Lab Members

Harriet Demnitz-King

Harriet completed her BSc in Psychology from the University of York and her MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from University College London. Following the completion of her MSc, Harriet worked in UCL's Division of Psychiatry as a research assistant on the Horizon 2020 funded, pan-European, Silver Santé Study. In 2018, she started a PhD with the Marchant Lab, which allows her to focus on her passion for investigating modifiable risk and protective factors of dementia. Specifically, Harriet is interested in the relationship between anxiety, different styles of repetitive thinking (e.g., worry, brooding, self-reflection) and markers of dementia (e.g., cognition, amyloid deposition, glucose metabolism). Her PhD centres around her interests and is formed of four projects: (I) a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the association between anxiety symptoms and Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology; (II) a systematic review exploring the neuroanatomical correlates of repetitive thinking; (III) a cross-sectional study which utilises Silver Santé data to investigate the association between positive and negative styles of repetitive thinking and Alzheimer’s disease sensitive markers; and (IV) a longitudinal study investigating the impact of 18-months meditation training and 18-months non-native language training on cognitive function. Further, alongside her PhD, Harriet is working on the PREADAPT project which aims to identify personalised inflammatory profiles of ageing and senescence which can predict cognitive decline in older adults at risk for dementia.

h.demnitz-king[at]ucl.ac.uk | Academic profile | Twitter | ResearchGate

Yolanda Lau

I completed my BSc in Psychology at Cardiff University and my MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London.
 
Following the completion of my MSc, I started my PhD with the Marchant Lab in 2022. My PhD utilises the baseline data collected from 700 participants of the APPLE-Tree trial to investigate whether digital health biomarkers can be used as proxy measures of mental health, cognition, and blood-based biomarkers in ageing.
 

Bilal Hassan

Bilal has over 15 years of experience in business development and project management, in areas such as wellbeing and hospitality. He has joined the team as a part-time PhD student.

The primary focus of Bilal’s research is to understand, improve and tailor the external factors, such as physical settings, sensorial elements and participant experience, to improve the efficacy and the impact of wellbeing interventions for seniors in clinical settings.

In parallel to his PhD, Bilal continues teaching at graduate and undergraduate level in Switzerland and provides advisory to family businesses for their business ventures.

Marco Schlosser

I have received my BSc in Psychology from the University of Groningen, my MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from University College London, and research training at McGill University. I have been awarded a fellowship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes). I am currently completing a PhD in psychology.

For the past five years, I have worked as a researcher at University College London, Division of Psychiatry. As part of the European Medit-Ageing Research Group, I have investigated the impact of meditation training on mental health and well-being. I have also created the IMPRINT project, which aims to deepen and refine the relationship between meditation and psychedelic research. I am currently transitioning out of academia in order to dedicate more time to meditation training. 

If you would like to find out more about my projects or to get in touch, please visit www.marcoschlosser.com

Tim Whitfield

Following the completion of a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in cognitive neuroscience, I worked for a number of years in an NHS Research & Development team in the area of cognitive aging and dementia. During this time, I enjoyed using applied statistics to contribute to a number of publications. I was awarded funding in 2018 (I am immensely grateful to my funder, The Dunhill Medical Trust), and was thrilled to be part of the Marchant Lab for my PhD. My projects combined my major interests, namely cognitive aging, mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) and neuroimaging. My PhD utilised results from the Horizon-2020 funded, pan-European ‘SCD-Well’ RCT to answer important questions beyond the trial's primary outcome. My primary goal was to evaluate the effect of an MBP on cognitive function in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). I have completed my PhD with Prof. Zuzana Walker and Dr. Natalie Marchant at UCL. 

tim.whitfield[at]ucl.ac.uk | Academic profile | ResearchGate 

Freya Koutsoubelis

I completed my BSc in Psychology at the University of Bath in 2018, during which I spent a placement year as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Cambridge at the Centre for Family Research. I completed my MSc at UCL in Clinical Mental Health Sciences, my MSc project was framed within the SCD-Well study with Dr Natalie Marchant as my primary supervisor. My project examined the effect of a mindfulness-based intervention on secondary measures of lifestyle, cognition and emotion. Alongside my MSc, I worked in an NHS memory service as an honorary assistant psychologist.

Anne Sophia Hendy

Anne completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, last year, and has completed her MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at the University College London. Anne joined the Marchant lab for her thesis project, investigating the relationship between meditation practice and cognition in older adults. She is currently working as an Assistant Psychologist in a prison setting, assisting group therapy sessions in mindfulness and meditation.

