Honorary Associate Professor, Climate Education, UCL Dr. Grace Healy is an Honorary Associate Professor at IOE UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, and Education Director (Secondary) at the David Ross Education Trust. She has held various leadership roles with a focus on curriculum and teacher development and initial teacher education (ITE), including Curriculum Director, Director of a Teaching School Hub, Secondary Phase Lead of ITE, and Trust-wide Subject Leader for Geography. Grace is an Associate Fellow of the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education, Associate Editor for The Curriculum Journal and serves on the editorial board of the London Review of Education.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Brown University My research focuses on sleep, social environments, and human cognitive development. In prior work, I studied how social factors predict attention and sleep in infants and children, and how sleep's neural properties support early emotion and memory. My current work examines links between sleep, brain, and learning in typical and atypical development (e.g. ADHD), as well as how perinatal sleep may predict parent mental health and parent-infant dyadic outcomes.
Lecturer in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Kingston University Dr Spanò's research focuses on exploring the relationship between learning, memory, and sleep variability across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on neurodevelopmental and memory conditions. Her research programme also aims to develop targeted interventions that enhance sleep quality, cognitive function, and mental health. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2016. Following her doctoral studies, she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology). In October 2022, she joined Kingston University London as a Lecturer.
Postdoctoral research fellow, University of the Witwatersrand Dr Gwinyai Regis Taruvinga is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). His academic work focuses on water governance, the colonial legacies in Africa, and climate change, with a particular emphasis on Zimbabwe and South Africa. He holds a PhD in political studies from Wits, where his dissertation explored the intersection of water governance and colonial legacies in Zimbabwe. Dr Taruvinga has published extensively on governance, decentralisation, and the political dynamics of Africa, contributing to journals such as Politeia and The Strategic Review for Southern Africa. His academic roles include lecturing on topics such as political studies, governance, and research methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Chair in Events and Cultural Policy, and Director of the Research Centre for Culture, Sport and Events, University of the West of Scotland I am a Professor in Events and Cultural Policy and Director of the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events at the University of the West of Scotland. I established the Research Centre 2018. The Centre is already renowned for its work in sports events, culture and festivals and has secured £2 million in grants and consultancy (ESRC, SSHRC, AHRC, UKRI, HERA etc) over the last four years in collaboration with staff in the centre and a range of international partners. She has been an invited expert to national governments and international agencies, published 10 books and over 75 outputs (articles and chapters) and a number of significant reports and supervised 15 PhD students to successful completion, in areas of culture, events, sport diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. I have acted as cultural advisor to Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Cultural and Legacy Advisory to Paisley's UK City of Culture, 2021 and I'm an independent Advisor to Commonwealth Games Scotland for 2026. I'm a member of the British Council Scotland Advisory Group and a Trustee of the Edinburgh International Cultural Summit. I am currently researching Major Sport Events and Disability Rights as part of an Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant to 2027 and working on a Playbook Guide for Festivals and Events commissioned by Spirit of 2012.
