Gary is a registered nurse and reader at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast. Gary has published a book, written more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in healthcare journals and presented at a range of international conferences. In his role as reader, he is responsible for teaching undergraduate/postgraduate nurses and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He holds the title of Queen’s Nurse and was awarded an MBE for services to nursing and dementia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours List.