Grace is a Chartered Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Healthcare and Communities, and co-leads the Abuse, Trauma and Health theme. Grace was awarded a First Class BSc (Hons) in Psychology in 2012, and a MSc (Distinction) in Investigative and Forensic Psychology in 2013 from the University of Liverpool. Funded by the Sir Joseph Rotblat Alumni Scholarship, Grace was awarded her PhD from the University of Liverpool in 2019. Grace's PhD thesis examined the development of the evidence base of interventions for children and young people who have experienced domestic violence and abuse. During her time at University of Liverpool, Grace was involved in a wide range of research projects conducted within community and justice settings, developing a particular interest in abuse and trauma. This included conducting an evaluation of a domestic violence perpetrator programme, analysing serious sexual offences in a cold-case review, and conducting research to inform child sexual exploitation investigations.

Since joining Coventry University in 2018, Grace has been Co-Investigator on the £1.3m NIHR funded MESARCH project, evaluating sexual assault referral centres across England and examining health, wellbeing and service access among child and adult survivors of sexual violence and abuse. Grace worked on the JiCSAV project (Justice in Covid for Sexual Abuse and Violence), funded by the ESRC as part of the UKRI Rapid Response to Covid-19. Grace was also Prinicpal Investigator on West Midlands Sexual Assault and Abuse Mental Health Needs Assessment (funded by the West Midlands OPCC).  She is currently part of Coventry's evaluation team of the Upfront Survivors project aimed at building a visible, peer-led accessible survivor community in partnership with survivor-led theatre Viv Gordon Company and frontline services, as part of increasing the voice and visibility of childhood sexual abuse survivors in cultural, political and social spaces (funded by the Home Office Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund). 

Grace is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Gender Based Violence, editorial board member of Child Protection and Practice and is a steering group member of the Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network and the Sexual Violence and Health Research Network. Grace currently supervises a number of PhD students, has a breadth of experience teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate psychology and criminology modules and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My research is concerned with trauma, violence and abuse across the lifespan, exploring the impacts on health and justice journeys, and understanding the effectiveness of community and health interventions to support individuals with lived experience of abuse. I am committed to ensuring that the voices of survivors are central to informing research, service development and policy.