Our Team

I am the Foundation’s Honorary Medical and Research Director. I oversee the Foundation’s research and write expert psychiatric reports in the context of our clients’ asylum claims. I am the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead on Refugee and Asylum Mental Health. I am an honorary Professor in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London, where I was a full professor for many years. I was a member of the Committee that recently updated NICE guidelines on PTSD. I have published over 250 peer-reviewed papers and written/edited 16 books. In 2019 I was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Honorary Fellowship, the College’s highest honour.

I love hearing about the complexity and individuality of our clients’ lives and working with colleagues to ensure that their stories are heard and that their need for protection is properly considered.

I am Director of Policy for the Helen Bamber Foundation group and I joined in April 2021.

I started my career at Freedom from Torture, which is when I first encountered Helen Bamber, and I have worked to promote and protect the rights of refugees and migrants ever since. I was Assistant Director at Women for Refugee Women and for over a decade I ran the Migrant Children’s Project at Coram Children’s Legal Centre, which supports young refugees and migrants through the provision of legal advice and representation, guidance, training and policy advocacy. I co-chair the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, a coalition of over 100 NGOs, and was previously a Trustee of Shelter and Chair of Project 17, an organisation striving to end the forced destitution of families with No Recourse to Public Funds.

I am passionate about social justice and about influencing policy makers to create systems that are fair, uphold human rights and provide protection and support to all those who need it. I feel very privileged to be working alongside such committed and expert human rights advocates and to be able to help HBF have a positive impact on the lives of all survivors.

I joined Helen Bamber Foundation Group in November 2024, and I remain inspired every day by our passionate and expert staff teams and their commitment to helping survivors. I’m committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for every staff member, bringing over 10 years’ experience of leading HR teams in both the private sector and charity sector, most recently in the social mobility sector. I am driven by a personal passion to ensure that those whose voices are often ignored by society, are heard and valued. To this end, my work at Helen Bamber Foundation Group is to ensure that our values, which underpin our work with survivors, shape every aspect of our people processes.

I am a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Therapy. I started my research career in Australia working with young people living with psychosis. I became a psychologist, working first with refugees and asylum seekers and then at a cancer hospital. In the United Kingdom I investigated state crime in Turkey and then worked at Amnesty International as a researcher campaigning to end gender-based violence. During this time I completed my doctoral studies on factfinding in cases of torture. I also worked for the NHS with people living with complex trauma. I joined the Helen Bamber Foundation in May 2018.

Being part of the Helen Bamber Foundation is all about people. It is about creating community, no matter how far from home you are I stopped working as a psychologist for a while to become a researcher and campaigner as I wanted to prevent the atrocities people tell me about on their recovery journey. I’ve returned to being a therapist now because I’m passionate about standing beside people who are facing their struggles. They will change the world and their words are important.

I joined the Helen Bamber Foundation as Head of Fundraising and Communications in March 2021, and I am delighted to be a part of an organisation that delivers fantastic impact and is rooted in such inspiring values. I got my first introduction to the charity sector working for an American organisation supporting sustainable development in Haiti, and I then continued my education with an MSc in Development Studies at the LSE. After working in the disability sector, I progressed my career in the international development space by working at Christian Aid, and then became Philanthropy Manager at the International Rescue Committee, a global charity that supports refugees and displaced people in over 40 countries. As Head of Fundraising at the Helen Bamber Foundation, I work closely with our valuable supporters, making sure they get to share our journey of giving Survivors the strength to fly and rebuild their lives.

I graduated as a doctor from UCH, London and, after a few years working in emergency medicine in London and Singapore, I went on to work for two decades as a GP in inner-city London. Ten years ago a patient introduced me to HBF and I was quickly drawn into volunteering for the foundation. Eventually I set up the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Service which provides medical assessments, advice, and the co-ordination of external healthcare for clients. I also write medico-legal reports documenting the physical and psychological effects of ill-treatment. One of my passions is to disseminate the information I’ve gleaned from working with such inspirational survivors and so have taught widely on refugee health, human trafficking issues, trauma informed care and the documentation of torture and trafficking.

The most valuable thing I have learnt at HBF is the art of listening. As a doctor, I think I had always felt that I needed to “fix” things – a referral, a prescription or just advice. Observing Helen Bamber work taught me that listening or “bearing witness” is probably one of the most powerful things that you can do for someone. This has revolutionised my working and my personal life.