I joined the University of Manchester Manchester Centre for Health Psychology as a chartered psychologist and post-doctoral researcher in 2013.  I am currently working as a Lecturer in psychology and for the NIHR Research Support Service (Lancaster and partners Hub).

I am a mixed methods researcher and have taught both qualitative and quantitative methods and analysis techniques at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Before returning to academia I worked in commercial research specialising in not-for-profit and UK education sectors.  Within this role I managed various qualitative and quantitative projects which included the following methodologies: paper/postal, telephone and online surveys, focus groups and semi-structured and unstructed interviews.

In 2008 I joined the University of Sheffield and completed an MSc in psychological research methods followed by a PhD investigating smoking and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in advanced lung cancer patients. 

After my PhD I took a position with the University of Manchester where I have remained.

Initially I worked with Professor Suzanne Skevington across a range of quallity of life related projects. This work included establishing the International Hub for Quality of Life Research and developing further the suite of UK World Health Organisation Quality of Life measures.

In 2015 I began working with Professor Gunn Grande at the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work on a project funded by Dimbleby Cancer Care which explored the contributions and costs of informal caregiving at end of life for patients with cancer http://clahrc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/our-work/community-services/dimbleby-project/  

Still working with Prof Grande, I joined the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Greater Manchester (CLAHRC-GM) as a research fellow and worked across a range of CLAHRC projects centred around end-of-life family caregiving.  This particularly included projects adapting and implementing the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT - csnat.org), as well as more general research looking at end of life/ palliative care service provision.

In 2019 I began working for the NIHR Research Design Service, now Research Support Service, advising a range of clients on health-related research strategies. Alongside this role, in 2022 I was appointed lecturer in psychology.

Research interests include:

• Quality of life 
• End of life caregiving
• Advance Care Planning
• Illness perceptions
• Health inequalities and quality of life

• 2015/16 - PSYC69852 Illness and Healthcare Unit ('Caregiving and patient choices at end of life')
• 2015/16 - PSYC698002 Research Methods: Questionnaire design, and Advanced questionnaire design
• 2016/17, 2017/18 - NURS60018 Research Design
• 2016/17, 2017/18 - NURS60019 Statistics
• 2017/18, 2018/19 - PSYC69831 Health and Society ('Standards of Living and Qualtiy of Life)
• 2022-Present - PSYC69831 Health and Society, Unit Lead
• 2022-2024 - PSYC21032 Interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing; qualitative lab classes (co-lead)

• Professor Suzanne Skevington
• Professor Gunn Grande
• Professor Audrey Bowen
• Dr Kelly Birtwell
• Dr Tracy Epton
• Dr Jo Brooks
• Dr Alex Hall
• Dr James Higgerson
• Dr Sean Urwin
• Dr Emma Gowen
• Dr Laura Brown
• Dr Gail Ewing (University of Cambridge)

Current postgraduate research students:

• Lauren Floyd
• Lizel Griffin
• Callum Rodgers
• Daisy Gibson
• Zach Dunn
• Catrin Duggan
• Fatima Butt

British Psychological Society

• Systematic review
• Qualitative methodologies
• Questionnaire design
• Survey methodology
• Mixed methods

PhD - 2013 - Smoking and health-related quality of life in advanced lung cancer patients. University of Sheffield