As an occupational therapist with 25 years clinical experience, Deidre has an indepth understanding of the public health system and the value and importance of clinical research that informs practical patient care. Her clinical and research focus is in palliative care and she has a particular interest in ways to optimise function at the end of life. Her PhD, completed in 2012, focused on the embodied experience of functional decline at the end of life and patient priorities at this time. In 2013 Deidre moved to Adelaide to take up a research fellow position with the Department of Health NBN telehealth project. Following this, she held a balanced position in the Occupational Therapy program for 3 years until her move to Palliative and Supportive Services in May 2017. Deidre topic coordinates the Master of Palliative care research topics, supporting students to conduct clinically relevant research. She is also the Senior Academic Integrity Officer for the College of Nursing and Health Services. 

Deidre's research interests focus factors that optimise function for people with advanced disease and ways to measure meaningful clinical gains in this area. Deidre is an inaugural member of the Flinders University Research Centre in Palliative Care, Death and Dying and the founding chair of Australian Allied Health in Palliative Care (AAHPC). She is also a clinical research member of the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) (UTS). Deidre has research collaborations in the USA and Europe and is a member of the European Association for Palliative Care occupational therapy palliative care taskforce and research collaborative which aims to devleop an international research agenda to evaluate the effectiveness of palliative care OT interventions.