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Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Affiliates of the Institute of Mental Health with expertise in Children and Young People’s Mental Health.

Nicola Abbott

Lecturer in Social Psychology, Department of Psychology and Human Development, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

I am a Social and Developmental Psychologist with expertise in bystander intervention in the context of school bullying. I am particularly interested in bullying that is biased-based (e.g. based on gender, race and ethnicity, country of origin, sexuality and disability etc.) and anti-bullying interventions. For example, I am interested in what makes someone feel confident enough to intervene when they witness bullying, especially when the bullying is directed at someone who belongs to a different social group (e.g. they are from a different ethnic background). 

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Ethnic minorities

Humma Andleeb

PhD student, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Global Mental Health | Wellbeing | Psychosocial

Rebecca Appleton

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing 

Sarah Ashley

PhD student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Psychosocial | Mood Disorders


Jessie Baldwin

Senior research fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Psychosocial | Trauma | Epidemiology | Mood Disorders


Phoebe Barnett    

Research Fellow

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions 

Angela Barrett

Research and Communications Officer, Psychoanalysis Unit

Other research interests include

Psychosocial | Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing

Jessica Bone

Research Fellow in Epidemiology and Statistics, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Jess has taught on various programmes in UCL Division of Psychiatry and Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, including the Clinical Mental Health Sciences MSc, Mental Health Sciences Research MSc and Dementia: Causes, Treatments and Research MSc. She has contributed to modules including Statistics for Mental Health Research, Core Principles of Mental Health Research, Current Research in Children's and Young People's Mental Health, and Current Research in Depression and Anxiety.

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Psychosocial

Rochelle Burgess

Associate Professor in Global Health, Institute for Global Health

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Trauma | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial 

Christina Carlisi

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

I am a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Wellcome research fellow in the Developmental Risk and Resilience Unit at University College London. Through my fellowship, I am also affiliated with the Laboratory of NeuroGenetics at Duke University. My current research uses computational methods (e.g. computational modelling, psychophysics) to examine affective processing. I am interested in how individual differences in diverse factors such as early life experiences and neurobiological mechanisms give rise to (or protect us from) the development of mental health problems and am particularly interested in developing more sensitive measures of individual differences to study how behavioural traits such as anxiety and conduct problems develop across childhood and adolescence.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Cognition | Mood Disorders

Wai Chang

Research Assistant, Institute of Health Informatics

Other research interests include

Epidemiology

Brian Ching

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Physical HealthPsychological Interventions

Michael Crossland

Senior Research Fellow, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology

I am principal investigator on the STOMP project (Supporting Teenagers to Overcome Macular Problems), which investigates mental well-being, depression and anxiety in adolescents with vision impairment. This work is supported by the Macular Society. I also supervise a Moorfields Eye Charity PhD student working on interventions to maximise mental health and mental well-being in children and young people with vision impairment.

Other research interests include

Visual Impairment

Neil Davies

Professor of Medical Statistics, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Cognition | Dementia | Digital Health | Epidemiology | Physical Health | Psychosocial

Jen Dykxhoorn

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Substance Abuse

Katherine Ellis  

Associate Lecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Neurodevelopmental Conditions | Psychosocial | Psychological Interventions


Dena Ettehad

Academic Clinical, Fellow in Primary Care and Population Health

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Health and Social Care | Wellbeing | Trauma | Suicide and Self-harm | Serious Mental Illness | Digital Health | Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial

Guilherme Fiorini

PhD Candidate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions


Eirini Flouri

Professor, Institute of Education

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Cognition

Aikaterini Fotopoulou

Professor, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Katerina’s research aims to understand the interface between mental and somatic health and ultimately advance the treatment of related health disorders, including unawareness following stroke, functional motor and eating disorders. Katerina has published around 100 papers (see below for full list) and edited the volume Fotopoulou, A. Conway, M.A. Pfaff, D. From the Couch to the Lab: Trends in Psychodynamic Neuroscience. Oxford University Press, 2012. Her grant’s portfolio totals approximately 4.2 million EUR, including two ERC grants.

