I am the Janet Owens Parkinson’s UK Senior Research Fellow. I am currently part of the Brain and Movement (BAM) Research Group led by Professor Lynn Rochester at the Translation and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University, and based at the Clinical Ageing Research Unit.
I am a chartered psychologist and my research focus over the last ten years has been in people living with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementias. I have a particular interest in the neuropsychology of Parkinson’s disease and delirium. I have an interest in mathematics and statistics, and have an interest in advanced statistics to analyse complex, longitudinal data. I lead several projects currently, including the DELIRIUM-PD study as part of my Senior Research Fellowship, as well as curating the ICICLE-PD database. I am passionate in research that will ultimately improve the care and quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease.
Current and previous studies
• Defining delirium and its impact in Parkinson’s Disease (DELIRIUM-PD), Chief Investigator, funded by Parkinson’s UK.
• Identifying delirium in people with Parkinson’s disease (DETERMINE-PD), Chief Investigator, funded by Parkinson’s UK.
• Using wearable technology to identify activity and sleep patterns in inpatients with delirium and Parkinson’s disease, Chief Investigator, funded by MRC DiMeN DTP.
• Using EEG to understand and identify delirium in inpatients with Parkinson’s disease. Chief Investigator, funded by NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre awarded to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University.
• Predicting cognitive decline using neuropsychiatric symptoms in prodromal Lewy body disease: a multimodal study, Chief Investigator, funded by the Lewy Body Society.
• Incidence of Cognitive Impairment in Cohorts with Longitudinal Evaluation in Parkinson’s Disease (ICICLE-PD), Research Associate. PI: Professor David Burn.
• Structural Retinal Changes: A biomarker for dementia in Parkinson’s disease? Co-investigator. PI: Professor David Burn, funded by Parkinson’s UK.
• Prospective Study of Mood States in Parkinson’s Disease (PROMS-PD), Research Assistant. PI Professor Richard Brown, local PI Professor David Burn, funded by Parkinson’s UK.
Sept 2020 Movement Disorder Society 2020 Junior Award Winner for abstract “Predicting dementia in the first 6 years of Parkinson’s disease in the ICICLE-PD Cohort,” Movement Disorders Society Virtual Congress 2020. Selected from over 1750 abstracts.
Sept 2019 Selected for Guided Poster Tour International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, Nice, France.
Jun 2019 Data Sharing Pioneer Award, Critical Path for Parkinson’s (CPP), CPP Annual Meeting, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Public engagement
May 2021 – present Steering committee and Newcastle University lead, setting up the North East Parkinson’s Research Interest Group.
Dec 2020 Invited speaker at the Parkinson’s UK North East and Cumbria Christmas Catch Up, held virtually.
Nov 2019 Understanding the complications of Parkinson’s and delirium. Invited speaker at the Janet Owens Fellowship Evening, Public event at the Royal Free Hospital, London, 13th November 2019.
June 2019 Soapbox Science Speaker, “Pay attention: the unseen impact in Parkinson’s disease.” Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
May 2019 ICICLE Ten Year Celebration, Organiser and Oral Presentation, Newcastle University, UK.
October 2017 Parkinson’s UK Newcastle Support Group, Oral Presentation “Delirium in Parkinson’s,” Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
