I am a public health researcher with particular interests in maternal and child health, alcohol-related harm, and methods to improve causal inference.

My current research includes work on natural experiment methodology, prenatal alcohol use, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and public health misinformation on social media.

Current Projects

• Mapping the landscape of prenatal alcohol prevention in the UK: a collaborative review. NIHR SPHR ResNet ECR funding (https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/members/university-of-bristol/mapping-the-landscape-of-prenatal-alcohol-prevention-in-the-uk-a-collaborative-review/)
• Pandemics And ‘infodemics’: The Nature, Extent And Reach Of Public Health Misinformation On Social Media During The COVID-19 Pandemic. Jean Golding Institute funding.
• Preventing prenatal alcohol exposure in the UK: a systematic review of the published and grey literature. (PROSPERO protocol https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=209460)
• Improving methodology for place and community-based public health natural experiments and interventions; SPHR Places and Communities programme (https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/research/improving-methodology-for-place-and-community-based-public-health-natural-experiments-and-interventions-wsa-wp3/)
• Epidemiology of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (https://www.researchgate.net/project/Epidemiology-of-Fetal-Alcohol-Spectrum-Disorders-FASD-and-alcohol-use-in-pregnancy)
• Exploring the impact of alcohol licensing in England and Scotland (ExILEnS: https://exilens.stir.ac.uk/)

Previously, I have conducted systematic reviews and meta-analysis for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines including Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviour and Antenatal and Postnatal Mental Health. I also have an interest in research with forensic populations, having worked for the National Offender Management Service.

I have a BSc in Applied Psychology (Cardiff University), a MSc in Forensic Psychology (Cardiff Metropolitan University) and a PhD in Epidemiology (Cardiff University). In 2017 I joined the Centre for Public Health, based in the Population Health Sciences Institute at the University of Bristol.