Susan Michie

Susan Michie, BA, MPhil, DPhil, CPsychol, AcSS, FEHPsS, FBPsS studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, obtaining a BA in 1976, and a DPhil in Developmental Psychology in 1982. She studied Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London University, obtaining an MPhil in 1978. She is a chartered clinical and health psychologist, and elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) and the British Psychological Society (BPS). She is Past President of the EHPS and Past Chair of the BPS's Division of Health Psychology. Current editorial responsibilities include Associate Editor of Annals of Behavioral Medicine and of Implementation Science. Committee memberships include NICE's Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee and their Implementation Strategy Group; the cross-Government Scientific Pandemic Influenza Advisory Committee; and the Medical Research Council's Methodology Panel.

Professor Michie worked as a clinical psychologist with children and families at the Royal Free Hospital, London until 1989, when she joined the Royal Free School of Medicine's Health Psychology Unit as a Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Health Psychology, working with Professor Marie Johnston. Her clinical service included organisational consultancy, developing staff training and individual work based in the Occupational Health and Safety Unit. Her research focused on occupational stress in health care staff and students in the areas of antenatal care and screening.

In 1993, Professor Michie moved to King's College London to work in the Wellcome-funded Psychology and Genetics Research Group with Professor Theresa Marteau where she studied the process and outcome of genetic counselling, including the study of non-directive communication, public and professional attitudes towards genetic testing, informed choice and decision making about prenatal screening and genetic testing, and the psychological impact of predictive genetic testing.

In 2002, Professor Michie joined the Psychology Department of University College London (UCL), where she is Professor of Health Psychology, Director of UCL's Health Psychology Research Group, Deputy Director of the BPS's Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness and Co-Director of the NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training. She also leads the Implementation Research Theme for UCL Mental Health. Currently Professor Michie is also Principal Investigator on the Medical Research Council-funded study, 'Strengthening evaluation and implementation by specifying components of behaviour change interventions', also known as the BCT Taxonomy Project.

Professor Michie's research is in health psychology and health services, focusing on the design, delivery, uptake and impact of behaviour change interventions related to health. Her research investigating innovative methods for developing and evaluating behavioural interventions is conducted in two health domains: professional practice (e.g., the implementation of evidence-based guidelines, such as hand-hygiene amongst hospital staff), and risk factors amongst the general population (e.g., smoking, physical activity, preparing for pandemic flu).

Current work:
1. Understanding, developing and evaluating behaviour interventions in terms of their component techniques
a) how to improve the reporting of behavioural interventions in order to facilitate replication and evidence syntheses (and therefore evidence of effectiveness)
b) how to link intervention content with theory to further our understanding of causal mechanisms

2. Applying psychological theory to designing and evaluating interventions to change behaviour in relation to health

3. The processes of implementing evidence based practice (e.g. clinical guidelines, behavioural support for smoking cessation, genetic counselling)

To view Professor Michie's full Curriculum Vitae, click here.

Undergraduate Courses Taught: PSYC2206 (Health)
Postgraduate Courses Taught: Health Psychology MSc, DClinPsy (Health)