Dr Reihaneh Afshari Saleh studies social interaction employing conversation analysis research method combined with phonetic and gesture analysis. Trained as a linguist, she has looked into how language and the body interact especially in more emotive moments of interaction. She obtained her master’s degree in Phonetics and Phonology (2017) and her PhD in Language and Communication (2022) both from University of York. She then joined Ulster University as Lecturer in Linguistics and Communication.