GW4 Crucible Cohorts
Rebecca obtained her BSc degree in Psychology at Plymouth University and a PgCert in counselling from the University of Wales, Newport. She worked as a counsellor in a GP practice before embarking on a PhD at Cardiff University exploring the mental wellbeing of adoptive families. Rebecca is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at DECIPHer (Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement) at Cardiff University. She was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from Health and Care Research Wales titled “Feeling loved and appreciated: a mixed methods study to examine care-experienced children and young people’s relationships and their association with mental health and wellbeing” in October 2023. She is passionate about highlighting inequalities and advocating for prioritised support and intervention for potentially vulnerable groups. She is excited to collaborate with other academics to explore how to use research to implement changes to policy and practice.
Abs obtained their BA in English Literature at The Open University and went on to join the University of Bristol in 2017 for their MA and PhD. They now work at Bristol as Lecturer in English. Abs’s research forges new connections between the literary health humanities, critical neurodiversity studies, and (neuro)queer theory. Their AHRC-funded doctoral research, which they are currently developing into their first book, investigated neuro/gender entanglements in contemporary life-writing, fiction, and hybridised modes by autistic people. Presently, Abs is working on a project which examines and reframes divergent (a)socialities as radical mode and praxis, as well as exploring neuroinclusive pedagogical practice in higher education.
David obtained an LLB in Law at the University of Leicester and an LLM in Legal Research at the University of Edinburgh. He went on to complete a PhD at the University of Bristol. He is now a lecturer in the Law School at the University of Exeter. His research is focused on equality and human rights law. His particular interests include how law can be used to address socio-economic inequality and how implementation and accountability can be increased in relation to equality and human rights laws in public sector bodies. David enjoys working with policymakers, charities and NGOs, and public sector bodies.
Judy trained as a veterinary surgeon at the University of Liverpool, where she returned after five years in clinical practice to complete a Masters in Infection and Disease Control. This was followed by a PhD in veterinary epidemiology, which led to further work at the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, exploring the effect of poverty on zoonotic disease transmission in urban environments. She returned to the UK in 2018 and worked for a period in the civil service before returning to academia. Judy’s current research at the University of Bristol is focused on understanding antimicrobial use and resistance on Argentinian dairy farms. Judy also holds a senior lecturer position at the University of Greenwich, where she works on a variety of topics relating to food safety, food systems and the epidemiology and surveillance of bacterial pathogens.
Amy obtained her BSc in Social Science, and MSc in Social Science Research Methods at Cardiff University. Amy went on to complete a ESRC funded PhD after working in research at the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer). Her PhD focused on exploring parental involvement with schools and parental engagement with learning in deprived areas in Wales. Amy is now based in the Children and Young People’s Mental Health (ChYMe) Research Collaboration at the University of Exeter and much of her recent work has been within the field of implementation science. Her most current research is interested in understanding the concept of family financial well-being support and exploring how, and whether it is effective, to integrate financial well-being support and parenting supporting with the overall aim of improving outcomes for children. Amy is thrilled to have been accepted on the GW4 Crucible and is extremely passionate about tackling inequalities and driving social justice.
contrerasmojicad@cardiff.ac.uk
Diana is a Lecturer in Geospatial Science at the School of Earth and Environmental Science at Cardiff University. Before Joining Cardiff, she was a Research Associate at Newcastle University, working on extracting information from data collected from social media related to emergency response and recovery after earthquakes. Diana holds a PhD in Natural Sciences Applied Geoinformatics from the University of Salzburg (Austria), and her thesis focused on identifying spatial indicators of recovery after earthquakes in the socio-economic dimension. Before her PhD, she completed a Master of Science in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, with a Specialisation in Urban Planning and Management from the University of Twente (UT) in The Netherlands. Diana worked in the public and private sectors in Colombia and Italy on disaster prevention, emergency response, social vulnerability and resilience. She maintains active interests in equality, diversity and inclusion, climate change adaptation, environmental actions and human rights advocacy.
