My research to date has focused on issues related to diagnosis, contested conditions chronic illness and end of life care in the UK and other high-income societies. With a strong commitment to contemporary social theory, I am interested in how innovative social science might provide both critical insight and influence in aspects of contemporary biomedical practice.

I have become fascinated by the role of fluids, both inside and outside the body: how they relate to health and ideas of transmission, their general absence in medical anthropology and sociology accounts, and the extent to which their constant movement and flow might demand a new way to think about old problems. With this in mind, I am currently working with colleagues at UCLH to re-frame ideas of hygiene and cleanliness.

In parallel, my general interest in practice theory informed a recent ESRC end-of-life project, called Forms of Care, with my colleagues Annelieke Driessen and Dr Erica Borgstrom. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted amongst London palliative care teams, we are interested in whether 'not doing' and 'not saying' constitute a form of 'doing', and the extent to which they are often a silenced and forgotten form of medical care. 

I enjoy having a lively and creative cohort of research degree students who are investigating very different topics, but always finding connections and links across thier diverse proejct. In a related role, I am also LSHTM's Board member of the current ESRC Bloomsbury DTC UBEL Board.