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Children and Young People’s Mental Health
Nicola AbbottLecturer 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 AndleebPhD student, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Global Mental Health | Wellbeing | Psychosocial |
Rebecca AppletonResearch Assistant, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include |
Sarah AshleyPhD student, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Psychosocial | Mood Disorders Jessie BaldwinSenior research fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include |
Angela BarrettResearch and Communications Officer, Psychoanalysis Unit Other research interests include |
Jessica BoneResearch 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 |
Rochelle BurgessAssociate Professor in Global Health, Institute for Global Health Other research interests include Global Mental Health | Trauma | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial |
Christina CarlisiPostdoctoral 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 |
Wai ChangResearch Assistant, Institute of Health Informatics Other research interests include |
Brian ChingResearch Assistant, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Epidemiology | Physical Health | Psychological Interventions |
Michael CrosslandHonorary Senior Research Associate, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology Other research interests include Visual Impairment |
Neil DaviesProfessor of Medical Statistics, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Cognition | Dementia | Digital Health | Epidemiology | Physical Health | Psychosocial |
Jen DykxhoornSenior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Other research interests include Mood Disorders | Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Substance Abuse |
Katherine EllisAssociate Lecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Cognition | Neurodevelopmental Conditions | Psychosocial | Psychological Interventions |
Guilherme FioriniPhD Candidate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Eirini FlouriProfessor, Institute of Education Other research interests include |
Aikaterini FotopoulouProfessor, 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 |
Anne GaulePhD Student, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include |
Eriko GavinioPhD Student and Clinical Psychologist, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Cognition | Neuroscience | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Wellbeing |
James GilleenSenior Lecturer, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Pharmacology | Psychological Interventions | Neuroscience | Cognition | Wellbeing | Serious Mental Illness Antonia HamiltonProfessor of Social Neuroscience, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include |
Tobias HauserPrinciple Research Fellow, Queen Square Institute of Neurology Other research interests include Cognition | Digital Health | Neuroscience | Pharmacology |
Dan HayesSenior Research Fellow, Anna Freud Centre Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial |
Spencer HayesAssociate 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 |
Samuel HewittPhD Student, Queen Square Institute of Neurology Other research interests include |
Vivian HillProgramme 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 HoganLecturer 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 Karishma JivrajLecturer, Institute of Education Other research interests include |
Sonia JohnsonProfessor 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) |
Aaron KandolaPhD Candidate, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Physical Health | Wellbeing Emma Jayne KilfordPostdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Cognition | Mood Disorders | Global Mental Health | Digital Health |
Rebecca LaceyLecturer 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 |
Alvina LaiAssociate 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 |
Glyn LewisProfessor 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 |
Alex LloydResearch Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include |
Mekeda X LoganResearch Assistant, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Mood Disorders | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Global Mental Health |
Virginia LumsdenAssociate 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 MacAskillSir 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) MakResearch 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 MartinLecturer 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 |
Tayla McCloudPhD Student, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include |
Ronan McCoyStudent Advisor - Student Support and Wellbeing Other research interests include Cognition | Substance abuse | Trauma | Identity development |
Eamon McCroryProfessor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Trauma | Neuroscience | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions | |
Alison Ruth McKinlayResearch Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Global Mental Health | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial |
Andrew McWilliamsClinical Research Fellow and Specialist Registrar in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Queen Square Institute of Neurology Other research interests include Cognition | Epidemiology | Neuroscience | Liason Psychiatry |
Kate MerrittResearch 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 |
Nick MidgleyProfessor 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 |
Emily MidouhasAssociate 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 |
Tom MilsonPhD Student, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society Other research interests include |
Marie MuellerResearch Fellow in Psychiatric Epidemiology, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include |
Paula OliveiraHonorary Researcher, Anna Freud Centre Other research interests include |
Bonamy OliverAssociate 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 PapachristouLecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology and Human Development Other research interests include Mood Disorders | Serious Mental Illness | Pharmacology | Cognition |
Praveetha PatalayAssociate 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 Disorders | Wellbeing |
Elise PaulSenior Research Fellow in Epidemiology/Statistics, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Other research interests include |
Georgia PavlopoulouLecturer, 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) PearceResearch Fellow, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Loneliness |
Kirrily PellsAssociate 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 PezzoliLecturer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include |
Liam PikettResearch Assistant, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Dementia | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Cognition |
Alexandra PitmanClinical 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:
Other research interests include Epidemiology | Suicide and Self-harm | Mood Disorders | Psychological Interventions Claire PowellSenior Research Fellow, GOS Institute of Child Health Other research interests include |
Anna RoachPhD Student, GOS Institute of Child Health Other research interests include Health and Social Care | Physical Health | Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing |
Jonathan RoiserProfessor 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 Disorders | Neuroscience | Pharmacology | Physical Health | Psychological Interventions |
Roz ShafranProfessor 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 |
Karin ShmueliAssociate 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 |
Juliet SingerChild and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Global Mental Health | Neuroscience | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Wellbeing |
Francesca SolmiSenior 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 SomervilleLecturer 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 |
Ramya SrinivasanWellcome 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 |
Thomas SteareUCL Wellcome PhD Student in Mental Health Science, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Other research interests include Psychosocial | Serious Mental Illness | Epidemiology | Mental Health Services |
Argyris StringarisProfessor 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 |
Simon ToPolicy, Governance and Insight Manager, Students' Union UCL Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Wellbeing | Students |
Vaso TotsikaAssociate 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 TruscottPhD Student, Anna Freud Centre |
Essi VidingProfessor 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 |
Susan WalkerNIHR Doctoral Fellow/Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Division of Psychiatry Other research interests include Healthcare Inequalities | Legal/ Ethical issues |
Katey WarranResearch 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 WestlakePhD student, Anna Freud Centre Other research interests include: |
Sarah J WhiteSenior Research Fellow and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Other research interests include Cognition | Neuroscience | Developmental Disorders (Autism) |
Marco WittmannIndependent Senior Research Fellow, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include |
Kaja WiduchData Manager, Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology Other research interests include Psychological Interventions | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Serious Mental Illness | Wellbeing | Psychiatric Research |
Jeanne WolstencroftResearch 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 WongAssistant 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 ZanattaAssociate Lecturer (Mental Health), Institute of Epidemiology & Health Other research interests include Health and Social Care | Psychosocial | Wellbeing
Zhongyao ZhangPhD student, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences Other research interests include Global Mental Health | Health and Social Care |Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Wellbeing |