Katie has studied at the university of Dundee for her undergraduate, masters and now PhD. Initially her undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry. This was changed, however, to Forensic Anthropology, which allowed her to study anatomy, histology and osteology. 

Katie is currently doing her PhD within the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification and is researching degenerative joint disorders of the spine.

For her undergraduate degree thesis Katie researched the effects of antipsychotic medications on the skeleton and if these could be of assistance in a forensic context. The effects of the drugs proved to be minimal and therefore of limited use in human identification.

Following on with the theme of pathology and alterations to the skeleton Katie undertook a master's by research looking at cranial trauma within a Cypriot population. Her love of research and skeletal pathology has lead her to undertake a PhD, the current topic looking at degenerative joint disorders of the spine. The research is a mixture of palaeopathology and clinical medicine. It aims to bring new medical knowledge into the field of bioarchaeology to try and improve recording methods for spine degeneration, which in turn will potentially allow for greater comparisons between different populations, both past and present.

As part of her PhD Katie is required to assist in teaching with the department. This includes demonstrating for classes in anatomy and forensic anthropology across undergraduate and masters classes. In addition Katie also helps to teach anatomy to medic and dentistry students in years one through three. 

Forensic anthropology, pathology, palaeopathology, bioarchaeology, trauma analysis, anatomy, osteology, clinical medicine, joint degeneration, spondyloarthropathies, osteoarthritis