Profile
I have spent 20 years as a policy communications practitioner in UK policy and international development.
I currently lead the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) approach to research communications, strengthening evidence use and evaluating research impact. I am Director of the ESRC DFID Impact Initiative supporting UKRI grantees and a University of Bath Doctoral Candidate in Policy Research and Practice. I am conducting research on global research policy networks responding to the COVID pandemic.
Research uptake and policy engagement practice
Led EIP in INGOs and IDS. Lead IDS short course on Shaping Policy with Evidence. Reviews of evidence use in East Africa and MENA region and capacity building in Africa, S Asia, MENA and EU.
Evidence use and research impact learning and strategy
Lead IDS MEL framework and innovation around tracking and reporting research impact. Research and conceptual frameworks on effective research policy partnerships and modes of impact.
Policy research on complexity and networks
PhD research taking a complexity-informed approach to EIP network analysis of infectious disease emergency preparedness and response. Recent work includes mapping the UK Ebola response policy network and analysis of UK media coverage of COVID.
Understanding alignment between scientists on contested policy issues
The issue of alignment (or non-alignment) between scientists rose to prominence during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, as public health advice appeared contested and scientists directly challenged one another and their government’s approach. This was at a time when hard data on a novel virus was in short supply and untried public health measures were being rolled out.
In 2021 I embarked on Doctoral research designed to identify epistemic networks and explore the factors, including proximity to government, that may shape these. This was in part driven by the accusation that emerged, that scientists working in close proximity to the UK Government during the first wave of Covid-19 were affected by a form of epistemological groupthink on issues like face mask usage in communities. I therefore decided to explore how scientists and public health experts’ insider to outsider status (their proximity to government) may have related to their alignment on policy advice.
I have written about my experience of understanding scientists themselves and their alignment (or non-alignment) during emergencies using a five stage framework for rigorous analysis of social networks.