Director
Profile
I work on the strategic direction of Y Lab and development of new programmes, with a particular focus on research.
Background
I worked as a statistician and epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) for twelve years, working on trials of health innovations in South Africa, Zambia, Peru, India, China, etc. I lived in Johannesburg for seven years and was the deputy director of the LSHTM Centre for Evaluation.
Projects
Everything!
Outside of work
I love the outdoors, so living back home in Wales is awesome! I keep telling myself I am going to get back in to rock climbing. I like gardening… well… watching Gardeners’ World while my wife does the actual gardening… And we have a cat called Frankie (short for Frankenstein).
Centre Manager
Profile
In addition to overseeing the general operation of Y Lab, I work with James on the strategic direction of Y Lab, and support the development of new programmes.
Background
I began my time at Cardiff University as Impact Officer in the School of Social Sciences. I have a PhD in Anthropology (specialising in Archaeology) from the University of Toronto, and have worked on excavations in Israel, Georgia, Jordan, and the UK.
Outside of Work
My hobbies include running, sewing and painting - with varying degrees of success at each! I also love a good power ballad!
Research Associate
Profile
I help public servants plan and do research. I am interested in how we can open up our support to the widest pool of talent and ideas.
Background
I was Research Associate on two BBC Trust-funded Impartiality Reviews at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture. I also completed a secondment at the school studying news coverage of the 2017 General Election. I hold a BSc (Econ) in International Politics and an MA in Political Communication.
Projects
Innovate to Save
Outside of Work
I have a fluffy black cat and enjoy RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Senior Research Fellow
Profile
Senior Research Fellow - InFuSe
Projects
I lead the research team working on the InFuSe programme, which aims to demonstrate how new skills, tools and different ways of thinking can help solve shared regional challenges by taking a collaborative approach. It aims to develop new tools and methods that public servants taking part in the Programme can take on and use to improve future service delivery – creating efficiencies, saving money or improving the impact of service delivery for the people who use and deliver them. My role is develop a research strategy for the programme and deliver a portfolio of research to demonstrate its impact.
Background
I worked in Cardiff University research centres DECIPHer and CASCADE on various projects looking at young people, relationships and domestic abuse. Before joining Cardiff University I was a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Gender at Bath Spa University. I have also worked in research roles in the third sector, including domestic abuse charity Safelives and Shelter Cymru.
Outside of Work
I like all things fitness and training, and also enjoy walking and running (when it's not raining!). My guilty pleasure is Reality TV, usually something like Love Island or Below Deck, or true crime documentaries.
Research Fellow
I am the Research Fellow in supporting, enhancing, and transforming communities at InFuse, working with Local Authority workers on this theme. My core research focus always relates to the positive interventions of communities in their own lives and places, the various ways that this can relate to the state, and the broader (and unfolding) social and political implications of this.
Background
I have been doing my PhD at the School of Geography and Planning since 2017, where I researched the commons, and more specifically the process of commoning. This is a relatively overlooked aspect of governance, and one with a lot of imaginative and hopeful theorisation, but very little grounded empirical work. I carried out my research in community gardens and allotments in Cardiff, which occupy a sort of ambiguous and contradictory space in many ways. My route in to academia was a little unexpected, however. I grew up on a small farm just outside of Cardiff, and I graduated from my undergraduate degree at Swansea University in 2008, exactly at the time of the recession. I then worked lots of varied jobs including in call centres, as a support worker in homeless hostels, but mostly as a gardener, before going back to University to do a Masters in Eco Cities.
Outside of Work
I enjoy all physical types of work, so I spend a lot of time gardening - sometimes for other people, but usually at my allotment in Leckwith. I also play guitar in a band, and enjoy cooking (sometimes the food I've grown).
Profile
I work on the Infuse Project as a research assistant with a particular focus on supporting the procurement lab team to develop new skills while working together to tackle region-wide problems and contributing to research within procurement and supply.
Background
I have a varied background as a mechanical engineer and a procurement professional. My experience includes working in the energy sector and the humanitarian sector in the last decade. My passion is to continue developing standards of practice for procurement management.
Outside of work
I love anything that is attributed to the sea – Food , water , boats, and the colour blue.
Research Fellow
Profile
I hold a British Academy Innovation Fellowship exploring the policy links of creative social prescribing for older people experiencing dementia and social isolation. I also work on the following projects:
- Communicable diseases service mapping for refugee and asylum seeking populations across Wales (Public Health Wales)
- The use of restrictive practices in the care of people living with dementia in hospital (National Institute for Health Research)
- Addressing the Barriers to Inclusive Cycling in Wales (Learned Society of Wales)
I was previously researching the processes of embedding innovation through creativity in health and social care settings as part of the Health Arts Research People (HARP) programme.
I am an associate editor at the Arts & Health journal, co-convenor of the Migration, Ethinicity and Diversity (MEAD) research group and sit on the leadership team of the Wellbeing Research Network of the the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD). I am also a member of the Health and Care Research Wales Equality Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group and the All Wales Deaf Mental Health and Wellbeing working group. In 2021, I was the recipient of the Dementia Friendly Wales Diversity Award by the Alzheimer's Society Wales and the Public Involvement Awards by Health and Care Research Wales. In 2022, I received the Celebrating Excellence Award in Civic Mission by Cardiff University.
I am a qualitative health services researcher with a background in medical anthropology, user-centred design and evaluation. I have experience of co-production in healthcare settings using Experience-Based Co-Design, Appreciative Inquiry, Participatory Action Research and Participatory Rural Appraisal. My past research has contributed to the evaluation and foundational understanding of the integration of lay and experiential knowledge into health service improvement for long-term conditions such as cancer and dementia. I use approaches of medical anthropology such as ethnographic and visual methods to understand patients’ experiences of illness, treatment and survivorship. I use patient and public involvement and engagement to identify culturally-appropriate ways to engage service users in research, service improvement and impact-generating activities. My goal is to contribute to the delivery of speedier inexpensive innovation in health and social care services through engaged research.