York PRISM Network

My role as Project Coordinator encompasses three primary strands. I work with a team of colleagues on the Thanzi Programme, delivering research designed to inform improved resource allocation and financing of health in the East, Central, Southern and West Africa regions. I assist with the day-to-day running of the programme’s funded projects, focusing particularly on capability initiatives. These include supporting the management of the Thanzi Studentship programme, which provides funded places for students from East and West Africa on the university’s Health Economics Distance Learning (HEDL) programme.

I also act as Theme Administrator for Health Economics within the Applied Research Collaboration in Yorkshire and Humber (ARC-YH), a regional partnership of universities, NHS providers, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations delivering research that responds to the biggest health challenges facing local populations and the health and care systems that support them and the implementation of these findings into practice. I provide support to the research theme leads in developing research programme plans and delivering individual projects in four key areas: Healthy Families, Mental Health, Urgent Care and Older People. I liaise with the core programme team at the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) on internal and external comms, facilitate team meetings, monitor project progress, identify research and engagement opportunities, and lead on the preparation of interim and annual reports. As a member of the regional Theme Managers’ team, I represent the work of the Health Economics research team to external organisations and partners, identifying collaborative opportunities in research and knowledge mobilisation activities.

My responsibilities as Project Coordinator also extend into Data Governance. I provide support to the Centre for Health Economics’ Data Governance Group (DGG) in the ongoing management of the Programme Level Agreement with NHS England, which provides access to NHS health and social care data for multiple large-scale funded projects. I ensure that data access requests and data management are conducted according to strict legal, ethical and security requirements.

I completed my postgraduate studies at York in the Humanities in 2016 with a focus on histories of health, then worked in various roles in research, professional support and stakeholder engagement with academic research across Higher Education, heritage, and the voluntary sector before joining CHE.

I'm the Manager of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Science and Technology of Fusion Energy and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Power. This is a fantastic collaborative effort connecting six universities – York, Durham, Oxford, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Manchester – with over 20 industry partners. It's a broad role that sees me managing everything from ensuring our 100+ students are well-supported and engaged, to overseeing assessments, shaping the CDT's strategic direction, and even handling our website and marketing. I'm also a Co-Investigator on the grant, based out of the University of York.

At CoSTAR Live Lab, we’re building one of the UK’s most ambitious R&D facilities for the creative industries. Forming part of a £75.6m national network of labs, Live Lab is a state-of-the-art space dedicated to advancing live performance technology.

As Programme Manager, I support a wide range of work across the lab, from shaping the physical infrastructure and delivering a high-profile national launch, to managing day-to-day operations and engaging with industry partners. Working closely with an exceptional team, I look after budgets, risks, comms, and stakeholder management, all with the aim of growing and maintaining the long-term global competitiveness of the UK screen and performance sector.

We’re focused on turning research into real-world impact. That means building strong partnerships across the creative industries and making sure our business incubation schemes and research funding programmes offer tangible value to the companies we support.

As Centre Manager, I have a senior leadership role in setting up, developing and ensuring the success of the Centre, supporting the Centre’s directors and deputy directors in all aspects of programme development, management and delivery. I’m responsible for leading and managing complex programmes of work, engaging and negotiating with a variety of people at all levels, across the Centre and beyond.

This includes navigating the systems and processes at both of the Centre’s lead institutions, the University of York and the University of Leeds. I manage development of contracts related to the Centre, working with colleagues in the relevant contracts teams. I’m responsible for financial management of the £10m Centre across both institutions, including setting budgets, forecasting, monitoring expenditure and reporting.

Programme management is a big part of my role, including working with project leads to develop project plans, track progress, and reporting back on this to the ESRC and key stakeholder groups. Having developed the Centre’s governance structures, I am responsible for contributing to various external advisory boards through regular reporting. I have also developed the Centre’s risk register and take a lead on ensuring this is reviewed, and mitigating plans are in place for the risks raised.

I work closely with academic colleagues to develop Centre policies including around data management, financial processes and the development and management of funding calls. This has included, to date, the Centre’s ECR Development Grants, and an internal Faculty of Social Sciences funded call for projects to extend and complement the Centre’s work.

I line manage the Centre Co-ordinator, and provide leadership and support across the Centre team at York and Leeds (including a Communications & Engagement Officer and six postdoctoral researchers), as well as acting as a key point of contact for colleagues across the Centre’s 11 other Co-Investigator institutions and 38+ external partners, both in the UK and overseas.

It's a varied and challenging role that is pivotal to the smooth running of the Centre, with the ultimate aim of enabling the successful implementation of our ambitious programme of research, and helping to maximise its impact.

I worked for various private, public and third sector organisations for the first 14 years of my career, then moved into HE as a project officer at the University of Leeds. From there, I moved to the University of Sheffield as school manager of an academic department, before taking up a research management role at the University of Huddersfield, overseeing delivery of a 4-year GCRF funded international gender-based violence project. I moved to my current role at York in 2022.