within the University of Greenwich. She holds honorary positions with Imperial College London and Barts Health NHS Trust, collaborating on research and inputting on their programmes. Sharon is also a registered general nurse with experience in emergency and trauma paediatric operating theatres. Sharon has specialised as an infectious disease nurse working in a specialised unit whilst further specialising in TB and HIV.
Her non-conforming application of simulation as a method has helped generate new systems of care, identified how care is perceived, tested new policies and interventions, and informed decision-making, all whilst engaging stakeholders not usually involved in such processes (patients, public, lay members). She has developed surgical team training based on empirically evidenced communication models and developed innovative simulated manikins with artists and industry-partners. She was part of the Imperial College's Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science's pioneering research on sequential (care pathway-based simulations) and distributed (low cost, portable simulation equipment) simulation. This work has received funding from notable funders such as the Economic and Social Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council and won several national and international awards. Her body of work in relation to simulation challenges the wider industry fixation upon concepts such as fidelity and its relevance, questioning the established knowledge and its important in generation change and impact.
She is an executive committee member for the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH), and has contributed to global white papers on simulation for patient safety, and is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Healthcare Simulation. More recently, she has been consulted by regulatory bodies on the use of simulation in practice and education which has subsequently resulted in regulatory changes.
She has drawn on her research and knowledge of field to develop a unique Masters programme in Interprofessional Healthcare Simulation. Alongside this, she has developed team communication train-the-trainer pachages based on her empirical research of communication in operation theatres. This research received global acclaim for its identification of the affect that music playing, non-vocal responses and positioning has on communication amongst teams. This resulting training package has been used in both the UK and USA to train surgical teams and has changed policies around the playing of music during surgical procedures.
She co-leads the Greenwich Learning and Simulation Centre (GLASC), which has won awards such as the Zenith Global Health, Clinical Education and Research Award, and Outstanding Team of the Year Award (2022), the University of Greenwich Outstanding Team of the Year Award (2023), and more recently is among the final four nationally to be shortlisted for the University Alliance Innovation Award (result pending Sept 2023).
Responsibilities within the university
Professor in Healthcare Simulation and Workforce development
To generate high-quality healthcare research, secure research funding, and to disseminate the knowledge acquired through post-graduate supervision, teaching, mentoring, publishing, and impact.
Associate Head for Research and Knowledge Exchange
To work alongside the Head of School and Associate Dean (R&KR) to lead in the strategic development of high-quality academic programmes, student experience and research and knowledge exchange in the School of Health Sciences, and to manage research staff within the School.
Simulation Group Lead, CfPWD, ILD
To lead and strategise the Faculty's portfolio of simulation-related projects aiming to advance the field of simulation, and to enhance the University's application of simulation-based methods
MSc in Interprofessional Healthcare Simulation
To develop and have oversight for the programme and its content alongside the programme and module leads.
Greenwich Learning and Simulation Centre (GLASC)
To oversee the academic provision and utilitsation of simulation for teaching, practice-based learning, research and knowledge exchange activities.
Awards
- £3 million OfS Capital Funding – Simulated Critical Care Unit Development (2021)
- £200,000 Research Capital Investment Fund – Ambulance Driver-Behaviour Simulator (2024–2026)
- £100,000 Research Capital Investment Fund – Co-production of Metaverse Immersive Virtual Learning Environments (2023)
- £69,460 Research Capital Investment Fund – Extended Reality (XR) Lab Equipment for Research Development (2023)
- £50,770 Research Capital Investment Fund – Simulation-Based Research Infrastructure Development (2017)
- £30,000 Barts Health NHS Trust & Health Education England – NMAHP Research Capacity Building (2018)
Major Capital & Strategic Investment
- £263,000 Health Education England – Simulation-Based Learning Development and Research (2022)
- £97,242 Arts & Humanities Research Council – ‘Let Me Take Care of You’: Simulation Bridging Dining and Healthcare (2017)
- £68,102 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Award – Video-Supported Simulation in the Operating Theatre (ViSIOT), Stage 2 (2018)
- £19,850 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Award – ViSIOT, Stage 1 (2016)
- £49,280 Regional Innovation Fund – Community-Based Health Development: Outreach Simulation Package (2023)
- £43,551 Research Capital Investment Fund – Virtual Reality Simulators for Communication Research (2020)
Major Research Grants & Programme Funding
- Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) Presidential Recognition of Service Award (2025)
- Shortlisted – University Alliance National Innovation Award (2023)
- Outstanding Team of the Year – University of Greenwich Staff Awards (2023)
- Special Invitation from the Chief Executive, Nursing & Midwifery Council – Student Nursing Times Awards (2023)
