I joined Sociology at the University of Manchester in October 2006 and took up the position of Director of the Cathy Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research in April 2010.

My interest in Sociology began while I was studying Medicine at St. George's Hospital Medical School in the early 1980s, when I became aware of a range of sociological inquiries into health and the health professions that problematised much that we take for granted - for example, work on the sick role, inequalities in health, occupational closure and professionalisation, and deviance, stigma and institutions. At that time the London Medical Schools offered an intercalated BSc in Medical Sociology, which I took and which hooked me on Sociology. After completing my medical training, I began my post-graduate training in Sociology, first studying on the Royal Holloway and Bedford New College MSc in Sociology of Health and Illness (while working part-time as a hospital doctor) and then a PhD in Sociology at UCL (while working as a researcher/lecturer).