Annabel is the Research Communications Officer at the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) and leads the knowledge exchange, communications, and impact initiatives for the Centre’s multidisciplinary research on long-term care, mental health economics, and other areas. Prior to this, Annabel served as a Communications Coordinator across of portfolio of research programmes at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) for two years.
Originally from South Africa, Annabel draws from a range of professional experience including policy engagement, management consulting, grassroots charity work and most recently research communications. She is passionate about making research more accessible and impactful, and her academic interest in urban studies inform her approach to crafting stories about justice. Annabel currently serves as a Board Trustee for YMCA Brighton, a local charity providing supported accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Economics and Geography from the University of Cape Town, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with distinction in Geography and a Master of Arts (by Research) with distinction in Geography from the University of the Witwatersrand. Annabel’s master’s degree involved researching experiences of discrimination against domestic workers in Johannesburg. She has also published a journal article on how youth use e-hailing to navigate the unequal infrastructures of Johannesburg, and conducted research on climate adaptation and community planning during an academic exchange at the University of Amsterdam.
Annabel is dedicated to transferring knowledge and insights from South Africa's unequal and informal settings to address present global challenges and complexities, particularly in the UK. Her focus lies in creating pathways for research to reach diverse audiences, ensuring its accessibility and relevance for policymakers, practitioners, and communities alike. By bridging research to action, she hopes to accelerate the influence of CPEC’s research to tackle pressing challenges facing the care sector, and society’s most vulnerable populations.