PhD Fellow - Cohort 1

Lewys is Consultant Nurse in Restrictive Practices at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He has a clinical background in adult acute mental healthcare, psychiatric intensive care and crisis services. He has previously completed a Masters in Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and has undertaken the Darzi Fellowship in Clinical Leadership. Lewys’ research interests centre on coercive practices in mental healthcare including the prevention and reduction of their use, nursing practice in this area and the relationship with equality and diversity issues. His PhD project will investigate the feasibility of a structured post-coercive practice incident review for patients that have been subject to coercive practice on inpatient wards. Lewys will collaborate with people with lived experience of coercive practice in mental healthcare as well as their families/carers and mental health professionals to develop and test the intervention.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 3

Clara is an Old Age Psychiatry trainee and previous Academic Clinical Fellow at UCL. She undertook medical training at Kings' College London, followed by an MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her research is in dementia and population health. Her PhD will focus on using routine clinical data and neuroimaging techniques to characterise biomarkers for Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which is a rare, treatable condition causing dementia.

Preparatory Fellow - Cohort 3

Amy is a preparatory fellow funded by Psychiatry Research UK, a specialist perinatal mental health nurse work and visiting lecturer at the University of Brighton. An experienced community mental health nurse who qualified with distinction from the University of Brighton with distinction in her BSc in Mental Health Nursing in 2015.  Amy went on to obtain a first-class in an MSc in Psychology from Manchester Metropolitan University, and first-class in a PGCE in practice education from the University of Surrey. 

In her spare time Amy is a keen explorer, climber, runner, yoga enthusiast and creative.

Amy’s work focusses on women’s mental health, as is considerations of intersectionality in distress, such as neurodiversity, chronic health conditions, gender-based violence, health disparities and minoritised communities.  Amy’s approach is rooted in social justice principles, through advocacy in clinical practice, and research that not only challenges discrimination and disparities but also promotes change.  

The preparatory year will allow time to support an application for the Mental Health PhD with Wellcome at Kings, on an exploration of the understandings of mental health in the perinatal period amongst the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) communities.  Recent work funded by the Race and Health Observatory has highlighted significant differences in understandings of distress and barriers to the access of services for GRT women and birthing people.  The proposal thus far will review the current evidence, undertake a participatory photography project and utilise coproduction methods working with a variety of stakeholders to potentially develop a resource for the communities and professionals.  

Preparatory Fellow - Cohort 3

Heather is a Senior Mental Health Nurse currently working in children and adolescent mental health crisis services. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Biology, specialising in Human Genetics, an MSc in Psychology, and an MSc in Mental Health Nursing, which she completed with distinction.

With over 10 years of clinical experience, Heather began her career in physical health at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, later moving to adolescent cancer care. She then transitioned to CAMHS, gaining experience across Deaf CAMHS, inpatient services, and community crisis services.

From her clinical experience in both mental and physical health, Heather is particularly interested in bridging the gap between mental and physical health care. She plans to use her research funding to explore the disparities in treatment for mental health service users attending A&E in crisis. Her long-term goal is to pursue a PhD focused on the experiences of physical health staff caring for mental health service users, ultimately working to improve the quality of care for young people and their families presenting in crises. 

PhD Fellow - Cohort 1

Matt is a registrar in psychiatry and a clinical academic. He graduated with undergraduate medical and postgraduate research degrees from the University of Manchester before moving to work at South London and Maudsley mental health trust. He is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is currently based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London researching neuropsychiatric disorders and psychopharmacology. His PhD will be centred around a neuroimaging project probing the brain network response to psilocybin in patients with functional neurological disorder.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 2

Anna is a Clinical Psychologist and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist. She has an academic background in Experimental Psychology, completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford. She is interested in the interactions between physical and mental health and since completing her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College London, has worked in NHS posts across a range of physical healthcare settings (burn injury, spinal injury, and cancer care) alongside lecturing and research roles. Anna is interested in using technology to increase access to and engagement with psychological interventions and improve outcomes. Her PhD will focus on refining and optimising an online interpretation training intervention for fear of cancer recurrence in people who are living beyond breast cancer. The project will involve working closely with people with lived experience of breast cancer and fear of cancer recurrence, to develop and test the impact of a novel intervention component.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 3

Alice is a general adult psychiatry registrar and clinical academic, and recently completed her Academic Clinical Fellowship at UCL. Alice completed her clinical studies at the University of Oxford where she spent a year studying Neuroscience. She then completed her medical degree at Imperial College London. She is particularly interested in studying the effect of psychedelics on human learning, and how this may inform our understanding of how they may be used clinically.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 3

Grace is a registrar in general adult psychiatry based in South London. She recently completed an Academic Clinical Fellowship at King's College London. Her academic work is primarily focused on mental health and suicide in migrants and people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Grace studied medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and completed a Masters in Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and King's College London. She is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Working Group for Mental Health and Forced Migration and recently co-wrote a report on the mental health implications of new UK immigration legislation.