- Outstanding Team & Best Clinical Education and Research – Global Health Awards & Summit, London (2022)
- Research Paper Winner – Royal College of Nursing International Research Conference (2014)
- Simulation Poster Competition Winner – Health Education North West London (2014)
- Research Poster Award – INACSL (USA) (2013)
- Nominated Public Engagement Ambassador – National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (2013)
- Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice – University of Chester (2009)
Innovation, Leadership & Recognition
- Research featured on BBC World News, BBC Breakfast, The Today Programme and other national outlets (2015)
- Wellcome Trust People Award – The Time Travelling Operating Theatre (£29,811) (2015)
- Royal College of Nursing Foundation – Research Documentary Filming Award (£3,000) (2016)
Media & Public Engagement Recognition
Recognition
- President, Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH), UK
- Honorary Professor, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK
- Honorary Senior Researcher, Imperial College London, UK
- Member, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Peer Review College
- Member, Council of Deans of Health – Research Advisory Group, UK
- Member, Council of Deans of Health – Simulation Advisory Group, UK
- Former Member, Health Research Authority (HRA) NHS Research Ethics Panel, UK (2019-2023)
- Former Board Member, Association of UK University Hospitals – Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (2017-2019)
National and International Leadership Roles
- Associate Editor, International Journal of Healthcare Simulation (IJoHS)
- Former Editorial Board Member, BMJ Simulation & Technology Enhanced Learning
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Nursing Education and Practice
Editorial and Scholarly Roles
- External Examiner, MSc Medical Simulation, University of Hertfordshire
- External PhD Examiner, Monash University (Australia), University of Leeds, King’s College London
- External Quality Accreditor, National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment (NCAAA), Saudi Arabia
External Examination & Academic Contribution
- Conference Scientific Committee Member and Host, ASPiH Annual Conferences (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- Lead, ASPiH Transformative Simulation Specialist Interest Group
Conference & Professional Community Leadership
Research / Scholarly interests
Professor Weldon’s research, teaching, and knowledge exchange activity centres on the healthcare workforce, healthcare simulation, system learning, and communication in high-risk environments. She has played a leading role in advancing simulation beyond traditional training models, positioning it as a method for examining culture, hierarchy, system interdependencies, and policy development.
Her early work on communication in the operating theatre - including the first empirical examination of music, hierarchy, and interaction in surgical teams - gained international recognition and directly influenced surgical practice and policy in the UK and USA. This work received widespread global media coverage, was recognised by Wiley as a “Best of Nursing” paper (2015), won the Royal College of Nursing International Research Conference Paper Award (2014), and was incorporated into US patient safety guidance and NICE evidence resources.
Building on this foundation, she has been instrumental in developing and advancing Sequential Simulation (simulated care pathways) and distributed simulation approaches, enabling the examination of patient journeys, transitions of care, and system interdependencies across time and context.
More recently, she originated the Transformative Simulation (TfS) framework, a system-level conceptual architecture that integrates innovation, improvement, identification, inclusion, intervention, involvement, and influence within a coherent governance and design structure. This work repositions simulation as a strategic infrastructure for quality improvement, policy development, integrated care, and organisational learning.
Her research has informed:
- Clinical Commissioning Group policies on integrated care
- The co-design and pathway integration of new diagnostic technologies
- Public engagement around surgical ethics and future care
- Simulation-based system redesign initiatives across primary and secondary care
- Human factors and surgical communication training programmes implemented nationally and internationally
Her programme of work spans ethnomethodology, video-based interaction analysis, simulation design research, co-production methodologies, public engagement research, and policy-informed evaluation.
In addition to peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, her work has generated sustained teaching and training infrastructure, including nationally and internationally implemented surgical team training programmes and simulation-based system learning frameworks.
Selected Major Funded Projects
- £3 million OfS Capital Funding – Simulated Critical Care Unit Development (2021)
- £263,000 Health Education England – Simulation Practice Learning Development (2022)
- £200,000 Research Capital Investment Fund – Ambulance Driver-Behaviour Simulator (2024–2026)
- £100,000+ Research Capital Investment & Seed Funding – XR and Simulation Infrastructure Development (2020–2023)
- £97,242 Arts & Humanities Research Council – ‘Let Me Take Care of You’ (2017)
- £68,102 ESRC Impact Acceleration Award – Video-Supported Simulation in the Operating Theatre (2018)
- £19,850 ESRC Impact Acceleration Award – ViSIOT Stage 1 (2016)
- £30,000 NMAHP Research Capacity Building (2018)
- £29,811 Wellcome Trust People Award – The Time Travelling Operating Theatre (2015)
Key funded projects
2015 - Royal College of Nursing Foundation - Documentary filming award.