My research focuses on the relationships between individuals and institutions, often linking to my previous experience in policy work around justice and gender-based violence.

I am currently working across two projects. My main role at the University of Strathclyde is on The Health-Justice Nexus: Crime and Justice as Social Determinants of Health in Scotland. This project, funded by the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland), is working to improve the health of Scotland's most disadvantaged communities by looking at how health outcomes are affected by contact with justice institutions. My work is focused on the contribution of Police Scotland to community wellbeing.

I am also undertaking work at the University of Edinburgh supporting the Bairns' Hoose Evaluation around the Sycamore Bairns' Hoose. Bairns' Hoose is an approach seeking to improve children's experiences and outcomes after the identification of abuse or maltreatment.

Recent previous projects include:

• Administrative Fairness and Social Security for Adults with Disabilities looking at the experiences of disabled adults across the PIP benefit process in England and Wales and Adult Disability Payment in Scotland.
• Operation Soteria, a UK Home Office funded project bringing together police and academic researchers to transform police investigations of rape and serious sexual offences. My work on Operation Soteria included developing the Rape Victim Impact Assessment tool, which supports police forces to embed the rights and interests of victims of sexual violence when developing policy and procedures.
• ‘Domestic abuse and child contact: the interface between criminal and civil proceedings’, funded by Scottish Government
• ‘CAFADA (Children and families affected by domestic abuse)’, an ESRC funded project looking at innovation in social care
• ‘IMPRODOVA: Improving frontline responses to high impact domestic violence’, an EU funded project investigating police and other frontline agency responses to domestic abuse across eight countries
• ‘Constructions of children and parents during the reform of family law in Scotland’, a Carnegie funded project looking at discourses around children’s participation during the parliamentary process of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020
• ‘Improving Justice in Child Contact’, a five country European funded project seeking to enhance children’s participation in decisions that affect them.

I received my PhD in Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, investigating how the police apologise in responding to public complaints.