Patricia is the manager of the Scottish Universities Insight, based at the University of Strathclyde.  She is responsible for the organisation of the Institute's funding scheme for programmes of enquiry and for the day to day management of the Institute. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Leiden, Netherlands (2001), where she was a junior researcher and lecturer (1996-2000). In this role, she also held a number of administrative positions  at departmental and faculty level and was a member of the  National Evaluation Committee for Teaching in the Arts and Humanities for the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (Vereniging Samenwerkende Nederlandse Universiteiten). She held a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Virginia, USA (1999). Prior to joining the Insight Institute, Patricia taught English and French literature and culture at the Universities of Leiden, Stirling and St Andrews.

Next to her international background and extensive knowledge of academia, Patricia  has worked in the private sector as an analyst for ZS Associates, a management consultancy firm specialising in sales and marketing consulting for the pharmaceutical industry.