Fred has a PhD in history from the University of Exeter, where he has also worked for the past five years in the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health. He is presently at the University of Bristol, where he has just started a post on EPIC, the Wellcome-funded medical humanities project on epistemic injustice in health care. Fred’s research uses historical methods and questions to open up interdisciplinary conversations on experiences, understandings, and representations of loneliness in the past and present. He is particularly interested in thinking about loneliness as a problem of – and for – social and health justice, and the part it plays in other political phenomena of illness, suffering, and loss.
Rosie completed an MSc in Medical Statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine then worked in various roles in the UK and overseas before coming to Bristol in 2007. She is now a senior research fellow in Population Health Sciences, working on both applied and methodological projects. Much of her research at Bristol has involved the use of routine health and administrative data, including her PhD, which aimed to investigate how linkage between observational studies and routine/administrative datasets could be used to understand and reduce bias due to missing data. Her applied research has been mainly in the broad area of child and adolescent health and development, recently focusing on criminal justice outcomes. She is interested in understanding how different factors interact across the life course to cause disparities in health and other (e.g. criminal justice, educational) outcomes so that more can be done to prevent these.
Enrico obtained his BSc in Nursing Science at London South Bank University, a master’s degree in Pedagogy and Education Research and completed a PhD In Social Psychology and Education Research at University of Rome ‘Sapienza’. Enrico joined the University of Exeter in April 2022, and he has held academic positions as a research fellow for the Department of Translational Medicine (University of Oriental Piedmont), Program Lead for Post graduation Healthcare Professions courses (University of Parma) and collaborated in research projects with the University of Rome Sapienza – Psychology Faculty. Enrico was actively involved in various Italian and international interdisciplinary research projects, published in scientific journals, on topics such as interpersonal touch in healthcare, endo of life and palliative care, interprofessional care and collaboration, spirituality in health and innovation in health services. He is interested in qualitative, creative and mixed method research methodologies.
Eleanor is interested in the economics of healthy cities, and especially in metrics which can help decision making to improve the places where we live. Her background is in quantifying the social and environmental impacts of unhealthy urban environments, food waste and climate change. She recently completed her PhD in economics at the University of Bath, developing a comparative risk assessment tool to help policy makers quantify, value and compare the health impacts of urban housing developments. She is now working as a postdoctoral Research Associate, contributing to an interdisciplinary project funded by UKPRP; Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development (TRUUD.ac.uk). She is keen to explore how our understanding of the societal impact of poor health can be communicated to help decision makers tackle health inequalities and plan for better long-term management of the urban built environment.
Caroline is an experienced systematic reviewer who has over 10 years of experience conducting literature reviews to inform health policy and clinical practice. This includes 5 years developing NICE clinical guidelines and 6 years evaluating new health technologies while working in both the public and private sector. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at University of Exeter where she evaluates the evidence base for new treatments and medical devices on behalf of the NHS. Caroline’s PhD was in mental health, but now her research covers a wide range of medical topics. Caroline is interested in evidence-based healthcare and policy, including best methods for using evidence to inform practice. Contact details and further information are at https://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?web_id=Caroline_Farmer
Sarah, a Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Sciences, having previously worked in a clinical role as a Research Nurse at Velindre Cancer Centre. Sarah completed her PhD in 2017 at Cardiff University, and her research expertise involve understanding socially derived health knowledge, and particularly the construction of knowledge in communities at high risk of health inequalities. She also has expertise in patient and public involvement in research and advises researchers on how to involve people at the early stages of research design, data collection, and dissemination.
As part of the University Celebrating Excellence Awards 2022, Sarah was awarded excellence in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for work with Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Her background in nursing has developed academic thinking about where knowledge of health and illness is derived, and adaptations healthcare practitioners and academics may need to make to be more accessible to these communities to develop sustainable changes to health outcomes.
