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My area of expertise spans nutrition, cognition, mood and mental health.

Flavonoid research: My research has explored the effects of flavonoid-rich foods on cognition and mood during key periods of the lifetime. Primarily, I have investigated these effects in children, and secondarily in pre- and postnatal mothers, using a range of experimental psychological and physiological techniques (EEG, metabolomics). My interests lie in the exploration of nutritional support for populations in most need of improvement e.g., in the developing brain and in those at a higher risk of mood disruption, disorder or stress.

Lifestyle research: I also supervise a range of projects falling under the area of general nutrition or ‘lifestyle’ including how yoga might benefit women with premenstrual mood symptoms, how probiotic supplementation may improve mood and the gut microbiome of a sub-clinically depressed population, how introducing nutritional support into a local commercial spa setting might support wellbeing and how can we better capture postpartum sleep experiences. I also have a project examining the link between pain, mood and sleep in an osteoarthritic population and a project embarking on rTMS-nutrition combination therapy.

Student support and wellbeing research: The last vein of my research focuses on the University student population. My key projects ask: 1) How can staff best support students to engage in class discussion and participate in oral assessments? 2) How can we provide low-level wellbeing support via peer-supported physical activity using the University’s SportsPark and Wellbeing Services and Active Wellbeing Champions?