Lauren Gillies-Walker
Teaching Fellow in Health in Social Science
Contact details
- Email: lgillie3@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Background
Dr Lauren Gillies-Walker is a Teaching Fellow in Health in Social Sciences within the department of Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Sciences. Lauren completed a BA (Hons) in Psychology at the University of The West of Scotland, followed by an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at The University of Strathclyde and completed a PhD at The University of The West of Scotland. Her PhD explored the use of technology based on physiological signals to support Autistic emotion regulation. Previously, Lauren was a Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at UWS (2024-2025), a Lecturer in Psychology/Health and Social Care in Further Education (2016-2022) and also worked as an Associate Lecturer in Psychology/Social Science at The University of The West of Scotland (2015-2019, 2021-2022).
Outwith academia Lauren spent several years working within the Health and Social Care sector (2013-2019). Here, Lauren specialised in crisis response, providing bespoke training for staff teams who supported people with disabilities and/or mental health issues/mental illness. This focused on managing behaviours of concern (e.g self-harm, harming others) using communication strategies and verbal de-escalation. She also worked briefly within the NHS within a drug and alcohol unit where she was involved in relapse prevention and health promotion.
Lauren has also previously worked as a research assistant in projects such as: Improving dementia care in prisons, The under-valuation of care home workers during COVID 19 and Investigating F(0) contour shape in infant and foreigner directed speech.
Lauren’s teaching practice is underpinned by both her healthcare and research experience, particularly in relation to how psychological research and theoretical frameworks can be applied within health and social care settings. Her current research is in the area of Neurodiversity/Autism/ADHD/Disability. Lauren also has an interest in promoting inclusion within higher education and is keen to explore new ways this can be achieved within teaching and learning practice.
Research summary
Borda-Niño-Wildman, C., & Gillies-Walker, L. (2025). The Importance of The Sensory Environment in Higher Education. Teaching Matters Blog. (The University of Edinburgh).
Borda-Niño-Wildman, C., & Gillies-Walker, L. (2025). Inclusive Course Structure at The University of Edinburgh. Teaching Matters Blog. (The University of Edinburgh).
Limond, K., Gillies-Walker, L. (2025). Supporting Neurodivergent Students within Higher Education. UWS Learning and Teaching Conference. Conference Presentation.
Gillies-Walker, L., Ramzan, N. (2022). How The Neurodiversity Paradigm Can Transform Digital Health Technologies. The Conversation (Online International Research Network).
Gillies-Walker, L., Ramzan, N., Rankin, J., Nimbley, E., & Gillespie-Smith, K. (2023). “You feel like you kind of walk between the two worlds”: A participatory study exploring how technology can support emotion regulation for autistic people. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(1), 216-228
Gillies-Walker, L. The Care Home Worker: Care, COVID-19 and under-valuation (2020) in Caring in Difficult Times: Personal Testimonies From Those Who Care in Scotland. UWS-Oxfam Partnership: Collaborative Research Reports Series. Editors: Jamie Livingstone and Hartwig Pautz.
Gillies-Walker, L., Gillies-pie Smith, K., Ramzan, N. & Rankin, J. (2021). Towards Developing Real Time Technology for Autistic Emotion Regulation: Detecting Affective States from Physiological Signals. UWS Teaching and Learning Conference.
Gillies-Walker, L., Gillies-pie Smith, K., Ramzan, N. & Rankin, J. (2019). ‘Technology Doesn’t Wake Up In a Bad Mood’: The Use of Technology to Improve Autistic Social and Emotional Communication. International Society for Research on Emotions Conference Poster.
Gillies-Walker, L.M., Gillies-pie Smith, K., Ramzan, N. & Rankin, J. (2018). Interventions Using Technology to Improve Social and Emotional Skills for Children and Adolescents with Autism. Scottish Informatics & Computer Science Alliance (SICSA). Conference Poster.