I am an Associate Professor of Social Work and the Course Lead for both the MSc Social Work and PG Dip Step Up to Social Work (Cohort 9 in partnership with Royal Borough of Greenwich, London Borough of Lewisham and London Borough of Southwark).  I am the Postgraduate Taught Deputy Lead for the Department of Law and Criminology.  I also co-lead the Department's Health and Social Care research cluster.  Before joining Royal Holloway in 2015, I practiced as a social worker 2002-2017 (part time 2015-17) in children's services, adult social care, the NHS and homelessness services in both Dublin and London.  

Teaching

My teaching runs across the portfolio of degrees offered within social work at RHUL - BSc Social Science, MSc Social Work, PG Dip Step Up to Social Work and MSc Advanced Practice.  In 2025/26 I am the module lead for the following modules: SW3013 Housing and Homelessness: Perspectives, Policy and Practice; SW5022 Law and Policy for Social Workers; SW5025 Research Methods and Dissertation; HC5915 Working with Complexity: Adult Safeguarding. 

Research

My research aims to address how adults with marginalised identities access adult social care and considers socio-legal aspects of safeguarding policy.  Projects include:

1) Discriminatory Abuse and Safeguarding Adults - I have worked in partnership with Partners in Care and Health (co-funded by Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services), Research in Practice and colleagues in University of Bournemouth to develop research in this area.  I am currently working on two outputs: (1) Safeguarding LGBTQ+ Adults at Risk, (2) Developing a Toolkit for Practice with Research in Practice (funded through UKRI Social Science Impact Accelerator)

2) Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court in Safeguarding Adults - I have worked with colleagues at University of Portsmouth and KCL and six local authorities.  This project is British-Academy funded, one output has been published and subsequent publications are in progress.  I presented work from this strand to LB Tower Hamlets annual safeguarding conference in 2024. 

3) Homelessness and Need - I undertook 4 months of fieldwork at a homelessness hostel to understand the differences in perspective on need between hostel residents and those who work with them.  I am currently writing up several papers to disseminate findings.  I have presented this work at several national and international conferences.

4) Human Rights and Older People's Care Homes - With Dr. Jane Marriott and Dr. Natalie Pitimson (both RHUL) - we have been exploring how human rights are affirmed at older people's care homes.  We have done this drawing on documentary analysis of inspection reports in Council of Europe countries.  Outputs have been published in 2024 and 2026.

PhD Supervision

I currently supervise the following students:

- Adaeze Eze (with Dr. Jane Marriott) - How do English care homes ensure their practices align with human rights principles?

I am happy to be approached for supervision on topics relating to adult social care or safeguarding, particularly for marginalised groups.

External Engagement, Memberships and Collaboration

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an external examiner for social work programmes at both University of Hull and Ulster University.  I am a member of the Advisory Group on Discriminatory Abuse hosted by the Local Government Association's Partners in Care and Health.  I am a member of the editorial board for the journal 'Practice: Social Work in Action' since 2023.  I was on the Organising/Scientific Committees for the International Sexuality and Social Work Conference (for conferences in 2022, 2023, 2025).  I am undertaking two Safeguarding Adult Reviews for English local authorities as consultancy projects, having previously completed similar work for Bristol SAB, City and Hackney SAB and Greenwich SAB.  I am a member of the Safeguarding Adults Reviewers Network and recently participated in a working group for the Safeguarding Adult Board Chairs and Managers network reporting on developing impact from Safeguarding Adult Reviews.  I am a member of the British Association of Social Workers and I am a registered social worker with Social Work England.