I have a professional background in special community public health nursing and an interdisciplinary academic background spanning health, social sciences and educational research.  Prior to joining Queens University Belfast (QUB), I worked for over fifteen years as a nurse and then as a health visitor across different Health Trusts in Northern Ireland.

Since joining the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (QUB) I have sustained over fifteen years research experience in the field of child health and wellbeing and gained Doctorate in the subject of parental involvement and child well-being.

My interests lie in evaluative research. I have completed numerous evaluations of school-based programmes using a range of methodologies, and in particular, am experienced in the design, management, analysis and reporting of qualitative methods; specifically process evaluations that are designed to run alongside randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in school settings. My work over the last decade has involved undertaking high quality quantitative and qualitative research on a range of RCT’s, in community and educational settings in Ireland and the UK.