M.E.L Appoints Senior Evaluation Lead

Birmingham, UK-based social research and behaviour change specialist M.E.L Research has appointed Dr. Holly Taylor-Dunn as Senior Evaluation Lead.

Taylor-Dunn (pictured) began her career helping victims as a Domestic Abuse Officer with West Midlands Police, then after two years joined Women's Aid as a Project Manager, managing community-based services for women and children experiencing domestic abuse. Since then she has worked in academia, first as Senior Lecturer and Course Lead for the Master's degree in understanding domestic abuse and sexual violence at the university of Worcester, where she spent seven years; and most recently for two and a half years as a lecturer at The Open University.

While working in these roles she also completed a PhD at the University of Birmingham, employing Realist Evaluation to scrutinise the effects of criminal justice policies on successful domestic abuse prosecutions; and she led a number of research projects, including evaluations for charities and police initiatives aimed at violence reduction. In 2017 she was commissioned by the Home Office to conduct a study on stalking and harassment victims, influencing subsequent policy and practice shifts across England and Wales.

While leading evaluation projects at M•E•L, Taylor-Dunn will continue in her advisory roles with the Open University Human Research Ethics Committee and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services Ethics panel. M.E.L's Head of Evaluation Skye Curtis comments: 'We are thrilled to have Holly on board. Her extensive experience in realist evaluation and her nationally recognised expertise in the domestic abuse and crime and justice spaces bring a unique perspective to our evaluation team'.

Web site: www.melresearch.co.uk .