Hilary Davis is a Senior Research Fellow in the Swinburne Social Innovation Institute, Swinburne University and in the  Living with Disability Research Centre (LIDS), La Trobe University . She conducts research in complex and sensitive settings. Her  current  research focuses on digital participation for diverse and marginalised communities; including people with intellectual disabilities, housebound people and those disadvantaged due to place.

She conducts research in complex and sensitive settings, including large hospital environments and smaller intimate locations such as within the family home.

Hilary completed her Ph.D. through Sheffield University in the UK (2002). Her Ph.D. entitled ‘The Social Management of Computing Artefacts in nursing work: An Ethnographic Account’ applied ethnographic techniques (in-depth interviews and video-recorded observations) to investigate how nurses and other health professionals work with and manage information technology in their everyday working practices.

Since then, Hilary has worked on a variety of projects in the fields of human-computer interaction. Her research is concerned with understanding the role technologies play in people’s work, social activities and home lives. In particular her recent work has focused on the design and use of technologies to support vulnerable populations and communities including socially isolated older adults, families, people living with chronic and serious illness and housebound people.