I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I hold a permanent honorary academic contract with the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (formerly Public Health England).

I teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Much of my teaching is on the MSc Health Psychology. I supervise numerous undergraduate and masters dissertations. I am director of studies for several PhD students and co-supervise many more. I also supervise professional doctorate students.

I was course leader of the BSc Psychology programme for many years and have also been course leader for nearly all undergraduate psychology courses.

I welcome new doctoral students working in the area of health psychology and in related areas.

My research is mainly in health psychology and public health. My research interests are broad, and include vaccine hesitancy, health behaviour change, the acceptability of and attitudes towards male hormonal contraception, and psychosocial aspects of long-term conditions. The main focus of my research, however, lies in psychosocial aspects of preventative health behaviours.  Through my work I aim to contribute towards helping people lead healthier, longer, and happier lives.

A member of the Centre for Applied Psychological Research (of both the Health and Wellbeing, and the Pain and Long-Term Conditions themes), I am also deputy lead for Team Alpha, the Co-Producing Alcohol and Public Health Research theme of the Centre for Social Innovation. I am a member of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law (SSSHL) Research Ethics Sub-Committee as well as the SSSHL/MIMA Grants Board.

I have links with other academics and practitioners both nationally and internationally. I am a founding member and board member of INRePAR, the International Network for Research into Psychosocial Adjustment and Rehabilitation, as well as a member of INEBRIA, the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol & Other Drugs. Furthermore, I am an associate member of Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, and CPIG, the Crisis and Pandemic Interest Group at Liverpool John Moores University.

Through my research, I have worked with community champions, local and national charities, and local authorities as part of community-focused, national, and international public health research. I am a Middlesbrough Council Health Champion and have conducted research in collaboration with organisations such as Public Health South Tees, Public Health England, Healthwatch, and James Cook University Hospital. My work has informed local public health campaigns.

I have received funding from regional and from national funding bodies and have been principal investigator and co-investigator on research projects funded by the NIHR Clinical Research Network, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, Prostate Cancer UK, and Public Health England.

I peer review for a variety of journals across psychology and public health including Qualitative Health Research, Psychology and Health, Health Psychology, European Journal of Health Psychology, BMC Public Health, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers in Psychology, European Journal of Cancer Care, Journal of Men’s Health, Vaccine, Journal of Medical Virology, INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, and Journal of Economics and Management.

Recent and current research projects include:

• COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Individuals. Funded by NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria
• Be Clear on Cancer Breast Cancer in Women over 70 Campaign: Final Evaluation. Funded by Public Health England
• Regional evaluation of a self-management tool for people living with long-term conditions: a participatory approach. Funded by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria
• A co-designed and culturally appropriate intervention to tackle barriers to early diagnosis of prostate cancer for Black men in Scotland and the North-East of England: a community-centred participatory approach. Funded by Prostate Cancer UK