As head of the Translational Neuropsychology Group, I lead a programme of work on cognitive impairments in stroke and dementia, including investigating differential long-term outcomes and developing clinically applicable cognitive screening tools, such as the Oxford Cognitive Screen. I am Chief Investigator of three NIHR UK Clinical Research Network portfolio studies, and lead the Cognitive Screening programme at the John Radcliffe Hospital Acute Stroke Unit. My primary research interests are in cognitive neuropsychology, including the impact and nature of cognitive impairments post stroke, with a particular affinity for attentional and executive processes. I am now also investigating more severe cognitive impairments in advanced dementia and how neuropsychological profiles can link to assessments of mental capacity.
In my group we cover research along the translational axis, from fundamental studies into the mechanisms underlying visuo-spatial neglect over lesion-function mapping studies using large cohort clinical scans to fully applied studies on developing clinical tools for cognitive screening and assessment.
My first degrees were in cognitive neurosciences at KULeuven (Belgium), followed by a PhD at the University of Birmingham (2010) and postdoctoral positions at Birmingham and then Oxford. Subsequently, I received the Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Stroke Association lectureship, and started this group in 2015. I was recently awarded the Stroke Association’s Priority Programme Award (2019).
In addition to my research role, I coordinate undergraduate admissions for the EP and PPL course across the 20 admitting colleges in Oxford, lead our widening access programme and undergraduate outreach and tutor as a lecturer for St Anne’s College. I supervise both undergraduate and postgraduate research projects, including on the Clinical Doctorate training programme.