I am a PhD candidate whose research focuses on the law and philosophy of mental health. I am particularly interested in what sort of philosophical assumptions about mind, personhood and the self underpin UK mental health laws and whether these laws could be re-framed to better protect the welfare and dignity of mental health patients. As part of this, my work aims to develop a phenomenological understanding of autonomy and authenticity within mental illness. I am funded by a University of Bristol PhD Studentship and am supervised by Professor John Coggon and Professor Judy Laing, having come to Bristol after completing an LLM in Medical Law and a BA in French, Russian and Law at the University of Cambridge.