I am a lecturer in behavioural science and a psychologist working in behaviour change for health. 

My research focuses on: (a) behaviour change for health, especially dental health, (b) family routines, (c) children's health, development and wellbeing, (d) potential of digital technologies in behaviour change and (c) oral health inequalities. 

I am a Co-Investigator for the NIHR-funded PANDA study to evaluate the Child-Friendly Dental Practices initiative across Greater Manchester.

In 2019, I was part of a team with Prof Iain Pretty and Dr Julia Allan (University of Aberdeen) that secured funding under MRC's Public Health Intervention Development Scheme for developing and testing in a feasibility study a text message-based intervention for bedtime routines in young children and their families.  

I am the co-founder and co-lead of BeCinD Network (Behaviour Change in Dentistry), chair of the Behaviour, Epidemiology & Health Services Research (BEHSR) of BSODR and I work as a consultant on behaviour change supporting organisations such as Colgate-Palmolive, the BBC and previously NHS Education Scotland.

I co-lead teaching across communication and psychology applied to dentistry for dental undergraduate students (BDS and BSc programmes) focusing on communication in the dental setting, oral health behaviour change, dental anxiety, symptoms perception, help seeking, breaking bad news and difficult conversations. 

I co-lead the Prevention in Practice module for Year 2 dental undergraduate students focusing on social determinants of health, how to work in partnership and dentistry beyond clinical skills. 

I am the co-lead of the "Behaviour Change and Public Health" module, part of the MPH programme at Manchester. This module aims to raise awareness of key behaviour change theories and techniques to benefit and promote public health. The module is taught online. 

I also co-lead a session for the DClinPsy programme at Manchester focusing on Psychology and Public Health for year 1 trainees. 

Between 2018 and 2019 I worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA)  for Year 1 BSc Psychology students. 

I currently oversee dental volunteering projects abroad especially in Africa. In 2016, I started a dental undergraduate student volunteering program in Northern Uganda (Dental Team Gulu). The team has successfully managed to see thousands of patients in rural and hard to reach areas across Northern Uganda delivering preventive dental services while liaising with local dental staff and services. For this work, I received the FBMH Doctoral Academy 2019 Best Contribution to Internationalisation Award. 

I completed my undergraduate (BSc) studies in Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece where I am also a licensed Psychologist. During my undergraduate studies, I worked in substance and alcohol misuse with my dissertation focusing on refugee and migrant access to healthcare in Greece. 

My postgraduate degree (MSc) was in Clinical Aspects of Psychology at the University of Reading, UK with a clinical placement in pain management and a research project in trait mindfulness and pain in healthy adults.

My PhD focused on family behaviours (bedtime routines) and their implication for child wellbeing and development especially around children's dental health, executive functioning and school readiness. My PhD utilised mixed methods approach with a strong element of digital technologies for the assessment of repetitive behaviours and extensive use of qualitative methods. My PhD supervisory team including Prof Iain Pretty (UoM), Dr Michaela Goodwin (UoM), Dr Julia Allan (University of Aberdeen) and Prof Mike Kelly (Cambridge University). 

In 2019, I became a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and started working as a research associate in Behaviour Change at the University of Manchester. In 2020, I completed my MPH at the University of Manchester. 

Since 2021, I am an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS). In 2024, I was awarded Senior Fellow (SFHEA) status with the Higher Education Academy.

I am a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) and an Associate Fellow (AFBPsS) with the British Psychological Society. 

I am a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). 

I am the co-founder and co-lead of the Behaviour Change in Dentistry (BeCinD) Network, an international network founded by UoM and KCL.

I am chair of the Behaviour, Epidemiology & Health Services Research (BEHSR) group of the British Society of Dental Research (BSODR).

I am past International Director for International Association for Dental Research (IADR) / Behaviour, Epidemiology & Health Services Research (BEHSR) and previous member of the steering committee for the 2020 Behavioural and Social Sciences in Oral Health Summit.

I offer expert opinion and insight on behaviour change for Colgate-Palmolive, the BBC and NHS Education Scotland and I was an expert member of the Delivering Better Oral Health (version 4) Behaviour Change chapter for Public Health England.

Expert opinions for BBC (Tiny Happy People, Bitesize and Own It), Psychology Today, national, and international news outlets relating to bedtime routines, family functioning and child wellbeing and development. 

Potential PhD students can get in touch ([email protected]) to discuss projects. Areas of interest include: behaviour change for health and oral health, digital health interventions, professional behaviour change, working with children and families, psychology-applied to dentistry, communication in the dental setting and qualitative explorations for health research.