Meet the Team

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.

My goals are for them to be efficient researchers, making best use of their time and resources; to become comfortable and effective when working in single and across multi disciplines; able to confidently present their research to a broad audience, and express concepts and ideas succinctly and clearly. I hope that they can choose, prepare for and deliver the career of their choice working within and meeting their potential.

Being passionate about research and recognising the potential of undergraduate research to the lives of our UG students led me to setting up the wrap project, a two year Students as Research Partners with a team of five student researchers. The wrap project has investigated into, that by bridging undergraduate research (UR) and widening participation (WP), UR can function as a tool for breaking barriers and creating opportunities for the academic engagement of underrepresented students.

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

Kate Mahoney

Katy’s Higher Education career began in 2003 whilst completing her PhD at Coventry University. Since then, she has managed a regional career development programme supporting academics; developed Times Higher Award-nominated professional development for part-time researchers; collaborated with the government departments to roll out nationwide training initiatives for academics and even worked with an Antarctic explorer creating online training for high achieving teenagers. Her career activities follow the common theme of personal and professional development, whether developing the teams she manages; the colleagues she mentors; or the clients she coaches. Katy now blends the various skills she honed over almost two decades in Higher Education to empower others to take action and move forward on their goals.

www.researchercoaching.com
@researchercoach

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 Warwick 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 Warwick 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 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’s published work is on Walter Scott. One of her articles, ‘Introducing Walter Scott,’ 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 “ah-ha” moment. She focuses on helping people develop their skills and hopes that her workshops will serve as a springboard for others’ development.

I am a PhD Candidate in the Sociology department at the University of Warwick. 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 Warwick.

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 currently a PhD student at Politics and International Studies (PAIS) Warwick. Her research is focused on visual identity in non-western security contexts after 9/11.

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 British Film Institute.