She investigates the development of cognitive processes and scholastic skills. In partnership with VSO and onebillion, she is evaluating the Unlocking Talent programme by exploring the use of innovative mobile technology to support the acquisition of basic numeracy and literacy skills. She is leading an international research programme, working with disadvantaged primary school children in Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Brazil, and the UK. Through randomised control trials and cross-cultural research she is providing the critical evidence base on effectiveness required for scale-up and is revealing the underlying brain basis for learning early numeracy and literacy skills.