Katy is a Professor of Criminology at the University of South Wales, since July 2013. Previously, Katy worked as a data analyst in the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge after completing her PhD there in 2000. In 2002, Katy moved to Wales to take up a Research Fellowship at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) and in 2008 she became a Reader in Criminology and a permanent member of the Criminology team. During the course of her academic career, Katy’s research has focused on substance use. She has conducted studies that have investigated a wide range of substance-related issues including: drug use among arrestees, the causal connection between drug use and crime among prisoners, the effectiveness of drug treatment, the use of Take-Home Naloxone among people who use opiates, the implementation of the Welsh Substance Misuse Strategy, the characteristics of opiate overdose events, substance use and misuse among university students, and the misuse and diversion of over-the-counter and prescription medication.
More recently, Katy has been involved in research investigating the impact of minimum pricing for alcohol in Wales. She has also worked closely with substance misuse services across Wales on a collaborative project investigating what lessons can be learned from lockdown moving forward into a post-COVID world. The philosophy of harm reduction underpins Katy’s research and she is a member of the Welsh Government's National Implementation Board for Drug Poisoning Prevention and Executive Board member of the Dyfodol, IRIS, Gwent and Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Service consortium of substance misuse treatment providers. In September 2022, she was appointed as Chair of the Kaleidoscope Sub-group for Research, Development and Innovation and helped them to develop a Foundation for Research, Development and Innovation.