Laura Elizabeth Cowley

Dr Laura Cowley is a Senior Research Officer and Data Scientist with a background and interest in children’s health, social care, and family justice research. Laura holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Liverpool, and an MSc with distinction in Neuropsychology from Bristol University. She completed her PhD at the Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University, in 2019. Laura went on to work on several child health-related research projects at Cardiff University and also worked at Public Health Wales, where she gained experience in using linked data to deliver insightful research to improve population health and wellbeing among children in Wales.

Laura’s research focuses on the use of administrative data and statistical modelling to answer a wide range of research questions relating to child and family health and social care outcomes in Wales and beyond. She is currently undertaking a Health and Care Research Wales-funded Social Care Fellowship. In addition, Laura is a co-investigator on the COMFT (Child Outcomes for Mothers Facing Trial) study examining outcomes for children of incarcerated mothers using linked Ministry of Justice and social care data, and a co-investigator on the Horizon Europe-funded SERENA project examining pathways through services for children who have experienced maltreatment.

More recently, Laura has branched out into Women's Health Research. Laura has lived experience of endometriosis and has established the EMPOWER Research Culture Network (Endometriosis Management and Promotion of Wellbeing using Evidence-Based Research), with funding from the Learned Society of Wales. She is Principal Investigator on a feasibility study examining the use of contrast therapy for self-management of endometriosis-related symptoms, and is overseeing a project examining the use of data privacy and security in menstrual health tracking apps. Laura is also co-investigator on a study investigating the inflammatory properties of various period products.