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Physical Health

Affiliates of the Institute of Mental Health with expertise in Physical Health.

Feifei Bu

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Feifei Bu is senior research fellow in statistics/epidemiology, working with Dr Daisy Fancourt on a number of projects. She is the principal investigator of the NHS England funded project looking at patient activation measure and social prescribing, and a co-investigator of the EpiArts project examining the relationship between art & cultural engagement and behavioural & health outcomes using US cohort data. She also works on the COVID-19 Social Study investigating the psychological and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychosocial | Cognition | Older Adult Mental Health

Alexandra Burton

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

I currently lead on the qualitative component of the Shaper-PND implementation trial to explore the experiences of new mothers with postnatal depression who take part in group singing sessions. I am also working on studies that explore the impact of social isolation on health and well-being during the covid-19 pandemic.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Dementia

Christine Carter

Full time PhD student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Dementia | Wellbeing | Global Mental Health | Psychosocial | Cognition

Ping-Jen Chen 

PhD Training Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health | Dementia

Brian Ching

Research Assistant, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

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

Anthony David

Professor of Mental Health, Director, UCL Institute of Mental Health

I graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1980 and trained in neurology before entering psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, London.  I also have a Masters degree in Cognitive Neuropsychology.  I was an honorary consultant at the Maudsley from 1990-2018 and was awarded a personal chair from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London in 1996. I was Vice Dean for Academic Psychiatry at the IoPPN in 2013-8.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental IllnessCognition | Epidemiology | Neuoscience

Neil Davies 

Professor of Medical Statistics, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition | Dementia | Digital Health | Epidemiology | Psychosocial

Zsofia Demjen

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

I work at the intersections of language, mind and health(care), exploring (experiences of) mental/physical illness, healthcare, and medical research through linguistic analysis. My approach is data-driven and discourse analytic, focusing on any aspect of language that stands out in a given context. I've worked specifically on metaphor, im/politeness, personal pronouns, negation, narratives and humour.

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Serious Mental Illness | Language

Saoirse Finn

PhD Researcher, Institute of Epidemiology and Health

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Older Adult Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Genetics

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 Children and Young People's Mental Health | Serious Mental Illness

Rebecca Gould

Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry

My main research interests are in evaluating psychological interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness-based therapies for: i) older people with mental health conditions (including anxiety and depression); ii) people with neurodegenerative diseases (including dementia and motor neuron disease); iii) carers of people with neurodegenerative diseases; and iv) people with physical health conditions. Other research interests include examining the assessment of frailty in older people with mental health conditions, and evaluating psychological interventions for this population.

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Older Adult Mental Health | Dementia | Mood Disorders

Ishtar Govia

Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Global Mental Health | Dementia | Wellbeing | Psychological Interventions | Pychosocial | Health and Social CareCognition | Integrated Approaches | Multimorbidity

Lisa Marie Gruenwald

Clinical Trial Manager and PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Pharmacology

Joseph Hayes

Principal Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Research areas:
- Life course epidemiology of bipolar disorder, risk factors, prodrome, treatments and long-term outcomes, including physical health problems
- Using routine data from primary and secondary care electronic health records and population cohorts to further the understanding of the epidemiology of severe mental illness
- Pharmacoepidemiology and physical health effects in severe mental illness
- Physical activity and mental health
- Ecological Momentary Assessment of mood
- Personalized treatments for severe mental illness
- Social determinants of severe mental health problems
- Drug re-purposing in psychiatry

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness Mood Disorders | Pharmacology | Epidemiology

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 | Children and Young People's Mental Health

Marjan Jahanshahi

Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Our current areas of research interest are:
1. Role of the basal ganglia in motor control, cognition and motivation and the modulatory influence of dopamine investigated through study of patients with disorders of the basal ganglia and the effect of subortical surgery.
2. Modulation of movement speed by attention and motivation in health and disease
3. Impact of movement disorders such as Parkinsons disease and dystonia on the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of the patients and their carers and more recently the effect of chronic neurological illness of a parent on their children.
We adopt a multi-technique approach and use neuropsychology, functional imaging, electrophysiological recording, and TMS in our research.

Other research interests include

Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial | Dementia | Wellbeing | Cognition


Naomi Jiehua Li-Horder    

Project officer (UCL) & counsellor (BACP registered)

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Wellbeing 

Aaron Kandola

PhD Candidate, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Mood DisordersNeuroscience | Epidemiology | Wellbeing | Children and Young People's Mental Health

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

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Epidemiology | Substance Abuse

Danielle Lamb

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Epidemiology & Health

Danielle is currently a senior research fellow in the NIHR ARC (North Thames). Her work focuses on using mixed methods to evaluate the implementation of complex health services and interventions.  Her previous work focussed on mental health services and interventions, particularly acute mental health services such as Crisis Resolution Teams and Acute Day Units. 

