My focus is on child development, particularly during the early years of life (0 - 5). I have a special interest in how language and socioemotional skills develop in different contexts.

My epidemiological research at Born in Bradford and University of York uses linked NHS, local service, and birth cohort datasets to understand the nature of educational and health inequalities for children and families living in urban environments. In particular, poverty causes inequitable physical and mental health from early development, with lifelong consequences. Although these are not new problems, they do persist - and in recent years, have increased. We are still trying to understand the mechanisms involved in this process, and how to improve outcomes within the system we are in.

I also conduct behavioural genetics research on children's socioemotional development and language skills (Yale University, UCL, University of Cambridge). I am particularly interested in how our environment can affect the emergence of different genetic traits over time.

I also conduct research with children who are late to talk; how these children learn language differently to typically developing children, how they change over time, and how this affects their understanding of non-verbal symbols. I have also worked with speech and language therapists across the UK and the NHS to look at evidence-based interventions for improving language and detection of impairments during the first five years of life.

My Leverhulme Trust Doctoral (PhD) Scholarship research focussed on the environment surrounding word learning, and how caregiver behaviour affects children's cognitive processes (Lancaster Babylab). Investigating how we learn is vital to not only understanding how we acquire language as children, but also to understanding how we begin to make sense of the wider world.

Previously, I worked with fMRI (resting state functional connectivity) at Yale University (Yale Child Study Center/Magnetic Resonance Research Center), examining the effect of electronic media on the adolescent brain.