What is your field of research?
My field of research is child health and social care. My current Fellowship project is entitled “PREDicting risk of entry and re-entry Into CAre and risk of placeMENT instability from early life experiences amongst children in Wales: An ecological, multi-domain approach (PREDICAMENT)”.
How did you become interested in the field?
My first proper job as a Research Assistant involved working on systematic reviews of different forms of child abuse and neglect. The topic was difficult but so important. I became passionate about child protection research and projects that could improve the lives of vulnerable children and went on to complete a PhD on the identification of abusive head trauma (shaken baby syndrome). This was super interesting and combined psychological decision-making theories, Bayesian statistics, data visualisation, and clinical and legal aspects of child maltreatment. I knew I wanted to continue developing my career in the area of child health and social care and secured a position at Public Health Wales as a Senior Researcher in child health shortly after finishing my PhD.
How did you come to work at Swansea University?
I was working at Public Health Wales and had just finished my first data linkage project looking at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s mental health. I really enjoyed working with linked data and so when I saw a position at Swansea that combined data linkage methodologies with family justice and social care research, I decided to go for it, and was luckily successful! I then applied for my current Fellowship project and secured funding for a further three years.
What do you hope to achieve with your research?
Above all, I hope that my current research translates to real-world practical solutions to safely reduce the number of children entering the care system in Wales and improve the experiences of children who are already in care. I hope to be able to inform Welsh Government social care policy and practice so that my research has a positive impact on children and families in Wales.
What practical applications could your research have?
My Fellowship project aims to use administrative data to create tangible predictive tools to assist social care practitioners in identifying which children in Wales require early intervention and support. This will enable them to plan and deliver early, targeted support services for children and families, reducing the need for statutory intervention.
What is next for your research?
This year I will be working on at least two exciting new research projects. The first is a data linkage project to understand caregiver arrangements for children when mothers are involved in the criminal and family justice systems. The second is a Horizon project across multiple European countries, examining longitudinal outcomes for children who have been maltreated. I am still in the early stages of my Fellowship too but will need to think about writing my next research grant soon! I would love to secure funding to further develop and evaluate the prediction tools I will be creating.
Career History
Research Officer and Data Scientist, Swansea University Medical School
February 2022 - Present
Senior Public Health Research Officer, Public Health Wales
November 2020 - January 2022
Senior Research Assistant, University of South Wales
July 2020 - October 2020
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cardiff University
January 2019 - June 2020
PhD Student, Cardiff University
October 2014 - December 2018
Research Assistant, Cardiff University
2011 - October 2014