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Cognition Physical Health | Serious Mental Illness


Emma Ruby Francis 

PhD Candidate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences       

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Serious Mental Illness | Older Adult Mental Health | Trauma | Wellbeing 

India Francis-Crossley

PhD Research Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Psychosocial | Cognition | Serious Mental Illness

Abigail Freeman

Clinical Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences    

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Suicide and Self-harm | Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions 


Anne Gaule

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Psychosocial | Cognition | Wellbeing

Eriko Gavinio

PhD Student and Clinical Psychologist, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Neuroscience | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

James Gilleen

Senior Lecturer, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Pharmacology | Psychological Interventions | Neuroscience | Cognition Wellbeing Serious Mental Illness


Benedict Greenwood

PhD Student, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience    

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions


Antonia Hamilton

Professor of Social Neuroscience, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Neuroscience Cognition

Tobias Hauser

Principle Research Fellow, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Cognition | Digital Health | Neuroscience Pharmacology

Dan Hayes

Senior Research Fellow, Anna Freud Centre

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial

Spencer Hayes

Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology, Centre for Educational Neuroscience 

I am a researcher interested in sensorimotor learning and control in autistic and non-autistic individuals. I have published mainly in the area of imitation, imitation learning and motor control. I am currently working on projects looking into the contribution of the sensorimotor system in imitation, motor control, gait, exercise, and social interaction in autistic children and adults in the UK and Italy. I am currently working with Prof. Simon Bennett, Dr Joe Causer and Dr Richard Foster (RISES), Prof. Geoff Bird (Oxford), and Prof. Cristina Becchio and Dr Nathan Foster (Italian Institute of Technology).

Other research interests include

Psychosocial | Physical Health

Samuel Hewitt

PhD Student, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Cognition | Mood Disorders | Neuroscience

Vivian Hill

Programme Director Doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Other research interests include

Cognition | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

Ambrose Dominic Hogan

Lecturer in Education, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Psychosocial | Boundary between normal school teaching and clinical practices


Georgie Hudson

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Epidemiology | Trauma | Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions


Maryam Javed 

Research Assistant, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences 

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Health and Social Care | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions | Trauma 


Naomi Jiehua Li-Horder    

Project officer (UCL) & counsellor (BACP registered)

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Physical Health 


Karishma Jivraj

Lecturer, Institute of Education

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Pharmacology

Sonia Johnson

Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry

My main interests are in the clinical and social needs and the treatment outcomes of people with significant mental health problems such as psychosis and bipolar disorder. The areas in which I've worked most have been acute care and early psychosis. I have had a major role in several studies of crisis services, including evaluations of crisis resolution teams and of alternatives to standard inpatient care. My clinical work is as consultant psychiatrist in the Camden and Islington Early Intervention Service for psychosis.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Psychosocial | Applied clinical research (development and testing of interventions)


Phil Jones

Professor of Children’s Rights and Wellbeing, Institute of Education    

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Arts therapies 

Aaron Kandola

PhD Candidate, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Physical Health | Wellbeing


Emma Jayne Kilford

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Mood Disorders | Global Mental Health | Digital Health

Rebecca Lacey

Lecturer in Quantitative Methods and Lifecourse Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

I am a Lecturer in Quantitative Methods and Lifecourse Epidemiology. I am a social epidemiologist who applies a life course approach to understanding the importance of the early family social environment for health across the life course. 

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychosocial | Mood Disorders | Wellbeing

Alvina Lai

Associate Professor, Institute of Health Informatics

I have worked on a wide range of topics, ranging from evolution to health genomics. I am particularly interested in how we can use real-world data to tackle cancer and infectious diseases. I would also like to expand my research to include non-communicable diseases such as metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.  

