Personal Statement
I am a Lecturer in the School of Psychology, where I teach on a range of modules with a particular focus on biological psychology. I am interested in helping students understand the neural and physiological bases of behaviour, and in supporting them to apply this knowledge to both theoretical and applied contexts within psychology.

In addition to teaching, I supervise student research projects and provide academic support to foster independent learning and critical thinking. I am committed to creating inclusive, engaging, and supportive learning environments that encourage students to explore the connections between biological mechanisms, psychological processes, and real-world behaviour.

Research Overview
My research explores the neural and behavioural mechanisms that underlie cannabis use and the progression to cannabis use disorder (CUD) and dependence. I am particularly interested in inhibitory control, cue-reactivity, and value-based decision making in substance use, and how these mechanisms interact to shape behaviour.

My doctoral research employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine cannabis cue-specific inhibitory control, reward processing, and real-world predictors of use. This was the first programme of work to apply fNIRS to cannabis cue-reactivity, with the aim of identifying prefrontal and orbitofrontal regions of interest in users with varying levels of CUD severity. A complementary EMA study extended this work by investgating value-based predictors of cannabis use in daily contexts.

More broadly, my work integrates neurocognitive, behavioural, and neuromodulatory approaches to advance understanding of the psychological and neurobiological processes that drive substance use. Ultimately, this research aims to inform the development of targeted, personalised interventions to reduce craving, strengthen cognitive control, and support behaviour change.