I joined the University of Glasgow in September 2024. My work contributes to activities in the Medical Humanities Research Centre, as part of developments around narrative medicine across the College of Arts & Humanities, as well as to teaching and research in the Film & Television Studies programme, in the School of Culture & Creative Arts.

Before joining Glasgow, I was a Senior Lecturer in Film and Media at the University of Kent, where I co-founded and co-directed the Centre for Health and Medical Humanities. I grew up in Belgium and moved to the UK in 2013, to study and work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Kent. In 2017, I completed my PhD in Film Studies on satire, comedy and mental health. I then worked as an Outreach Tutor for The Brilliant Club before starting as a Lecturer at Kent in 2019 (promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022).

My education has been interdisciplinary and this training continues to shape my scholarship. I studied a BA in Literature and Linguistics, a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Western Literature (all KU Leuven in Belgium), followed by an MA by Research in Film Studies (De Montfort University) and an MA in Translation and Interpreting (Erasmus University College Brussels). I also hold a Certificate in Counselling Skills and a Certificate in Counselling Studies from the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB).

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My work seeks to foster fruitful interaction between arts, humanities, and health. I have researched the important contributions of popular media and aesthetic activity to our lives, health and wellbeing – with a specific focus on narrative. I am passionate about collaborating with artists, professionals, researchers and communities from a variety of backgrounds. My research combines theoretical perspectives and empirical approaches, ranging from close analysis of media to philosophical argumentation, alongside interviews, focus groups and ethnographic approaches.

I have a particular interest in playful media, like satire, comedy and games. I have proposed a new definition of satire and have written on issues such as satire and truth, satire and fiction, satire and philosophy, and the limitations of framing satire as a ‘safety valve’. My 2021 book Satire, Comedy and Mental Health argues that satire serves as a resource to sustain good mental health in a troubled socio-political world – and I have further written on irony and entertainment as coping strategies.

With the support of a BA/Leverhulme grant, I have been able to develop empirical approaches to studying comedy and mental health, focussing specifically on the uses of stand-up comedy workshops for eating disorder recovery – working together with an interdisciplinary team, including stand-up comedian Dave Chawner, alongside psychologists and NHS researchers. Our research has demonstrated how stand-up comedy workshops can support people living with eating disorders, and we have also developed a systematic review of comedy interventions for people experiencing mental health problems. We are currently developing a series of short videos and podcasts which use comedy to reframe understanding of eating disorder recovery, as well as preparing a new book on Comedy in Emerald’s Arts for Health series.

I am very interested in commercialisation as a strategy to make research accessible and sustainable. Together with Dr Ambrose Gillick, we have developed MAPL®, an innovative kit of clips and connectors, alongside workshop principles, to “make play” and stimulate creative thinking. Since 2021, we have delivered 25+ play workshops in communities, schools, companies and organizations – engaging 200+ individual users. Our workshops transform everyday environments to inspire playful creativity. By making play, we make new connections, work together differently and tackle problems in innovative ways. We are currently developing a commercialisation model to offer bespoke services to companies, organizations or individuals, from teambuilding and ideation to project development and problem resolution.

My research also seeks to find ways to foster connections between the arts & humanities and healthcare & medicine. Together with Prof Ian Sabroe, I have been co-hosting the webinar-podcast series, Conversations about Arts, Humanities and Health. Across 20+ episodes, we have hosted leading researchers who work at this fascinating but sometimes challenging interdisciplinary interface – and have promoted spontaneous conversation as a mode of scholarship. I have also co-produced the mini-podcast series Autistic Conversations – with Elena Dikomitis.

At Glasgow, I’m contributing to cross-College developments in the field of narrative medicine. Current areas of focus include the issue of systemic pressures in healthcare and the concept of humanities as helping work.

Prior publications

2023-2024. “INTERACT: Imagining Mental Healthcare.” (Co-I, AHRC NHS 75 Public Engagement Call, £38,600)

2023-2024. “MAPL: Commercialising Products and Services.” (Co-lead, Kent AHRC Impact Accelerator Award, £30,033)

2023-2024. “Stand-up for Eating Disorders: Online Recovery Resources.” (Lead, Kent AHRC Impact Accelerator Award, £14,862)

2023-2024. “Ongoing Conversations.” (Co-Lead, Kent AHRC Impact Accelerator Award, £10,001)                                                    

2023-2024. “Autistic Counterstories.” (Lead, consultancy commissioned by Autism Ethics Network, £10,878)

2023-2024. “Cross-Channel Health Humanities Network.” (Lead, 3i University Network, €9,950)

2022-2023. “PlaySpace: Community workshops.” (Co-lead, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation/ Northfleet Big Local, £4,542)

2021-2022. “Failspace.” (Co-lead, Arts Council/ Creative Estuary “Our Wellbeing”, £5,995)

2021-2022. “Stand-up as Recovery: Comedy Workshops for Eating Disorders.” (PI, BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, £9,731)

2019. “Art, Aesthetics and the Medical and Health Humanities.” (Lead, British Society of Aesthetics Small Grant, £4995)

I welcome applications from prospective PhD students in areas connected to my research interests. I also supervise UG and PG-T dissertation projects.

I have supervised, or am currently supervising, PhD projects in the areas of: memes and online culture; satire and liberalism; animation and psychotherapy; and online health communication.

Across the years, I have taught on a variety of topics in film, TV and media, including animation, extreme cinema, film history, film research methods, film style, film theory, games, media ethics, and television series.

In Autumn 2024, I am teaching Film Analysis and contributing to the Intercalated BSc in Medical Humanities. In Spring 2024, I am convening Screening Disability.