Kat’s disciplinary background is in sociology and most of her research experience has been within a social care, healthcare or multi-agency context. Her particular areas of interest are women’s mental health and wellbeing, and feminist approaches to care. She is keen to developtheoretically informedand critical qualitative inquiry in these areas. 

Her PhD completed in 2018 was about women’s alcohol use and stress, it involved a systematic review of qualitative research and semi-structured qualitative interviews. She has also been involved in several research projects in the areas of maternal mental health. Kat started her career outside of academia working in a research agency specialising in projects related to children, young people and families. These often involved using qualitative methods and participatory research with local communities. She continues to use and learn about these methods and methodologies. Kat has also led the longitudinal qualitative component of quasi-experimental studies, and formative qualitative data collection and analysis to inform the development of digital health interventions.  

Through her work Kat has a specific interest in ethics in practice, and supporting researchers doing sensitive and emotionally demanding research. As ECR lead for the qualitative SIG Kat will represent the interests of ECRs involved in all aspects of qualitative research in PHSI.