Cathryn has worked in mental health research at the Centre for Suicide Prevention for over fifteen years, initially as a research assistant then associate. During this time Cathryn studied part-time for her MA in Applied Social Research. Cathryn is currently working as Programme Manager at the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness and is also a co-investigator for a UK-wide study examining suicide by former personnel of the UK Armed Forces. Cathryn has also led research projects investigating suicide by children and young people and suicide by middle-aged men. Cathryn has written a number of peer-reviewed publications on both suicide and homicide in the mentally ill, including on victims of homicide, juvenile homicide offenders, and most recently on suicide by children and young people. Although Cathryn has worked primarily on the national suicide and homicide studies at the Inquiry, she has also been involved in work with the Manchester Self-Harm project and a multi-centre Department of Health-funded study using coroner's data.  She has also worked alongside a number of external collaborators as a co-author on publications including homicide in the media and juvenile and old-age homicide perpetrators.  Her research interests include suicide in young people, homicide, serious violence and mental health.

• 2007 - MA Applied Social Research (Distinction), University of Manchester
• 1999 - BA (Hons) Combined Studies: Psychology, Sociology and Archaeology (2:1), University of Leicester