Maureen Roberts

Maureen Roberts (aka M. Maureen Roberts) was clinical director of Edinburgh Breast Screening project and a senior lecturer at Edinburgh Medical School. Maureen spearheaded the innovative Edinburgh Breast Screening Project and her work resulted in several publications on breast cancer screening, as well as the training of several other experts on the topic.

Her work, however, stands out from others in this field in the 1970s and 1980s in that she worked with women's health advocates in Edinburgh as part of this research. This collaboration between clinical, public health and grassroots activism resulted in her opening the Women's Health Shop on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. In her article (co-authored with Susan Robinson), Roberts and Robinson described the Women's Health Shop:

"A women's health shop in Edinburgh was open for 16 months to provide information and advice in a non-clinical setting and to allow an interchange between informal and formal care in the community. Staffed by nurses, it was visited by 5664 women and 400 men, an average of 24 people each working day. The most popular topics for discussion were women's health problems, and 17% of women had a personal discussion with the nurse. The shop provided a useful and popular service and offered a practical method of furthering the concept of health promotion." (British Medical Journal, 27 July 1985).

Maureen died from breast cancer in 1989, but her colleagues published her last article, "Breast Screening: time for a rethink?" later that year. This article is still often discussed as pivotal in breast cancer clinical research. Her legacy, beyond her clinical research, is still spoken about in the memories of women's health activists from the 1970s and 1980s.