Isabelle Goehre

After completing her Bachelor degree in Psychology at Maastricht University in 2018, Isabelle started her MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at the University College London (UCL). She has worked as an honorary research assistant at the Marchant Lab. Isabelle is specifically interested in research about depression, dementia, anxiety and effects of sleep on psychological functioning. 
 

Avi Cohen

Avi completed his BA in Cognitive Science and Psychology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2015. following the completion of a bachelor’s degree he moved to the private sector where he worked in small start-ups in operations management and customer success. In these roles he had end-to-end responsibility over company projects where he applied academic methodologies to improve work processes and implement new initiatives.  
In 2018 Avi started his MSc in Dementia: Causes, Treatments and Research at the division of psychiatry (University College London) and joined the Marchant lab through a research placement where he assisted in a systematic review. He completed his dissertation investigating the association between anxiety in mid-life and development of dementia in later life. His main research interest are modifiable risk factors and global impact of dementia.

Nora Bahhar

After completing a BSc in Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London in 2017, Nora worked as a research assistant in Goldsmiths, University of London, piloting the UK ‘Blurred Lives Project’ – a cross-national, co-participatory exploration of cyberbullying in young people with socio-economic disadvantage. In 2018, she started a clinical role in a forensic mental health unit, supporting patients with long-standing and severe mental illness. 

She has completed her MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London, which includes an honorary role at a London IAPT service. Nora joined the Marchant Lab to conduct a systematic review for her dissertation, investigating the association between repetitive negative thinking and different cognitive domains. Her main research interests are depression, anxiety, refugee and asylum seeker mental health and policy.

Mia Maria Günak

Mia finished her BSc in Psychology at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, last year and has completed her MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London. During her BSc exchange semester, Mia worked as an honorary research assistant at McGill University. Between her BSc and MSc, she undertook a research internship at the University of Groningen in collaboration with the Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma. She currently works as an honorary assistant psychologist at the Traumatic Stress Service, Springfield Hospital London. Her main interest lies in anxiety disorders, and specifically PTSD, as well as their impact on cognitive functioning and the development of dementia.

Twitter | ResearchGate

Michael Lee

Michael completed his BSc in Psychology from the University of Birmingham and and his MSc in Clinical Mental Health at University College London. Whilst completing his master’s, Michael was working as an honorary research assistant in UCL’s Division of Psychiatry on the SCD-WELL study. His research interests include the epidemiology of dementia, depression and autism spectrum disorders.

Elizabeth Parsons

I was working as an honorary research assistant on the SCD-WELL study whilst completing a masters in mental health sciences research at UCL. I was conducting a qualitative service evaluation exploring mental health clinicians' receptiveness to supporting research and designing an intervention to increase their involvement in research. My main research interests concern dementia prevention and mental health policy.

Lise Lovland

Lise gained her BSc (Hons) Psychology from the University of St Andrews in 2015, and completed an MSc at University College London. At UCL, she investigated the relationship between Repetitive Negative Thinking and risk of Alzheimer's Disease, in collaboration with the PREVENT-AD research group (Montreal, Canada). She has completed a longitudinal follow-up study to her MSc. Her research interests include the epidemiology of dementia, depression, and anxiety in various populations. When Lise is not working, she enjoys exploring London's finest cafés and parks, developing her culinary skills (with mixed results), singing, and working out.

Amy Gimson

Amy completed her BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge in 2012 and then MBBS from the University of Southampton in 2017.  During this time she completed systematic reviews into the use of patient reported outcome measures in the treatment of common mental health disorders, and the safety of genetically modified crops for human consumption. Joining the group supervised by Dr N Marchant in 2017, she has carried out a further review into the relationship between anxiety in midlife and later onset of dementia, recently published in BMJ open. Currently, she is working as a junior doctor at Bartshealth NHS trust neurology department, and hopes to continue research in neurology, and more specifically modifiable risk factors for dementia, during future training years.

Angelene Gardener

Angelene completed her BSc (Hons) Psychology from the University of Westminster in 2015, and gained an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London. During her Masters, she explored the influence of mindfulness on biological risk for Alzheimer's disease. She is currently working as a psychologist in a Chronic Fatigue Service and a Perinatal Mental Health Service. Angelene uses mindfulness with her clients to support them to manage anxiety, depression and cognitive symptoms related to their condition. She is setting up a pilot study to investigate the efficacy of a mindfulness group for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In addition to mindfulness, her research interests include the relationship between psychological risk factors and cognitive decline, and the efficacy of psychological formulation and intervention for managing psychosomatic symptoms. Angelene aims to progress in her career by training as a Clinical Psychologist and hopes to consistently produce clinically informative research.