My background is in research with my initial studies being in Marine Biology (B.Sc. University of Liverpool) and genetic variation in plants in relation to their heavy metal tolerance (Ph.D. University of Bristol). I spent the next 30+ years involved in business processes and systems (organisational and software) implementations both as a pharmaceutical company employee and consultant. That led to a considerable amount of global travel, including 15 years living in the US. At the end of my consulting career, I decided to pursue a long-held interest in psychology and completed the UWL M.Sc. Psychology Conversion degree (2021) and started my current Ph.D. research in Feb. 2022 (part-time). 

My current personal research focus is on the uptake and effectiveness of postvention in UK & Ireland adult males. Men bereaved by suicide are significantly less likely to access support, compared to women. It is paramount to understand why most male survivors are not accessing support services. The lack of evidence of the effectiveness of bereavement support also warrants research.

My proposed role on the board of trustees is to position SoBS as a leader in driving the postvention research agenda; to date, we've responded after being contacted by researchers – and while that should continue, we have the opportunity to identify research topics and seek out researchers to perform targeted studies.

After the loss of my youngest son, in 2017, I joined the Central London SoBS group and the support I received was fundamental to me starting to deal with the trauma. I became a volunteer facilitator in 2020 and in 2024, with others, set-up a new West London group.

My other Interests are mainly football – I travel home & away to nearly all Derby County games – my two Australian Labradoodles and science fiction (usually audio books while I walk the dogs).