Dr Jacqui Prieto PhD, RN, BSc (Hons), BSc, PCAP

Associate Professor

Dr Jacqui Prieto is an Associate Professor within Health Sciences, University of Southampton and a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Infection Prevention at University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust. Jacqui’s pioneering role as a clinician academic combines her research and clinical work, which focuses on implementing, embedding and sustaining behavioural change in infection prevention practice. Her current focus is on reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infection, a leading cause of infection in healthcare.

Why are urinary catheters so common in healthcare? We need to understand and address this to prevent avoidable infections.

Jacqui graduated as a nurse from the University of Surrey, Guildford in 1990.  She began her career in the specialist area of infection prevention with a trainee post at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (formerly Brighton Health Care) in 1993 whilst at the same time undertaking a specialist degree at the University of Hertfordshire.  In 1995 she joined the infection prevention team at King's College London.  She returned to Brighton in 1998 to take up a senior nurse specialist post and commenced her PhD at the University of Southampton, which she completed in 2003. 

In 2004 she joined Health Sciences at Southampton as a lecturer.  She was awarded a senior clinical academic research fellowship in 2008 and pioneered a new joint appointment as a nurse specialist and research fellow.  In 2013 she was awarded a HEFCE/NIHR Senior Clinical Lectureship and has a joint appointment with the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.  She is focusing on research to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infection and to understand patients' experiences of healthcare associated infection.

Jacqui is a member of the Infection Prevention Society and in 2004-08 she chaired the newly formed Research and Development Committee, leading the development and delivery of a 5-year R&D strategy. She continues to serve as a committee member.  In 2011 she was a member of the Topic Expert Group convened to advise the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the development of a guideline on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections.  Currently she is a professional advisor to the Department of Health revision of the national infection prevention guidelines (‘epic 3').