Following my BSc in adult nursing, I completed my PGDip in Oncology and Palliative Care and my MSc in Health Education and Leadership at the University of Hull. I hold Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.Clinically, the majority of my nursing career has been spent working in end-of-life care, including palliative care and oncology, the intensive care unit and as a specialist organ donation nurse. During the pandemic, I developed and managed a family support service which offered telephone support to families with a loved one in the intensive care unit.I worked as a Clinical Research Fellow in the TRANSFORM programme at Hull York Medical School and successfully defended my PhD in 2023. Funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, my project explored how children and parents supported each other following the death of a co-parent, and how those in their existing networks can provide a supportive response.Currently, I am a Matron for End of Life in Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and a Health Services Research Fellow at York St John University. I am chair and facilitator of a local bereavement support group and I chair a local child bereavement advisory group. I sit on the advisory panel for the Childhood Bereavement Network.I currently lead two community-based research projects as part of the Ideas Fund, funded by Wellcome Trust. I am using creative participatory methods to improve mental well-being within communities. The first project in collaboration with P.A.U.L For Brain Recovery seeks to improve support for families affected by brain injury. The second in collaboration with Fitmums and Friends is co-creating resources with bereaved children.I was a co-applicant on a successful NIHR Undergraduate Internship Programme in 2024, hosting three undergraduate students from York St John University.I am module lead for the enhancing therapeutic communication module which is a post-graduate 20 credit module at the University of Hull.To date I have shared my research at local, national and international conferences and events.