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Physical Health | Substance Abuse

Glyn Lewis

Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry

I am interested in investigating the causes of psychiatric disorder, particularly depressive illness and psychosis. Causal factors that are potentially preventable could be especially useful but clues to aetiology also can improve our understanding of illness and help to devise treatments. I also carry out randomised controlled trials to evaluate treatments for depression in primary care. I aim to carry out research that has practical implications in improving clinical care of people with psychiatric disorder. I want to identify those advances in our neuroscientific understanding that could lead to practicable benefits for patients.

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Pharmacology | Psychological Interventions


Michele Lim

Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Children and Young People's Mental Health | Digital Health | Psychological Interventions | Eating Disorders  

Alex Lloyd

Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial

Mekeda X Logan

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Global Mental Health

Virginia Lumsden

Associate Clinical Tutor and Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health in Education Settings

Andrew MacAskill

Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Division of Biosciences

We are working to understand how neurons in the brain communicate with each other to allow them to encode emotional behaviours and make decisions. Problems with this communication underlie the vast majority of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases, and so our aim is to find novel ways to combat these diseases by gaining a greater understanding of the processes that they destroy.  

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Neuroscience | Pharmacology | Substance Abuse

Hei Wan (Karen) Mak

Research Fellow in Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Having a background in Sociology, Karen (Hei Wan)'s research interests centre on using nationally representative data/cohort studies to examine the social determinants of health-related behaviours, mental health and mental wellbeing, including early life experiences, family relationships, neighbourhood factors, and arts and cultural community engagement. Her current research focuses on two main themes: (i) exploring the wellbeing benefits of the arts & cultural community engagement at a population level, and (ii) drawing on various theories from sociology, psychology and geography to understand what encourages some people to participate but acts as a barrier for others. 

Other research interests include

Psychosocial | Wellbeing | Arts and Cultural Community Engagement 

Peter Martin

Lecturer in Applied Statistics, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

I work with psychological therapists and academic psychologists to conduct randomized controlled trials of psychological therapies. These studies evaluate new interventions and estimate how effective they are. We also use mixed methods to investigate the therapy process and to find out why and how, not just if, therapies are successful.

I am a member of ChAPTRe, the Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research unit at the Anna Freud Centre and UCL.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology Neuroscience | Psychological Interventions

Tayla McCloud

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Mood Disorders

Ronan McCoy

Student Advisor - Student Support and Wellbeing

Other research interests include

Cognition | Substance abuseTrauma | Identity development

Eamon McCrory     

Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Trauma | Neuroscience | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions 


Rosie McGuire

Post-doctoral research associate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Trauma | Psychological Interventions | Health and Social Care | Cognition 

Alison Ruth McKinlay

Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Global Mental Health | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial

Andrew McWilliams

Clinical Research Fellow and Specialist Registrar in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Other research interests include

Cognition | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Liason Psychiatry

Rakhshi Memon

Research Fellow, Science Technology Engineering and Public Policy

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Suicide and Self-harm | Older Adult Mental Health 

Beichen Meng

Student, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences,

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Suicide and Self-harm | Older Adult Mental Health  | Wellbeing 

Kate Merritt

Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

My research interest is neuroimaging biomarkers of schizophrenia and psychosis. My previous work examined 1H-MRS measures of glutamate in the brain, and their relationship with treatment response in schizophrenia. My current work characterises the neurodevelopmental trajectories of psychotic experiences, and how social risk factors impact brain development to cause psychotic experiences.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Pharmacology | Neuroscience


 

Tom Metherell

PhD student, Centre for Longitudinal Studies    

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Global Mental Health

Nick Midgley

Professor of Psychological Therapies with Children and Young People, Anna Freud Centre

Nick Midgley's primary research interest is in psychological therapies with children and young people, with a particular focus on the use of qualitative methods. He has a strong commitment to examining the child's perspective on mental health and psychotherapy. Prof Midgley has been involved in the adaptation of contemporary psychodynamic treatments, including mentalization-based treatments, for use with children and families

