Kate joined the University in January 2021, as a Senior Research Assistant, within the Social Work, Education & Community Wellbeing department. Kate progressed to a Lecturer in April 2022. Kate is module leader for the "Public Health Fundamentals: Concepts, Theories and Frameworks" on the Master of Public Health programme. Kate is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

Kate's PhD used the Socio-Ecological Model to understand why women with learning disabilities are less likely, than women without learning disabilities, to attend cervical and breast cancer screening. Kate has used Q methodology to engage with women with learning disability, family carer and paid carers to understand their attitudes, opinions and experiences.

Kate has a diverse range of research interests covering the public health domain. Specifically, Kate research interests are in health inequalities, learning disabilities, avoidable and preventable deaths, health systems and access to health services.    

Current projects:

• Developing a co-designed systems-level response to safety issues for residents transitioning from hospital to care homes (SafeST study, https://research.northumbria.ac.uk/safest) - Started January 2021.
• Implementation of mental HEAlth uRgent and emergency
  care interventions for frequent service use: An evaluation
  study (HEAR) - Started January 2022.
• Identifying the barriers and facilitators for people with severe mental illness and/or learning disabilities for PErson Centred Cancer Screening services (PECCS) - Started March 2022 (Kate is a Principle Investigator).