My main research interests include cancer, end of life and bereavement care. I completed my PhD at Ulster University in 2020 which was an interpretative qualitative study exploring the psychosocial challenges and needs of families when a parent of dependent children is at end of life with cancer and the subsequent immediate bereavement period that follows. Following a systematic review, four sample groups were involved in this study, comprising of 79 participants. This included parents at end of life, bereaved parents, health and social care professionals and funeral directors. The findings from this study have been published in Palliative Medicine, Psycho-Oncology, Supportive Care in Cancer, Patient Education and Counselling and Death Studies.

A resource was developed in collaboration with colleagues at King’s College London to support health and social care professionals’ provision of supportive care to parents with have a life-limiting illness in routine practice concerning their dependent children. A communication framework was also developed to provide health and social care professionals with a systematic guide to support their provision of conversations with parents who are at end of life with cancer about their dependent children. These resources are freely available online.

I held three post-doctoral research positions between 2020 and 2022 working on the following projects:

• The first national study reporting on the experiences of end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of bereaved relatives and health and social care professionals (University of Oxford).
  
  
• Experiences of parenting and pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (University of Oxford).
  
  
• Experiences of supporting children when an important adult has a life-limiting illness (University of Oxford).
  
  
• Experiences of bereavement by suicide in later life (60+) (University of Strathclyde).
  
  
• Exploration of how we talk about suicide and self-harm in older people (70+) (University of Strathclyde).
  
  
• Experiences of loneliness in terminal illness (Queen's University Belfast).

I am currently a post-docoral research associate at Ulster University working on the family-centred cancer care end of life education project. Alongside this, I am completing my MSc in Professional Nursing