I joined the School of Health in Social Sciences as Senior Lecturer in August 2020. Prior to this, I was Lecturer in Social Science at Edinburgh Napier University (2015-2020), and Research Fellow/Deputy Director of the Evaluation, Research and Development Unit, School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University (2009-2015). My academic background is in the sociology of health and illness, and in health services research. The main focus of my recent research has been in sexual health, particularly around decision making and risk with regard to contraceptive use and attitudes to screening, teenage pregnancy and parenting, and young men's health. I have also undertaken projects on a range of service-oriented topics including attitudes to cancer symptoms, alcohol use and contraception, and quality assurance in clinical care. Prior to moving into Higher Education, I worked in the NHS for several years, mainly as a service planner, but also with a short secondment as Research Governance Manager, which gave me an insight into governance and ethics procedures which has proved very valuable in my academic research. I have an interest in ethics in research and in clinical care, having served on research ethics committees at Edinburgh Napier University and Durham University, and as lay member of the clinical ethics committee at James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough. My research interests feed into my teaching, which incorporates insights and experience from both academic research and health services work. I am also interested in using games in teaching and learning, and have recently developed board games as an approach to teaching research methods.-Faculty profile