Dr Katherine Keenan
Deputy Director (Training) of the Scottish Graduate School for Social Science
Senior Lecturer in Demography/Population Geography
Biography
I have a multidisciplinary background in anthropology, demography, and epidemiology. After a spell working in technology, I completed an MSc Demography and Health and PhD in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). I went on work as a postdoc at both LSHTM and LSE before joining St Andrews as a Lecturer in July 2017.
From April 2024 I am serving as Deputy Director (Training) for the Scottish Graduate School for Social Science, seconded 50% of my time to the University of Edinburgh.
Teaching
I help deliver the core quantitative methods teaching for undergraduate geography and sustainable development students in St Andrews, and also deliver research-led teaching in demography, population, health inequalities and life course studies.
From 2024 I am working as the Deputy Director (training) for the Scottish Graduate School for Social Science, which works to develop core and specialist training for social science postgraduate students across Scottish universities.
Research areas
My research interests are in complexity in global population health, and have a particular interest in women's health, reproduction and life course. I currently lead projects on the social dimensions of antimicrobial resistance, multimorbidity, and miscarriage. I primarily use quantitative methods, but am an experienced mixed-methods researcher.
My current projects:
- Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa- I was the Co-I and analysis lead on the MRC-funded HATUA consortium (2018-21) and the NIHR-funded CARE project (2020-23), and still leading several impact-related activities and PhD projects on this topic.
- Social Determinants of Miscarriage: I am collaborating on an ERC funded SOC-MISC project (led by Heini Vaisenen at INED), which uses Scottish adminstrative data to better understand social dimensions of miscarriage.
- Integenerational Continuities in Family Building Behaviours and Inequality: I am a Co-I on the ESRC-funded Connecting Generations Centre.
- Multimorbidity trajectories and their determinants in Scotland: I am the PI of a data linkage project in Scotland, with partners in Edinburgh and St Andrews.
- I co-lead the RAIZ network which brings together AMR researchers across Latin America: https://raiz-network.org/
- Social burden of AMR - I am an associate researcher with the Antimicrobial Resistance Institute of Sao Paulo, a FAPESP-funded Institute of Research, Diffusion and Innovation. There I work on social dimensions of AMR.
PhD supervision
- Sepideh Benvari
- Madeleine Clarkson
- Victor Emmanuel
- Thu Nguyen
- Ruhamah Paul
- Edward Pomeroy
Selected publications
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Open access
Complex families in the United Kingdom: mapping children’s diverse family pathways and their correlates from birth to age ten
Šťastná, M., Mikolai, J., Finney, N. & Keenan, K. L., 19 Jan 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. Early View, 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Neighbourhood social gifting and multiple long-term conditions: a nationally representative analysis of the Scottish population aged 40–75 years
Zheng, C., Abubakar, E., Keenan, K., Halliday, K., Dibben, C., Guthrie, B., Marshall, A. & Pearce, J., 1 Apr 2026, In: European Journal of Public Health. 36, 2, 7 p., ckaf238.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Working longer despite poorer health? Inequalities in healthy and unhealthy working life expectancies in South Korea
Lam, A., Keenan, K., Kulu, H. & Myrskylä, M., 23 Feb 2026, In: Population Studies. Latest Articles, p. 1-18 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Antimicrobial resistance burden estimates from the bottom-up: research priorities for estimating the impact of antimicrobial resistance in Brazil
Keenan, K., Kiffer, C. R. V., Carmo, E. V. S., Corrêa, J. S., de Abreu, A. L., Massuda, A., Gales, A. C., Colombo, A. L. & Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance of São Paulo (ARIES) group, 1 Mar 2025, In: IJID Regions. 14, 5 p., 100558.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Disease accumulation across birth cohorts in South Korea
Lam, A., Keenan, K., Myrskylä, M. & Kulu, H., Nov 2025, In: The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 80, 11, p. 1-11 11 p., gbaf136.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Evaluation of Bayesian network scoring functions in polychotomous data analysis
Ke, X., Keenan, K. L. & Smith, V. A., Dec 2025, In: Discover Data. 3, 1, p. 1-21 21 p., 18.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Modelling interventions to combat antibacterial resistance in East Africa using causal Bayesian networks
Ke, X., Smith, V. A., Mshana, S. E., Asiimwe, B., Neema, S., Kiiru, J., Mushi, M. F., Mmbaga, B. T., Mwanga, J. R., Kibiki, G., Stelling, J., Gillespie, S. H., Green, D. L., Benvari, S., Sabiiti, W., Kesby, M., Lynch, A. G., Sandeman, A., Sloan, D. J. & Holden, M. T. & 2 others, , 4 Feb 2025, Research Square.Research output: Working paper › Preprint
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Open access
Patterns of antibiotic resistance in urinary tract infections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda and Tanzania
Silago, V., Keenan, K., Mushi, M. F., Kansiime, C., Asiimwe, B., Sunday, B., Bazira, J., Sandeman, A., Sabiiti, W., Seni, J., Holden, M. T. G., Mshana, S. E. & behalf of the HATUA and CARE Consortia, Apr 2025, In: JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance. 7, 2, p. 1-4 4 p., dlaf038.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Quantitative evaluation of a pan-European multi-professional digital training programme for stopping child maltreatment (ERICA)
Zlatkute, G., Crocamo, C., Specka, M., Keenan, K., Cioni, R. M., Roe, L., Zabłocka-Żytka, L., Woźniak-Prus, M., Appleton, J., Bekaert, S., Paavilainen, E., Rantanen, H., Jouet, E., Viganò, G. & Baldacchino, A., 10 Sept 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice. p. 1-22 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The social burden of antimicrobial resistance: what is it, how can we measure it, and why does it matter?
Keenan, K. L., Corrêa, J. S., Sringernyuang, L., Nayiga, S. & Chandler, C. I. R., 1 Apr 2025, In: JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance. 7, 2, 10 p., dlae208.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review