As part of this work, Sarah was awarded a Future Leaders in Cancer Research (FLiCR) Seedcorn fund, hosted by the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Cardiff University, to develop a Community Research Group with African and African Caribbean men. This group worked with Sarah to find methods for studying minority ethnic men’s interpretation of prostate cancer health literature, and Sarah is now evolving this engagement work to co-develop a research proposal to use digital media to share prostate cancer risk information.
Amanda Hughes is a social epidemiologist at the University of Bristol. Her research investigates causes and consequences of body weight and mental health, social inequalities in health, and health-related stigma, using quantitative methods and causal inference approaches. After an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences, she worked in the public and non-profit sectors, before completing an MSc and PhD in Epidemiology at UCL. Her current research uses epidemiological methods and large, general population survey data to explore how obesity-related stigma is experienced by different groups, and how obesity-related stigma relates to wider health inequalities.
Laura has a background in psychology, completing a PhD in Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology at University College London. After this she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the NHS, and came to the University of Bristol in 2021 to complete an Early Career Fellowship in the Department of Population Health Sciences. Laura’s research focuses on the mental health of neurodivergent people across the lifespan, with a particular interest in the phenomenon of camouflaging/masking and how it may impact neurodivergent mental health. Her current research explores how to measure masking in autistic young people, using participatory research methods, and tracking the impacts of masking on mental health at a population-wide level. She is passionate about research that addresses the priorities of the neurodivergent community and seeks to include community members whenever possible.
Asha gained a BSc in Psychology, MSc in Psychological Research Methods, and PhD in Psychology at the University of Exeter. Asha’s research focuses on understanding how psychological treatments for adult depression work, and how to improve access and engagement in these treatments, particularly for individuals in underserved populations. In her PhD she focused on understanding how psychological therapy works to reduce depression symptoms. Asha is now an ESRC postdoctoral research fellow in the Mood Disorders Centre at the University of Exeter. Here she is building on her PhD research to explore how to increase access, treatment engagement, and improve treatment outcomes for people from a range of different sociodemographic backgrounds.
Anna obtained her MEng degree in Engineering, Economics and Management at the University of Oxford and then worked as a civil engineering consultant in the water sector. She achieved a part-time MSc in Community Water and Sanitation at Cranfield University and then worked in international development consultancy. She completed a mixed methods PhD in Medical Sciences at the University of Cambridge with the MRC Epidemiology Unit and Centre for Diet and Physical Activity, exploring decision-making for active living infrastructure in different contexts.
Anna is currently a Research Fellow with the TRUUD (‘Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy urban Development’) project and is an embedded researcher with Bristol City Council where she works with the Regeneration, Planning Policy and Public Health teams to support interventions for healthier urban development. Anna is interested in applied, multi-disciplinary research that tackles complex issues associated with the wider determinants of health, such as housing and transport.
Grace is a Lecturer based in the School of Medicine, Cardiff University. She leads the Global Health and Dissertation modules on the Master’s in Public course. Her behavioural science research focuses on inequalities in cancer screening, prevention and early diagnosis. She has developed and tested various behavioural interventions to encourage earlier detection and prevention of cancer, including co-leading the Cancer Research Wales-funded multi-faceted community based cancer awareness campaign to raise awareness of non-specific symptoms (e.g. weight loss) and to support equitable access to Rapid Diagnostic Clinics.
Sarah is a qualitative health researcher at Cardiff University’s Centre for Trials Research, having previously worked in several government policy and research roles. She has explored clinician and patient decision-making across a diverse range of health studies and clinical trials. Her work has contributed to a better understanding of the range of factors that affect patient experiences, including information provision, sociodemographic differences, and healthcare environment, policy and culture.
Sarah’s research interests include inequitable healthcare access, patient information and informed consent, particularly for women in the perinatal period, and for IVF and genetics patients. Her overarching research aim is to reduce health inequalities through challenging misconceptions and enabling patients to make informed, evidence-based decisions. She is keen to build interdisciplinary collaborations to explore new ways of tackling these issues.
