People
Melina joined the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing in 2022 as a Research Fellow.
She previously worked as a researcher with qualitative expertise in various National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded projects that aimed to improve social care practice and services for marginalised groups - in particular individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the heart of these projects, Melina explored people’s sense of identity and belonging within the community; intergroup contact to form better and more accepting communities and combat isolation has also been central to her work.
Melina obtained her doctorate at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, under the Supervision of Professor Rachel Forrester Jones and Professor Michelle McCarthy. Her thesis explored Tourette’s syndrome, stigmatisation and interventions to combat marginalisation through education, contact and advocacy.
Links to publicly accessible reports; academic publications available on request.
2022
- Experiences and meaning of loneliness beyond age and group identity
- A Call for Caution: “Stop That” Sentiments Threaten Tic Research, Healthcare, and Advocacy
2021
- Stigma and Adults with Tourette’s syndrome: “Never laugh at other people’s disabilities, unless they have Tourette’s - because how can you not?”
- The Impact of Austerity Measures on People with Intellectual Disabilities in England
2020
- The social care needs of adults with Tourette's Syndrome: An exploratory study
- Becoming less eligible? Intellectual disability services in the age of austerity
2019
2018
- Austerity and the lives of people with Learning Disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature
- Labour market insecurity and social exclusion: Qualitative comparative results in nine countries