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Born and raised in Sheffield, Dr Rebecca Mawson is combining frontline general practice with research at the ����TV to address some of the most pressing challenges in women’s health. 

As a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer in Primary Care, a role that uniquely bridges clinical work and academia. Splitting her time between patients and research, she works two days a week as a GP, and two days within the University’s Primary Care group in the School of Medicine and Population Health. 

“It’s the best of both worlds,” she says. “I see the realities of women’s health every day in the GP practice, and then I can take those experiences into research that aims to make things better.” 

Women’s health spans the entire life course, from menstruation and fertility through to menopause and later life, yet it has historically been under-researched and underfunded. For Dr Rebecca Mawson, improving women’s health is central to improving population health overall. “Women’s health affects everything, from education and employment to quality of life,” Becky explains, “if we’re not getting it right, the impact is huge, not just for individuals but for families and communities as well.” 

Becky’s commitment to women’s health has deep personal roots. Raised in a healthcare-focused family, she was inspired early on by her grandmother, who trained to be a midwife, and her parents, her mother a physiotherapist and later professor of health service research, and her father an anaesthetist working on labour wards. “Women’s health was always talked about openly in our family,” she explains, “but so were the gaps, the symptoms ignored, the inequalities, the gender bias. That stayed with me.” 

Studying medicine in Leeds only fuelled Becky’s passions further, “I was already aware of the gender bias but I saw it more and more throughout medical training especially in the lack of training around women’s specific health needs - this confirmed that I had to do something to make things better.” 

After studying Becky took on an international placement in Uganda researching HIV care, beginning her career exploring obstetrics and gynaecology in New Zealand. While she discovered the intensity of labour ward medicine wasn’t for her, her commitment to women’s health never wavered. Becky said: “I realised I didn’t want to leave women’s health, I just wanted to approach it differently. I wanted to focus on helping women in the community, supporting those that were experiencing really awful women's specific health conditions who weren't getting the help that they needed.” That realisation led her to general practice, where she could support women throughout their lives. 

It was during her early GP work in one of Sheffield’s most deprived communities that her research direction became clear. “I was seeing women with severe symptoms who just weren’t getting the care they needed,” she recalls, “barriers to contraception, untreated conditions, domestic violence, there were huge, visible inequalities.” These experiences highlighted how women’s health is shaped not just by biology, but by wider social factors: poverty, housing, access to services, and systemic barriers within healthcare. 

Determined to act, she set up a women’s contraceptive clinic at her GP practice, “I set up a women's contraceptive clinic because women couldn't get coils or implants fitted just because they couldn't get to wherever the fittings were.” She also began asking bigger questions, why were these inequalities happening, and why weren’t they being addressed in research. 

Dr Mawson started her academic journey in 2016. Early on, her interest in women’s health inequalities was not widely recognised within primary care research, but with the support of mentor Dr Caroline Mitchell, Senior Clinical Lecturer at the ����TV, she secured her first academic role and has continued to develop her work in this field. 

Now funded through a competitive NIHR clinical lectureship, which runs until 2028, she is contributing to a growing body of research focused on improving access to and experiences of women’s healthcare. 

Her current projects reflect the breadth of women’s health and the importance of inclusive research. She is developing , a digital tool designed to capture real-world data on hormonal health, and is exploring the relationship between , an area that remains under-researched. 

She is also leading work to understand the experiences of , including their perspectives on different methods and side effects, and has contributed to the development of patient information resources on . 

In addition, Dr Mawson is involved in research on women’s health technologies, as well as overseeing a Sheffield-based project focused on , examining their experiences of contraception and the barriers they face in accessing primary healthcare. 

Across all of her work, a consistent theme is a focus on groups who are often underrepresented in research. “I’m always asking, who’s not at the table?” she says. “If research doesn’t include the full diversity of women, we risk widening existing inequalities.” Her work highlights significant disparities in outcomes and access to care, reinforcing the need for research that better reflects the women within our population.  

A key feature of her approach is its focus on the life course. Drawing on her experience in general practice, Becky’s research considers how women’s health is shaped over time by a combination of biological, social and environmental factors. “That continuity is what general practice offers,” she says. “You support patients through different stages of their lives, and my research reflects that same journey.” 

Outside work, her curiosity doesn’t switch off. A self-confessed fan of murder mysteries, she enjoys applying her analytical mindset to programmes such as Midsummer Murders and Agatha Christie. “I love working things out,” she laughs, “whether it’s research data or a whodunnit.” 

By bringing together clinical insight and academic expertise, Becky is helping to ensure that women’s health is better understood, better researched and better represented.