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial

Emily Midouhas

Associate Professor, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

I take a developmental psychopathology approach to understanding: 1) The effects of the social and built environment on the emotional and behavioural problems of children; 2) The mental health of children with special educational needs across childhood and adolescence, particularly children with ADHD and autism; and 3) The role of biological factors in the association between life adversity and mental health across the lifecourse. I examine these topics using advanced quantitative analyses of large-scale longitudinal cohort data. I am also an active member of Child Behaviour and Cognition (CuBiC) lab, http://cubiclab.weebly.com.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychological Interventions | Cognition

Tom Milson

PhD Student, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions

Darío Moreno-Agostino 

Research Fellow in Population Mental Health, Centre for Longitudinal Studies    

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Wellbeing

Marie Mueller

Research Fellow in Psychiatric Epidemiology, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

 Epidemiology | Suicide and Self-harm 


Louise Neil

Lecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences    

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health


Hamish Naismith

Academic Clinical, Fellow in Primary Care and Population Health

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Health and Social Care | Wellbeing  | Trauma | Suicide and Self-harm | Serious Mental Illness | Digital Health | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial

Paula Oliveira

Honorary Researcher, Anna Freud Centre

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Psychosocial | Psychological Interventions

Bonamy Oliver

Associate Professor, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

I am a developmental psychologist and behavioural geneticist, I have diverse research and applied experience, including in large cohort studies as well as working and collaborating with educational psychologists, child psychiatrists and practitioners. My research focuses on children’s socio-emotional development, psychological adjustment and mental health, with specific emphasis on the role of family, school and the connections between them. In particular, I consider genetic and environmental aetiology of individual differences in development and intervention response, as well as methods that facilitate detailed understanding of interpersonal relationships suitable for large-scale studies, to improve reach, scale and diversity in intervention research.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing | Behavioural genetics | Family processes

Steven Papachristou

Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology and Human Development

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Serious Mental Illness | Pharmacology | Cognition

Praveetha Patalay

Associate Professor, Social Research Institute & Population Science and Experimental Medicine

My research interests primarily fall in the area of child development and epidemiology with a focus on mental health through the life course including prevalence, risk factors, consequences, developmental pathways and interventions to promote better mental health. In terms of interventions, my research focuses on community based interventions that are not just about treatment but also focus on prevention of problems, reduction of stigma around mental ill-health and promoting greater wellbeing.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Mood DisordersWellbeing

Elise Paul

Senior Research Fellow in Epidemiology/Statistics, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychosocial | Wellbeing | Self-harm

Georgia Pavlopoulou

Lecturer, Anna Freud Centre

I have developed academic, NHS and third sector collaborations both nationally and internationally.   I am passionate about working with marginalized groups, service users, scholar activists and Trusts to facilitate service transformation and advance mental health practice through better cross agency collaboration, translational research and better service user participation.

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Wellbeing | Older Adult Mental Health

Eiluned (Ellie) Pearce

Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Loneliness

Kirrily Pells

Associate Professor of Childhood, Division of Psychiatry

My research and teaching are in the field of childhood studies and my work concerns global childhoods and children's rights especially in relation to violence, poverty and intersecting inequalities.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Loneliness

Patrizia Pezzoli

Lecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Cognition | Trauma


Tua Piehl 

Headquarters Administrator, UK Dementia Research Insitute

Other research interests include

Dementia | Neuroscience | Serious Mental Illness | Trauma  | Psychological Interventions 

Liam Pikett

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Dementia | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Cognition

Alexandra Pitman

Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry 

I am interested in understanding risk factors for suicide attempt and in developing interventions to address them. I am currently working on the following areas:

  • Social and built environment influences on self-harm
  • Suicide attempt risk in vulnerable groups (people bereaved by suicide; people with cancer; LGBT youth; migrants; specific occupational groups; people who identify as lonely)
  • Suicide means restriction

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Suicide and Self-harm | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions


Ruth Plackett

Senior Research fellow, Institute of Epidemiology & Health

Other research interests include

Health and Social Care | Digital Health | Epidemiology


Claire Powell

Senior Research Fellow, GOS Institute of Child Health

Other research interests include

Health and Social Care | Psychosocial | Trauma | Wellbeing


Priya Rajyaguru    

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Other research interests include

