Dr Brenda Poku is an early career researcher at the University of Nottingham, School of Sociology and Social Policy, UK. She currently holds a postdoctoral research fellowship from the Economic and Social Research Council-UK (ESRC). Her fellowship is focused on consolidating her PhD work on sickle cell disease-related fatigue in adolescence, exploring how fatigue experiences and accounts of adolescents with sickle cell disease are gendered.

Dr. Brenda Poku is interested in the transition experiences of children and young people with chronic conditions, encompassing health, developmental, educational, and social transitions. Her main research interests relate to the experiences, self-management, and support needs of children and young people with life-long/life-limiting conditions. Issues examined include lived experiences of children and young people with chronic conditions, self-management and self-care, and transition experiences. In addition to work focused on the experiences of children and young people with chronic conditions, her research interests extend into examining sociological concepts such as belonging, ‘normality’, identity, gender, and culture in the context of childhood chronic conditions.

Brenda has research expertise in qualitative research, art-based research methods, and involving children and young people in research. Aside from expertise in primary research methodology, she has expertise in secondary research methods: systematic and scoping reviews.

She is currently developing a research programme focused on the healthcare and transition experiences of first generation West African migrant children and young people with chronic illness and their families in the UK.