Nhat (Nick) Pham leads the Agile Cyber-Physical Systems lab at the School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, UK. He is also a core academic member of a larger Cardiff IoT group. His research interests include Intelligent and Efficient Cyber-Physical Systems, Human-based Sensing, Edge-AI and On-chip Computing. Before joining Cardiff University, Nhat obtained his DPhil (PhD) from the University of Oxford in 2023 and also worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the EPSRC ACE-OPS project at the same department from 2022 to 2023. His research on intelligent physiological ear-worn wearables has been recognised by Communication of the ACM Research Highlight 2021, ACM SIGMOBILE Research Highlight 2020, ACM GetMobile’19 Research Highlight, and the Best Paper at ACM MobiCom’19. Nhat also helped to spin off a tech startup (Earable Inc.) and produced multiple international patents. His group’s work has been featured in several press articles from Bloomberg, BBC News, DailyMail, Euronews, etc.
Holly completed her PGDip in Psychology and MSc in Psychological Research Methods whilst co-ordinating the University of Exeter Mood Disorders Centre Research Clinic, and contributing to a variety of mental health-focused research projects in the department. In 2017, she completed her PhD at the University of Exeter Medical School, in which she used a mixed methods approach to develop and test Morita Therapy (a Japanese psychological therapy), and was the first to demonstrate the acceptability and potential utility of Morita Therapy for treating depression and anxiety in the UK. Holly is now a Lecturer (Education and Research) in the Nursing Academy, teaching evidence-based practice and research methods. Her research interests include using integrative mixed methods research in clinical trials to inform the personalisation of treatment, and improving wellbeing by applying cross-cultural learning on the understanding and treatment of mental health difficulties.
Passionate about addressing challenges faced by individuals with vision impairment, Katrina’s focus in clinical psychology centres on combating ableist stigma and changing perceptions. Engaging in participatory research, Katrina collaborates with young people living with vision impairment to co-create a unique tool for navigating critical life transitions. Her interdisciplinary background is evident in diverse research contributions, from exploring sensory utilization in the vision impaired to investigating repetitive behaviours in children with autism and/or vision impairment. With 17 years in the clinical sector and the last few in the academic sector, including private practice in Greece and public special/inclusive education, her experience spans Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and roles as a visiting lecturer at the University of Birmingham and UCL. Currently a research associate at the University of Bath, Katrina still collaborates with the University of Birmingham and edits for the University of Oxford. Methodologically, she employs qualitative approaches, participatory research, and thematic analysis, aligning with her background reading at https://tavoularikaterina.com/.
Laura obtained her BA(hons) degree in Sociology from Newcastle University and went on to a Social Research Methods MSc in Bristol while also working as a researcher in a consultancy firm. She moved into Public Health in 2016 and completed her PhD in 2020. Her post-doctoral experience includes a 16-month ESRC Policy Fellowship in the Scottish Government, working on intersectionality, discrimination and women’s health research to support policy. Laura is currently an NIHR School for Public Health Research Launching Fellow, working on projects related to young people’s health inequalities. Laura is interested in generating policy-relevant research through theoretically engaged mixed methods approaches. She is keen to understand the complexity of inequalities more deeply through learning from colleagues in alternative disciplines to public health.
Neil is an academic and architect. He works as a lecturer in urban design at the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University. He completed his PhD in Geography and Planning at Cardiff University. His thesis, ‘Community action in austerity: The case of Community Asset Transfer’ (2022) used diverse methods that drew on original datasets and ethnography to establish a better understanding of emergent practices of community services/care across the UK. His current research examines different realms of community infrastructure across themes of care, mutual aid, community ownership, queer theory. This involves a range of spaces, and at different scales, including city wide local development plans, community-led housing, community assets, and services and spaces for LGBTQ+ people who are homeless.