Cognition | Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

Antonia Rich

Associate Professor in Medical Education, UCL Medical School    

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing | Psychosocial | Health and Social Care

Anna Roach

PhD Student, GOS Institute of Child Health

Other research interests include

Health and Social Care | Physical Health | Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing

Jonathan Roiser

Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Our aim is to understand the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying symptoms of mental illness, especially those relating to motivation. We utilise experimental techniques drawn from cognitive psychology, functional neuroimaging, psychopharmacology, and computational modelling, both in patient populations and healthy volunteers.

Other research interests include

Cognition | Mood DisordersNeuroscience | Pharmacology Physical Health | Psychological Interventions 


Davin Schmidt     

Research Assistant, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences 

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Trauma | Psychosocial 

Roz Shafran

Professor of Translational Psychology, GOS Institute of Child Health

My clinical research interests include development, evaluation, dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments across the age range. I have particular expertise in obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and perfectionism. My current role is focused on understanding common mental health disorders in the context of chronic illness in children and young people. 

Other research interests include

Physical Health | Psychological Interventions | Dissemination and implementation | Eating disorders | OCD | Perfectionism | Loneliness


Azadeh Shariati

Research fellow in soft robotics    

Other research interests include

Digital Health | Cognition

Karin Shmueli

Associate Professor in MRI, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering

I am interested in developing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques to increase image contrast and resolution by exploiting new contrast mechanisms. The current goal of my research programme is to characterise frequency and susceptibility contrasts and to develop and translate MRI techniques exploiting these mechanisms to improve disease diagnosis and monitoring of therapies. Conventional MRI uses only the signal magnitude, but utilising the frequency (or phase) of the MRI signal has dramatically improved visualisation of tissue structure and can reveal tissue composition. During my previous post at the USA National Institutes of Health, I developed new methods to calculate tissue magnetic susceptibility maps from MRI frequency images. MRI tissue Susceptibility Mapping is an exciting technique and a rapidly growing research area. Together with my research group and collaborators, I now aim to unlock the potential of these MRI frequency and susceptibility methods to generate clinical MRI biomarkers of disease.

Other research interests include

Dementia | Neuroscience | Cognition | Physical Health

Juliet Singer

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Global Mental HealthNeuroscience | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial Wellbeing

Francesca Solmi

Senior Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

My research broadly focuses on studying the risk factors for the development of eating disorders across the life-span. As part of my Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship I am studying whether inflammation - conceptualisd as exposure to prenatal and childhood infections, high genetic risk, autoimmunity - increases a person's risk of developing eating disorders. To do this, I use large general population datasets, including both biological and environmental data, and causal inference methods. I am also interested in studying inequalities in access to services and evaluating the effectiveness of current treatments for eating disorders using electronic medical records.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Eating Disorders

Matt Somerville

Lecturer in Psychology, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Broadly, my research interests are concerned with educational contexts that support children’s social and emotional development. My primary research focus is on emotion regulation and how it relates to mental health and well-being. Other research interests include beliefs about emotion controllability, self-regulation/co-regulation, metacognition, teacher-pupil interactions, peer interactions, the social context of the classroom, and the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on psychological and educational outcomes. 

Other research interests include

Wellbeing

Ramya Srinivasan

Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry

I am a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow and ST6 in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I am interested in adolescent mental health, neurodevelopmental disorders and how childhood mental health is related to adult mental health. My PhD focusses on childhood irritability and adolescent depression. 

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Serious Mental Illness | Psychosocial

Thomas Steare

UCL Wellcome PhD Student in Mental Health Science, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Other research interests include

Psychosocial Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Mental Health Services

Argyris Stringaris

Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry

Professor Stringaris is the Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with the Division of Psychiatry and the Psychology and Language Sciences Department at UCL. He was until recently Senior Investigator and Chief of the Section of Clinical and Computational Psychiatry at NIMH/NIH in the USA and before that a Senior Lecturer and Wellcome Trust Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. He trained at the Maudsley Hospital.

