LENEAR Team

Professor Vaso Totsika

LinkedIn: Vaso Totsika | Blue Sky: @vasototsika.bsky.social

Vaso Totsika is a Professor of Neurodevelopmental Research at the Division of Psychiatry, University College London (UCL). Professor Totsika is an expert on applied psychological research in intellectual disability and autism. 

Her current research focuses on: (1) child and family mental health and well-being, (2) access to early intervention; (3) testing interventions to support families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions; (4) school attendance problems in children with neurodevelopmental conditions;  and (5) quality of life in social care settings for people with an intellectual disability. 

Professor Totsika has published over 100 academic papers about research in intellectual disability and autism and has international collaborations with colleagues in Australia, Chile, Canada and the Netherlands. Her projects have a strong element of co-production with experts with lived experience. Vaso is a Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.

Dr Bhathika Perera

 X: @bathika | Bluesky: @bperera.bsky.social

Dr Bhathika Perera is an Associate Professor at University College London, UK and an honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in Intellectual disabilities working in North East London NHS Foundation Trust. His research and clinical interests include mental disorders and ADHD in people with and without intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders. He also leads research in NHS Practitioner Health on mental health problems among doctors and other health and social care staff. 

Professor Angela Hassiotis

X: @likahassiotis | Blue sky: @proflikahass.bsky.social 

Angela Hassiotis is Professor of the Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability at the UCL Division of Psychiatry and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Camden Intellectual Disabilities Service, London, UK. She is Chief Investigator of several projects focused on health services research and intervention development for mental illhealth and behaviours that challenge across the lifespan. She supervises MSc and PhD students on projects relating to autism, stigma, dementia, and population mental health and lectures widely. She is the author of more than 300 publications and has contributed to change in clinical practice via national guideline development. She is also Associate Fellow of Advance HE.

Prof. Hassiotis is the current editor of the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, Director of the IASSIDD Academy in Research Training and Education and member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Faculty of Academic Psychiatry. She has been awarded The Stephen Reiss Award for Excellence in Research (2020) and the Frank Menolascino award for Excellence in the field of Intellectual Disabilities and mental health (2023) by the NADD, USA.

• The Lancet Psychiatry Profile

Dr Maite Ferrin

Dr Maite Ferrin is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Haringey CAMHS and a Clinical Lecturer at the UCL Division of Psychiatry. Since 2007, she has gained extensive research experience in ADHD neurophysiology, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), early-onset psychosis, PTSD and complex PTSD.

Her current clinical and research work focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders — particularly ADHD/ADD and its associated conditions, including ASC. Her main areas of interest are non-pharmacological treatments for ADHD, with a particular emphasis on psychoeducation for families of children and adolescents with ADHD, as well as medication treatment adherence and persistence in ADHD/ADD.

Dr Ferrin is the author of over 50 publications and has served as Vice-President of IACAPAP since July 2018.

Dr Ramya Srinivasan 

Dr Ramya Srinivasan is an Associate Professor/Honorary Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Ramya’s research interests include mental health in children and young people with intellectual disability and/or neurodevelopmental differences such as ADHD and autism. Ramya worked on the IMAGINE-ID study which investigated the emotional and behavioural symptoms associated with developmental delay of genetic cause and is currently involved in the follow-up of the original cohort (IMAGINE-2). Ramya is also interested in childhood irritability and how this may manifest in those with intellectual disability and/or neurodevelopmental differences. 

Clinically, Ramya has previously worked in a child and adolescent neurodevelopmental disorders team and currently works in an ADHD service. She also has experience of being a governor of a special school. 

Dr Bruce Tamilson

Dr Bruce Tamilson is a lecturer in Mental Health at the UCL Division of Psychiatry, where he teaches human neuroscience. He also works as a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at St George’s Hospital in London. Dr Tamilson serves as Deputy Editor for the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ e-Learning Hub. His research focuses on neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and ADHD, particularly in relation to functional neurological disorder and other neuropsychiatric conditions. He studies how neurodevelopmental factors contribute to the development and presentation of these disorders.

PhD Students