Elisa obtained her Bachelor and Master degrees in psychology at the University of Turin, Italy, and moved to Wales to complete a PhD at Cardiff University. In her PhD, she looked at the role of supported employment in promoting positive health behaviour of people with learning disabilities in work. Elisa is now a research associate actively working on the legacy and long-term impact of a project promoting employment opportunities for young people aged 16-25 with learning disabilities, learning difficulties and/or autism. Elisa is passionate about influencing current policies and making long-lasting changes for the stakeholders involved, including young people, employers, carers, and professionals. Elisa has a strong record in co-producing research with people with lived experience. She is passionate about generating easy-read material, to ensure journal papers, scientific presentations and reports are translated to be accessible.
josephine.walker@bristol.ac.uk
Josephine is a lecturer in health economic modelling at Bristol Medical School. She studied ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University and completed a PhD in biological sciences at the University of Bristol with a focus on disease transmission between different host species in sub-Saharan Africa. As a postdoc, she transitioned to working on infectious disease modelling and health economics related to access to treatment for hepatitis C virus in resource-limited settings. Josephine’s current work focuses on understanding and predicting the drivers of infectious disease dynamics and the impact of health interventions, in order to inform health policy decision-making internationally.
Adam is a multi-award winning academic at Cardiff University. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Psychology with Criminology at the University of South Wales, followed by an MSc in Health Psychology at Bath University and a PhD in Medicine at Cardiff University. He works as a research associate/trial manager at Cardiff University’s Centre for Trials Research. Adam conducts mixed methods research and evaluations in sexual health, with interests in health inequalities, equity and inclusion in research and service evaluation. Adam is the Chair of Cardiff University’s LGBTQ+ Staff network and works closely with the Vice Chancellor’s office to improve EDI in the University.
Hayley obtained an Mmath degree from the University of Sussex. Here Hayley was awarded two Junior Research Awards and begun research in math-biology. After Sussex, Hayley went to the University of Bath to complete a PhD collaborating with BT internet. This research developed a method for predicting wave strength as a function of the wave parameters. This method enables analytical optimisation methods to be utilised for antenna design. During the pandemic Hayley worked on mathematical modelling for fomite transmission and for hospital admission rates.
In 2022 Hayley was awarded a grant from the London Mathematical Society for a Research Fellowship to develop computational models for sub-cellular cancer dynamics.
Hayley now works in the integrative epidemiology unit at the University of Bristol. Current research includes developing clustering methods for identifying causal pathways in GWAS data.
Rebecca is a researcher activist with over 20 years’ involvement in the disabled people’s movement. Rebecca’s PhD explored the causes, impact and possible ways to address intersectional injustices associated with disability and forced migration in the UK. She argues that the original social model of disability is highly relevant to acknowledging and building resistance to the disabling impact of struggles faced by people in the asylum system who are denied basic services.
Rebecca is now working on the ‘Sensing Climate’ project (www.sensing-climate.com). New approaches are needed to address the climate emergency. The disproportionate impact of extreme weather events on disabled people cannot be addressed simply by inclusion in business as usual. Sensing Climate aims to find out from disabled people living in a wide range of circumstances about people’s needs, experiences and insights in relation to climate change.
Runan obtained his MEng degree in mechanical engineering and completed a PhD in soft robotics at the University of Bath. He worked as a Research Associate at the university, contributing to the EPSRC Future Metrology Hub project in the field of robotics, before becoming a Lecturer in Mechatronics in 2021. His current research focuses on optimizing robotic operations for high movement accuracy, applicable to both high-precision robotic manufacturing of rigid components and embedded 3D printing of soft and complex structures. Runan is extremely keen to explore novel fabrication and control techniques for developing medically sound, user-friendly, ethical, and economically viable devices for future healthcare technologies.
Liana has an MEng in Chemical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an MRes in Sustainable Chemical Technologies from the University of Bath. She completed her PhD in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Bath, before joining Cranfield University as a Research Fellow in Wastewater Treatment. She is now a Research Associate at the University of Bath within the SynHiSel programme grant using 3D printing and computational fluid dynamics to develop novel materials and processes for water purification. Liana’s research is focused on improving water quality and reducing environmental pollution through the removal of micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals. She is very interested in embracing the interdisciplinary nature of water-related challenges, and passionate about the positive impact of sustainable water and wastewater treatment on people’s lives.
