I am a psychologist by background with particular interests in human factors and human interaction with organisational systems and technology. I have a long history of working on applied issues particularly with a health focus and more specifically in areas related to patient safety.
I was awarded my first degree, in Psychology, from the University of Sheffield in 1984, and I went on to gain a MSc in Computer Studies from Sheffield City Polytechnic, and a PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of Sheffield. Following this, I was privileged to work with Donald Broadbent and Dianne Berry at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford before taking up a post to work with Toby Wall, Chris Clegg and Nik Chmiel at the MRC Social and Applied Psychology Unit in Sheffield (now the Institute of Work Psychology).
In 1995 I joined the University of Leeds as a lecturer, and became a Senior Lecturer in 2003. From August 2014 until January 2020, I was Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds.
I joined the University of Bradford in February 2020. My role is to work collaboratively with colleagues in this University and in the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research (CAHR), in the area of Healthcare Quality and Safety. The Wolfson CAHR is a unique collaboration between the Universities of Leeds and Bradford and the Bradford Institute of Health Research.
