About us

Rowan is a consultant geriatrician and professor of end-of-life care at the University of Nottingham, who undertakes research on problems facing people living with frailty and dementia and associated health policy.

Becca is the Senior Research Fellow and Speech and Language Therapist who has worked on all the VOICE studies. She works clinically with people living with dementia. In her research she uses Conversation Analysis to develop evidence-based training.

Alison is Professor of Language, Medicine and Society at Manchester Metropolitan University. Alongside co-leading the conversation analysis components of all the VOICE studies, she works on a range of projects to improve communication in healthcare settings nationally and internationally.

Suzanne is Professor of Communication and Social Interaction at UCL and co-lead of the Better Conversations Lab. She was co-lead on the conversation analysis components of all the VOICE studies.

Claire is Director of the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University. She co-led the piloting and evaluation of the VOICE2 training in the hospital sites, and brings expertise in dementia training and education to the team.

Lauren is a Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University. Lauren was part of the VOICE2 data collection and Conversation Analysis team. She completed her PhD using conversation analysis to study ‘elderspeak’ in the VOICE data.

Kate has lived experience of supporting both her parents with dementia, including when they were in hospital and residential care. She has been a co-applicant and wise adviser on all the VOICE studies so far.

Izzy is a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield. She was part of the participant recruitment and data collection for the VOICE2 project. She also contributed to the data analysis and identification of the trainables.

Rebecca is a speech and language therapist and works in the NHS, leading allied health professionals working with older people in mental health services. She initiated and worked as a clinical researcher on the original VOICE study.

Sarah is now a retired professor of older person’s care from the University of Nottingham. She is a clinical-academic nurse with expertise in qualitative research. Sarah project managed the first two VOICE studies.

Danai is Postdoctoral Researcher at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. She was part of the data collection and analysis for the piloting and evaluation of the VOICE2 training at the hospital sites.

Andrew is a Research Associate at the University of York. He was part of the participant recruitment and data collection for the VOICE2 project.

Marie is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University. She is a mixed-methods researcher and was part of the qualitative and quantitative analysis for the VOICE2 project.