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Serious Mental Illness | Wellbeing | Occupational psychology

Naomi Launders

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Global Mental Health | Substance Abuse | Epidemiology

Stuart Linke

Clinical Psychologist, Institute of Digital Health

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Substance Abuse | Mood Disorders | Psychosocial

Maria Long

Trial Manager (NHS) and PhD student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Psychological Interventions | Psychosocial | Cognition | Wellbeing | Epidemiology

Vasiliki Orgeta

Associate Professor, Division of Psychiatry

Dr Vasiliki Orgeta is a research psychologist interested in emotional well-being in people with dementia and their family carers. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of  psychological and psychosocial interventions in dementia and mild cognitive impairment. She is also interested in how stress could be influencing risk of dementia and the effect of caregiving on caregivers physical and mental health.

Other research interests include

Wellbeing | Cognition | Psychosocial | Older Adult Mental Health | Neuroscience | Epidemiology | Psychological Interventions | Mood Disorders | Dementia

David Osborn

Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Division of Psychiatry

David's main research interests are the interface between physical and mental health, psychiatric epidemiology and the provision of effective and safe interventions for people with severe mental illnesses including psychosis. He has published related work over the last 20 years in journals such as The British Medical Journal, British Journal of Psychiatry and Archives of General Psychiatry/JAMA Psychiatry.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Pharmacology | Epidemiology | Mood Disorders

Rachel Pearson

Research Assistant, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health

I am currently working on a research project which will utilise linked family courts and healthcare data to examine women who become involved in care proceedings and have children placed into out-of-home care. In particular, we aim to identify opportunities for greater input in a healthcare setting to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers involved in recurrent care proceedings and to reduce child maltreatment.

Other research interests include

Serious Mental Illness | Substance AbuseEpidemiology | Family Justice System

George Ploubidis 

Professor of Population Health and Statistics, Centre for Longitudinal Studies

George is a multidisciplinary quantitative social scientist and a longitudinal population surveys methodologist. His main research interests relate to socioeconomic and demographic determinants of health over the life course and the mechanisms that underlie generational differences in health and mortality. His methodological work in longitudinal surveys focusses on applications for handling missing data, causal inference and measurement error.

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Epidemiology | Wellbeing | Social Statistics

Lydia Poole

Research Fellow in Mixed Methods, Institute of Health Informatics

Lydia 's research focuses on the psychobiology of chronic disease. She is particularly interested in how depression is linked to physical illness and the biobehavioural pathways through which depression can explain disease onset and progression. Her ESRC funded fellowship comprised a body of work exploring the similarities and differences in depression across different physical illnesses. Lydia has a growing number of first-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored five book chapters. She has participated in several international conferences hand has received travel awards to present her work.

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Mood Disorders | Psychosocial | Wellbeing

Jessica Rees

PhD Student, Division of Psychiatry

Other research interests include

Psychological Interventions | Older Adult Mental Health | Dementia | Wellbeing

Alvin Richards-Belle

PhD Student, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychological Interventions

Anna Roach

PhD Student, GOS Institute of Child Health

Other research interests include

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Health and Social Care | 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

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition | Mood DisordersNeuroscience | Pharmacology | Psychological Interventions 

Elizabeth Sampson

Clinical Professor, Division of Psychiatry

My research focuses on key clinical issues for frail older people. My main areas of interest are:

  • Dementia and delirium in acute hospital patients: Epidemiology and health services research 
  • Identifying, better understanding and managing common symptoms, including pain, delirium and difficulty swallowing. 
  • Using mixed methods (data, cohort studies co-design) to implement better care.
  • Liaison psychiatry for older hospital inpatients

Other research interests include

Older Adult Mental Health | Dementia | Liaison Psychiatry | Neuroscience

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

Children and Young People's Mental Health | Psychological Interventions | Dissemination and implementation | Eating disorders | OCD | Perfectionism | Loneliness

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

Neuroscience | Dementia | Children and Young People's Mental Health | Cognition

Hara Trouli

Programme Lead Performing Arts Medicine, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science

Other research interests include

Epidemiology | Psychosocial | Substance Abuse | Wellbeing 

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

Children and Young People's Mental Health |Global Mental Health | Mood Disorders | Older Adult Mental Health | Psychosocial | Wellbeing