Our team
Professor Katherine Brickell
Principal Investigator
Katherine is Professor of Urban Studies in the Department of Geography at King’s College London. Since 2017 she has undertaken research (with Mel Nowicki) on homeless families’ experiences of modular-built temporary accommodation (TA) in London and then Dublin. Her latest research, with the Shared Health Foundation in Greater Manchester, examined the interconnections between debt, family homelessness, and TA in England. Their research report The Debt Trap was launched at the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation in October 2023. Katherine has two decades of research experience examining gendered dynamics and inequalities of domestic life, and has long-standing expertise of working in partnership with local and international organisations to enhance the real-world impact of her collaborative research.
Katherine leads the Sensory Lives project and is responsible for building dialogue and action on the findings of the project through the playhouse tent and broader policy engagement to enact positive change for families.
Dr Rosalie Warnock
Co-Investigator
Rosalie is a Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at King’s College London. She is a critical social and economic geographer with 8 years’ research experience on everyday neurodiverse family lives, care, austerity welfare reform, and inequality in the UK. Her PhD research (QMUL, awarded 2022) examined how parents and carers of autistic children navigate and access SEND and social security support services in London. You can find out more here. She has worked in a research capacity with marginalised parents and carers across the UK (London, Yorkshire, and online), and as a youth support worker with young autistic people in Oxford. Rosalie is passionate about research methods and ethics and sits on the High-Risk Ethics Committee for the KCL Faculty of Social Sciences and Public Policy.
Rosalie’s role on the Sensory Lives project is to develop ways of working inclusively with neurodivergent children and their families and to translate these lived experiences into calls for participant-led policy change.
Miranda Keast
Consultant
Miranda is an independent consultant who combines an extensive background working in leadership roles in the homelessness sector with strong research experience. She is currently undertaking a professional doctorate in social policy at Cardiff University exploring how homeless migrants experience the making of home in the UK. In the last four years she has led and developed research and network coordination projects for organisations such as Shelter, Crisis, the Museum of Homelessness and Housing Justice. Prior to working independently, she held a range of senior management and governance roles in charities providing direct support to people affected by trauma, homelessness, migration, mental health issues, and disabilities. She has completed training as a trauma-informed coach and in transformative safeguarding methodologies. Miranda is supporting Katherine and Rosalie on the Call for Evidence.
Jan Thorne
Consultant
Jan is an Occupational Therapist (OT) with 25 years’ experience working with learning disabled and autistic adults in community settings. She is a specialist in sensory integration. Jan’s role on the project is to advise on sensory methodologies and to offer OT insight on project findings and recommendations.
Nazifa Sumiya
Research Assistant – Spatial Data Analysis
Nazifa is a final-year BSc Geography and Environmental Science student at KCL. She is particularly interested in reconciliation ecology and urban ecology for health and wellbeing. Her dissertation examined the effectiveness of Lambeth Council's “Bee Roads” project for urban pollinator conservation and ecological network creation by using a mixture of field surveys, ecological identification, and spatial data analysis. Outside of academia, Nazifa is involved in volunteering and activism at various scales - from local charity work in Tower Hamlets, to participating in panels with the Greater London Authority, to attending COP26.
Nazifa is responsible for spatially analysing temporary accommodation data, and for researching potential locations and community partners for the Sensory Lives playhouse tent tour of the UK.
Shared Health Foundation
Project Partner
Shared Health Foundation (SHF) is a clinically-led and evidence-based non-profit, passionate about reducing the impact poverty has on health. SHF primarily support homeless families in Greater Manchester. They also campaign for policy change and are Co-secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation (HTA). With the APPG HTA, they are currently leading the SAFE Campaign to place a statutory obligation on local councils to notify a child’s school and GP when a family becomes.
Advisory board members
Agata Ostaszewska, Neurodiversity Participation and Impact Lead, Autistica.
Professor Anna Tarrant, Professor of Sociology, University of Lincoln.
Dr Emily Barker, Research and Learning Officer, 4in10.
Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, Professor of Integrated Community Child Health, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.
Rhiannon Hawkins, PhD Student, School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow.
Stephen Kingdom, Campaign Manager, Disabled Children’s Partnership.
Sam Pratt, Policy and Communications Lead, Shared Health Foundation.