Dr Jane Frances Kelly

Senior Research Officer, Adolescent Accelerators Research Hub

Research Project(s)

  • HEY BABY (Helping Empower Youth Brought up in Adversity with their Babies and Young children)
  • Global Fund

Research Interests

  • Resilience of young people
  • Evidence-informed policy implementation
  • Qualitative Research

Biography  

Dr Jane Kelly is a Senior Research Officer at the Centre for Social Science Research, where she leads and oversees qualitative research within the Adolescent Accelerators Research Hub. Since 2018, Dr Kelly’s research as contributed to three inter-related yet standalone research areas: (1) how young people navigate risk and resilience, (2) the role of healthcare providers in promoting good health outcomes for adolescents and young people, and (3) the role of an inclusive education system in supporting adolescents. Dr Kelly is a lead investigator on a longitudinal mixed methods cohort study exploring protective pathways to promote resilience amongst adolescent parents and their children in South Africa. She is also currently leading ‘Khanyisa Ngemfundo’ (Be the Light through Education) a collaborative project with the South African Department of Basic Education focused on supporting pregnant and mothering adolescents return to school. In 2023, she was one of four awardees of the UCT Vision 2030 Grant Challenges Pilot Programme which provided seed funding. Dr Kelly has an extensive background in research psychology. She completed her tertiary education at the University of Cape Town and holds a B.Soc.Sci.(Hons) in Psychology, an MA in Psychological Research and a PhD in Psychology. She has experience working in both academic and government settings, including a year in local government using routine data to inform policies and programming for violence reduction.

 Dr. Jane Kelly CV

Recent Publications 

  • Kelly, J., Gittings, L., Laurenzi, C., Glinski, C., Mangqalaza, H., Ralayo, N., Langwenya, N., Sidloyi, L., Mbiko, A., Taleni, B., Saliwe B., and Toska, E. (2022). HIV and SRH healthcare delivery experiences of South African healthcare workers and adolescents and young people during COVID-19. Psychology, Health and Medicine. Doi: 10.1080/13548506.2022.2108080

  • Kelly, J.*, Glinski, C.*, Laurenzi, C., Manqalaza, H., Toska, E., Gittings, L., Langwenya, N., Sidloyi, L., Mbiko, A., Taleni, B., Saliwe, B. (2022).  Reflections of nurses providing services during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. South African Health Review. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-healthr-v2021-n1-a9  (*Equal contribution to first authorship.)

  • Gittings, L., Price, Y., Kelly, J., Kannemeyer, N., Thomas, A., Medley, S., Ralayo, N., Omolloe, V., Obbuyie, A., Cluver, L., Logie, C., and Toska, E. (2022). Health and development-related priorities and challenges of adolescents and young people: findings from South Africa and Kenya prior-to and during COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology, Health and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2108084 Citation 1