Penny's research centres on her doctoral study exploring how international students with undiagnosed or recently identified specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, and ADHD, experience UK higher education, with the aim of generating evidence-informed recommendations for more inclusive institutional practice.

This builds on her wider research interests in the factors that influence childhood immunisation rates in low- and middle-income countries and effective strategies to promote vaccination, in interventions that empower women in recognition of their vital role in community health, and in the mental health challenges facing adolescents, including teenage pregnancy.

Across all of this work, Penny is committed to the belief that inclusive, empowering interventions can bring about significant, positive transformation within the communities she studies.