He is a Clinician Scientist working to understand mood and the mechanisms that lead to depression and severe irritability (emotion dysregulation). He is studying how negative mood states arise and are maintained in the brain. He and his team use a broad range of methodologies stretching from computational modelling to clinical observation and randomised controlled trials in pursuit of understanding about mood. His latest work is about mood changes in the absence of events (Passage of Time Dysphoria) and about why humans may seek negative emotional states (i.e. choose not to be happiness maximisers at least for discrete time periods). He is collaborating broadly across the natural sciences (with engineers, physicists and mathematicians) and the humanities (historians and philosophers of emotions). Clinically, he is treating young people with mental illness, particularly those with severe anxiety and depression.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Mood Disorders | Neuroscience Pharmacology

Simon To

Policy, Governance and Insight Manager, Students' Union UCL

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions Wellbeing | Students

Vaso Totsika

Associate Professor in Intellectual Developmental Disability, Division of Psychiatry

My research often tries to describe complex developmental processes by drawing on population-based and/or longitudinal data. I am also interested in understanding how to better support people with intellectual disability, their families and carers through intervention evaluation.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Intellectual Disability and Autism

Alex Truscott

PhD Student, Anna Freud Centre

Essi Viding

Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

I combine cognitive experimental measures, twin model-fitting, brain imaging, and genotyping to study different developmental pathways to persistent antisocial behaviour and mental health problems more generally.

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Cognition | Psychosocial

Susan Walker

NIHR Doctoral Fellow/Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Healthcare Inequalities | Legal/ Ethical issues

Katey Warran

Research Fellow in Social Science (Assets for Resilient Communities in Mental Health [MARCH] Network), Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Katey is an interdisciplinary researcher who draws upon the fields of sociology, psychology, performance science, and philosophy to examine complex arts interventions and how they impact upon mental health and wellbeing. More specifically, she is interested in how group arts engagement can support social cohesion and improve social relationships, exploring this from multiple perspectives. For example, using theories from sociology to understand collective emotions and how they cement social bonds, drawing upon social psychology to explore the benefits of shared group identities, and applying theories from the philosophy of religion to unpack the more tacit, experiential aspects of creativity that unite people through shared ineffable experiences.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Wellbeing | Arts and Mental Health


Meryl Westlake

PhD student, Anna Freud Centre

Other research interests include:

Health and Social Care | Trauma

Sarah J White

Senior Research Fellow and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Other research interests include

Cognition | Neuroscience | Developmental Disorders (Autism)

Marco Wittmann

Independent Senior Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Neuroscience | Cognition | Mood Disorders | Psychosocial

Kaja Widuch

Data Manager, Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Serious Mental Illness | Wellbeing | Psychiatric Research

Jeanne Wolstencroft

Research Fellow, GOS Institute of Child Health

I have two main research interests; one is focused on understanding the impact of co-occurring mental health difficulties in children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders and/or rare genetic disorders. The other is how best to use technology to improve the identification of autism in children, and digital approaches to psycho-social intervention.

Other research interests include

Digital Health | Global Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial 

Keri Wong

Assistant Professor of Psychology, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

My research interests are in the early assessments of childhood mental wellbeing, childhood paranoia/suspiciousness, antisocial and aggressive behaviours, and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (schizotypal personality disorder) across cultures. 

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Physical Health | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

 


 

Francesca Zanatta

Associate Lecturer (Mental Health), Institute of Epidemiology & Health

Other research interests include

 Health and Social Care | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

 


Zhongyao Zhang

PhD student, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Global Mental Health | Health and Social Care |Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Wellbeing


Kristina Zhelcheska 

PhD student, Queen Square Institute of Neurology    

Other research interests include

Dementia | Cognition | Neuroscience | Older Adult Mental Health | Trauma | Mood Disorders