The title of her thesis (2001) was: Memento mori portraiture: painting, Protestant culture and the patronage of middle elites in England and Wales, 1540 - 1630.
[4][5] She was appointed Chief Curator at the NPG in 2011 and was elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in June of that year.
In this role she will deliver the Trust’s curatorial strategy, including research, engagement, and care for collections and buildings.
[2][9] This exhibition included a miniature portrait of Elizabeth I found in a house clearance in 2012, that Cooper described as "a very high quality image by a 16th-century artist".
[11] She is co-editor of Painting in Britain 1500 - 1630: Production, Influences, and Patronage, an interdisciplinary survey published by the British Academy and Oxford University Press in 2015.