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Meet the research team

Dr Penny Rapaport - Chief Investigator

Penny Rapaport

Penny is a clinical psychologist and NIHR Advanced Fellow in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL and is a Pathway Fellow. Having worked for many years in services for older people in the NHS she is interested in developing deliverable and sustainable psychosocial interventions for people living with memory problems and those supporting them. She is the co-chief investigator of the HTA funded DREAMS START RCT, testing a non-drug intervention for people living with dementia experiencing sleep problems and is the chief investigator of the NIHR funded HOME study exploring the care and support needs of older people experiencing homelessness and living with memory problems. Penny is also a dignity at work advisor and co-leads the staff mentoring scheme in the Division of Psychiatry.

Charlie Beeson - Research Assistant

Charlie splits his time as a research assistant in the NHS and within the Division of Psychiatry at UCL on the HOME study. He completed his undergraduate in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh in 2022, where he worked as a learning disabilities support worker alongside his course. He then completed an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at UCL in 2023. He has a growing interest in contributing to research on alcohol-related brain damage and incorporating lifestyle interventions into treatment for mental health conditions.

Sophie Gaber

Sophie Gaber
Sophie is an Occupational Therapist and a part-time Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy at the School of Health and Welfare at Jönköping University, Sweden. Additionally, she is a part-time Postdoctoral Researcher at Marie Cederschiöld University, Sweden and she is affiliated to research at U-CARE, in the Healthcare Sciences and e-Health unit at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research and teaching focus on the intersection of healthcare sciences and e-Health, with a particular expertise in participatory research methods that involve inclusion health populations. While hosted by Professor Penny Rapaport in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL, Sophie has collaborated with the HOME team in various ways, including supporting the co-production workshops to design the HOME intervention with experts by experience from inclusion health populations.

 

Collaborative research project between Sweden and the UK

Pathways And Technology for women with experiences of Homelessness: A qualitative interview study (PATH-study)

Aligned with the HOME project, Sophie is a principal investigator for an international collaborative research project that brings together researchers in the UK (UCL) and in Sweden (Marie Cederschiöld University and the U-CARE group at Uppsala University). The project includes a longitudinal narrative study exploring the role of e-Health and potential paths out of homelessness for women with lived experiences of homelessness. The study involves partnering with experts by experience, including women with lived experiences of homelessness in the Women’s Advisory Board for Inclusion Health (who are co-authors on forthcoming articles), in addition to health and social care, and civil society organisations (e.g., homelessness charities and NGOs in the UK and Sweden).