About
Willing to supervise PhD students
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Musculoskeletal Health, Active Living and Healthy AgeingFoot and Ankle Health and Musculoskeletal ConditionsApplied Health and Care ResearchResearch Capacity Development and Clinical Academic Careers
Current research
Professor Bowen's research focuses on optimising musculoskeletal foot and ankle health to support active living, participation and healthy ageing. Her work combines epidemiology, implementation science, musculoskeletal imaging, clinical research and public involvement to improve understanding and management of foot and ankle conditions.
A major focus of her research is foot and ankle osteoarthritis, where she has led international collaborations investigating disease burden, diagnosis, outcome measurement and management. Her work has contributed to international research prioritisation through the International Foot and Ankle Osteoarthritis Consortium and continues to influence clinical practice and future research investment.
She also leads research exploring how health and care systems can better support active living, address health inequalities and improve access to services for underserved populations. Current programmes include work on foot health inequalities, digital technologies, orthotic innovation, knowledge mobilisation and research capacity development.
Alongside her own research programme, Professor Bowen has a longstanding commitment to developing future researchers and research leaders. Through NIHR ARC Wessex Academy and associated programmes, she has supported internships, doctoral training, postdoctoral development and clinical academic career progression across health and care professions.
Her work in research capacity development includes co-founding the national Versus Arthritis Nurse and Allied Health Professional Research Internship Programme and leading a range of initiatives that support the development of future clinical academics across nursing, allied health professions, social care and applied health research.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Professor Bowen contributes to undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research education across the School of Health Sciences. She has successfully supervised 10 doctoral students to completion and currently supervises four doctoral candidates spanning health sciences and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Her educational interests focus on musculoskeletal health, foot and ankle disorders, active living, research methods, clinical academic careers and leadership development. She is particularly committed to embedding research within professional education and supporting the development of future clinical academics.
Through leadership of the Versus Arthritis Nurse and Allied Health Professional Research Internship Programme, NIHR ARC Wessex Academy and regional internship, master's and fellowship initiatives, she has supported the development of hundreds of early-career researchers across health and social care professions.
Biography
Professor Catherine Bowen is an internationally recognised researcher, NIHR Senior Investigator and Director of NIHR ARC Wessex. Her work combines musculoskeletal health research with leadership of health and care research infrastructure, researcher development and knowledge mobilisation.
Her research has advanced understanding of foot and ankle osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal health and active living, while helping establish diagnostic ultrasound imaging as an important point-of-care assessment tool within clinical practice. Her work informed a REF2021 impact case study and has influenced practice, education and policy nationally and internationally.
Professor Bowen founded and chaired the International Foot and Ankle Osteoarthritis Consortium (IFOAC), bringing together researchers from around the world to establish research priorities and advance understanding of foot and ankle osteoarthritis. She remains a member of the consortium steering group and contributes to international collaborations aimed at improving diagnosis, outcome measurement and management of foot and ankle conditions.
Professor Bowen has held Adjunct Professor roles at Auckland University of Technology and Queensland University of Technology and is a current member of the UNC Core Center for Clinical Research at the Thurston Arthritis Research Centre, University of North Carolina.
Alongside her substantive research programme, Professor Bowen has made a major contribution to research capacity development. She co-founded and led the UK-wide Versus Arthritis (formerly Arthritis Research UK) Nurse and Allied Health Professional Research Internship Programme, creating one of the first coordinated pathways into musculoskeletal research for nurses and allied health professionals. The programme became a nationally recognised model of research capacity building, supporting more than 100 internship award holders and enabling many participants to progress to doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, clinical academic careers and research leadership positions. Building on this work, as Academic Career Development Lead for NIHR ARC Wessex she developed programmes that have supported more than 200 researchers across 26 organisations and helped establish new pathways into clinical academic careers for nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, social care practitioners and knowledge mobilisation specialists.
In 2026 she was appointed Director of NIHR ARC Wessex following the successful renewal of the collaboration and now leads a £16.3 million programme of applied health and care research serving partners across Wessex and the national NIHR network.