海角社区

Michele Underwood

Researcher Development Manager
SFHEA/WIHEA
m.underwood.2@warwick.ac.uk

My work allows me to create empowering environments where people can challenge, discuss, support, try new viewpoints and methods, mentor and encourage each other, creating new ideas and possibilities.

I have been a trainer and facilitator for nearly 25 years, in academia, industry and sport.

Katy Mahoney

Katy R Mahoney is an executive coach and researcher development specialist with more than 20 years鈥� experience in UK Higher Education. She is the founder and Director of Researcher Coaching Ltd, working with universities, research organisations and researchers across career stages to support leadership, career development, research culture and navigating change.

Katy began her career in researcher development while completing her PhD at Coventry University and went on to lead regional researcher development activity across 22 higher education institutions. Her work has since taken her across the UK and internationally, designing and delivering coaching-led development for doctoral researchers, research staff, academics and those who lead and support them.

She has contributed to major sector initiatives, including the recent refresh of Vitae鈥檚 Researcher Development Framework, and brings together deep knowledge of the research environment with an evidence-informed, strengths-based coaching approach.

At the heart of Katy鈥檚 work is helping people create clarity, recognise the resources and strengths they already have, and turn thinking into purposeful action.

Frane Vusio

Frane Vusio is a psychologist and a trainee CBT psychotherapist (High-Intensity Therapist) with Nottingham Talking Therapies since September 2025. He completed his PhD at the University of 海角社区 Medical School in 2021, focusing on urgent and emergency mental health service provision for children and young people, as well as models for improving these services.

His research and clinical interests include relapse, recovery, post-crisis self-management, early intervention, prevention, compassionate care, and psychological and psychiatric approaches to mental health crises. He also completed low-intensity CBT training at Oxford Health NHS Trust in 2022 and earned an MSc in Applied Psychology for Children and Young People from the University of Edinburgh in 2025.

Since 2018, Frane has supported postgraduate students through teaching and workshops, sharing practical strategies for navigating PhD life, building research skills, and investing in professional development and well-being. He is actively engaged in clinical work and research and is affiliated with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).

Luana Tavano Garcia

Researcher Developer

Luana was awarded a PhD from 海角社区 at the end of 2019 and finished an IAS Early Career Fellowship in 2020. Her research focused on postcolonial theories, national identity and performance practices from a South American perspective. She has worked as a tutor and guest lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Performance for three years, a teaching experience that has greatly enriched her ability to communicate and connect. Her practical background in theatre supports her workshops on public speaking and presenting research in front of an audience. Within RDO, she brings her experience of working as a creative researcher, proof reader, writer, and translator (Portuguese-English), and centres her attention on running the PhD in a Second Language sessions.

On a personal note, Luana is used to multicultural diversity, as her upbringing was based on multiple cultural influences. This positionality allowed her to develop a transnational, open, and engaged mindset not only with regards to intercultural practices and knowledge production, but also interpersonal connections within different contexts. All this has extended to her research and teaching practices and methodologies. She brings those experiences to the PhD in a Second Language sessions, which can be seen as a space for doctoral candidates to share the challenges of doing research in a foreign language and develop skills and strategies to move beyond their perceived limitations.

Anna Fancett

Anna is passionate about writing; her PhD, which she achieved in 2015, looked at the novels of Walter Scott and Jane Austen, and she has taught literature and academic writing in the UK, Japan, China, and Oman. Outside of academia, she is a traditional storyteller, and she loves working with all age groups and levels.

Most of Anna鈥檚 published work is on Walter Scott. One of her articles, 鈥業ntroducing Walter Scott,鈥� won the Jack Prize for the best article on reception or diaspora in Scottish literatures in 2020. In addition to other articles and chapters on Walter Scott, Anna has published chapters on contemporary storytelling, and pieces for non-academic audiences. She has a book coming out with McFarland Publishing in 2026.

However, it is teaching that first attracted Anna to academia. She loves helping people reach their 鈥渁h-ha鈥� moment. She focuses on helping people develop their skills and hopes that her workshops will serve as a springboard for others鈥� development.

Vicky Panossian

I am a PhD Candidate in the Sociology department at the University of 海角社区. My project looks at the material culture of migration from war and conflict zone, exploring how objects transmit intergenerational trauma, shape oral histories and impact diaspora identity formation.

Alongside my doctoral research, I work as a Visiting Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Wolverhampton and teach undergraduate modules in Sociology and Criminology at the University of 海角社区.

As an early career researcher, I am particularly interested in exploring topics related to research ethics, researcher wellbeing, research design for sensitive subjects, and trauma informed pedagogical approaches. I am involved in RD because of its commitment to collaborative learning, and its capacity to foster constructive conversations about the challenges, responsibilities, and complexities of research practice.

Saadia Gardezi

Saadia is a journalist and political cartoonist from Pakistan and an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies, 海角社区. Her research is focused on visual identity in non-Western political contexts.

She has extensive experience in visual storytelling, writing for the press and social media. She is the Co-Founder of Project Dastaan, a visual media project that reconnects survivors from the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 to their ancestral homes across the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh borders using VR and other new technologies. Her work has premiered at Sundance Film Festival and the British Film Institute.

Hande Cayir

I completed my PhD in Film and Television Studies at 海角社区, where my research explored the (mis)representation of mental health by centring survivors鈥� agency, authorship, and ownership. My interest in identity politics was also central to my earlier work on women鈥檚 surname changes, examined through both a documentary and my monograph, Documentary as Autoethnography: A Case Study Based on the Changing Surnames of Women (Vernon Press, 2020).

Currently, I hold a postdoctoral position. At SOAS, I am part of the AHRC-funded 'Archives of Solidarity' project, organising filmmaking, zine-making, and body-mapping workshops, and working with collaborators across the UK, Europe, and T眉rkiye. In parallel, at 海角社区鈥檚 Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), I am connected to the academic community as an Associate Fellow.

Collegiality is important to me. I serve on the Editorial Board of Disability & Society, hold Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and maintain an active membership with the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), where my research poster received an Honourable Mention in 2024. In the same year, my teaching pedagogy was further recognised with the 海角社区 Award for Teaching Excellence (WATE), and in 2026, the web hub for my arts-based research received the International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry (IAANI) Outstanding Audio/Visual Project Honourable Mention.

RDO started as a welcoming space where I could think through my research with peers. I am now so glad to (co-)design and (co-)facilitate research-led workshops to keep those conversations going with PGR colleagues.