Karen studied Psychology, Applied Statistics and Education at the Universities of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and Cambridge (UK). She was General Manager of SPSS South Africa before migrating to Australia in 2005. From March 2011to July 2017, she worked at the Jean Hailes Research Unit, SPHPM, where she was a Research Fellow involved in several collaborative research projects which focus on social determinants of women's perinatal mental health. From August 2017 - February 2023, she worked at Deakin University's Faculty of Health in a research partnership with Western Health. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University.

Her research interests are:

• Antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety in both women and men
• Fatigue and functional status in the early postpartum period
• Intimate partner relationships during the transition to parenthood
• Health literacy and health service use among new parents