Dr Darren Cook

Overview

Dr Darren Cook is a Research Fellow and Natural Language Processing (NLP) expert at The Violence and Society Centre at City, University of London, having joined in January 2024. He achieved his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Institute for Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, in 2023.

As a computer scientist and psychologist, Dr Cook’s research interests concentrate on harnessing the capabilities of NLP and data science to delve into societal issues, particularly those involving law enforcement and health. Notable publications include "Protecting Children from Online Exploitation" (2023), "Assessing the Feasibility of a Text-Based Conversational Agent for Asthma Support" (2023), and "A Psychology-Driven Computational Analysis of Political Interviews" (2021). His current work aims to understand and mitigate the complexities of domestic violence incidents through the strategic analysis of communication patterns, victim and perpetrator narratives, and police reports. This work is intended to inform policy, improve police response strategies, and ultimately contribute to reducing the incidence and impact of domestic violence. His dedication to ethical AI implementation ensures that his research is innovative, responsible, and aligned with societal values.

Before joining City, Dr Cook worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and software engineer with the Wellbeing Technologies Lab at Imperial College London and as a Research Fellow with the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI). His work involved developing AI chatbots to address challenges in traditional healthcare, including tools designed to improve chronic lung disease and dementia care management.

Dr Cook has also worked as a data scientist with the UK Civil Service in collaboration with the Turing Internship Network (TIN), where he contributed to improving the performance of large language models in zero-shot settings. He has also worked as a research assistant and training facilitator with the University of Liverpool's Critical and Major Incident (CAMI) research group in areas including high-stakes decision-making, police interviewing, and emergency response. Through this work, he has collaborated with colleagues from esteemed organisations such as the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, London Fire Brigade, NHS, Heathrow Airport, and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO).

In addition to a PhD, he holds two distinction-level master’s degrees, one in risk and uncertainty (2017) and another in investigative and forensic psychology (2016), both from the University of Liverpool. He also has a first-class bachelor’s degree in psychology (2015).

Qualifications

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Computer Science (EEECS), University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, September 2017 - January 2023
• MRes in Decision-Making Under Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, October 2016 - September 2017
• MSc in Investigative and Forensic Psychology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2015 - October 2016
• BSc (hons) in Psychology, The Open University, United Kingdom, September 2010 - July 2015

Employment

• Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, January 2024 - present
• Research Associate, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, August 2022 - January 2024
• Research Fellow, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, United Kingdom, August 2022 - January 2024
• Research Assistant, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, October 2017 - April 2018

2^ndsupervisor

• Mattie Jones, Research Student

Publications by category