During her PhD, Grace plans to use a combination of routinely collected electronic health record data and qualitative interviews to examine pathways to care, clinical outcomes and experiences of care for survivors of forced migration who have accessed secondary mental health services.  Her research will be guided by input from people with lived experience.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 3

Ida is a registered mental health nurse, a specialist community public health nurse, and a clinical academic with extensive experience in acute and community healthcare. Her professional interests have centred on improving health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations, which has led to a career in safeguarding. Ida holds a Master of Science degree in Safeguarding Children and Young People, obtained at the University of Greenwich. Her PhD project aims to co-design an intervention to improve help and support of racially minoritised children whose parents engage with adult mental health services.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 2

Abbie is a psychiatry registrar who has recently completed her core psychiatry training as an Academic Clinical Fellow in Cambridge. She studied Medicine at the University of Manchester and completed an intercalated MSc in Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience. She then did her Foundation training in York and obtained a PGCert in Health Research and Statistics. She is interested in research to better understand psychotic disorders using multiple methods, including different modalities of neuroimaging. Her PhD focuses on a neuroimaging study which investigates if a single dose of levetiracetam can help reduce hippocampal hyperactivity and improve cognition in people who are at risk of developing psychosis. This aims to provide important evidence about whether interventions that regulate the balance of excitation and inhibition in the brain could be a new way for understanding and treating psychosis early.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 3

Jonathan is a registrar in general adult psychiatry and a medical academic. Jonathan studied pre-clinical medicine at the University of St Andrews before moving to the University of Manchester. He then undertook clinical academic training (Academic Foundation Programme followed by a NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in psychiatry) at the University of Bristol, whilst completing a MSc in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Jonathan’s research, and clinical, interest is within the interface between medicine and psychiatry. His work has focussed on developing better ways of identifying and treating depression in people affected by chronic physical illnesses. During his PhD, Jonathan will be working across the Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. He will be using routinely collected healthcare data to investigate the impact of depression in people affected by cancer in order to develop better ways of identifying this common comorbidity.  

PhD Fellow - Cohort 1

Zarah is a pharmacist and completed the MPharm at the University of Bath before undertaking a cross-sector pre-registration training programme with GlaxoSmithKline and Princess Alexandra Hospital. Continuing in R&D, she managed the supply and distribution of investigational medicinal products to early phase, oncology clinical trials globally. She went on to pursue an MSc in Dementia: Research, Treatments and Causes at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology whilst working as a Clinical Pharmacist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Zarah is interested in the pathophysiology underlying mental health conditions in dementia and drugs that may modulate these mechanisms. Her PhD project will look at the impact of psilocybin on mood and cognitive function mediated by hippocampal neurogenesis and microglial activity in patients with major depressive disorder.

Preparatory Fellow – Cohort 3

Laura is a Forensic Psychologist currently working in the Adolescent At-Risk & Forensic Service (National & Specialist CAMHS) within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She completed her psychology training through the Ministry of Justice, working in HMPPS Youth Custody Service with boys and girls aged 10–18. She is also a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and a student of the Education for Racial Equity.

Her research interests include sensory stress and trauma, serious youth violence, restorative approaches, community psychology, and redressing health, justice, and educational inequalities. Her proposed research intends to explore the impact of sensory trauma on the school-to-prison pipeline, through participatory action research. The research aims to support schools and clinicians to better support young people most targeted by the pipeline, in particular racial- and neuro-minorities.

Preparatory Fellow - Cohort 1

PhD Fellow - Cohort 2

Jessica is a mental health nurse and clinical academic. Her research interests include trauma-informed approaches, parenting, intergenerational trauma, compassionate leadership and social and nature-based interventions for mental health. She has published as lead author and co-author on topics including trauma-informed approaches, adolescent drug and alcohol use, recovery focussed care and safety planning and screening for adverse childhood experiences. Jess completed her pre-clinical studies studying Psychology at the University of Sheffield. She then completed a MSc in Mental Health Nursing at Kings College London which she passed with distinction. Jess is an experienced clinician and leader and has worked in a variety of NHS settings including inpatient, drug and alcohol services, early intervention psychosis, community mental health and primary care in a range of clinical and leadership roles such as care co-ordinator, clinical expert practitioner, clinical service lead and programme manager. Her professional experience has made her deeply committed to undertaking meaningful and impactful research which engages stakeholders and ultimately improves outcomes for service users and staff. Her PhD is aiming to co-produce an intervention to support front-line mental health practitioners to safely have conversations about adverse childhood experiences with service users in a way that promotes healing and prevents further harm.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 2

Laurence is a registrar in child and adolescent psychiatry working in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He recently completed his Academic Clinical Fellowship in King’s College London, studying a variety of topics, including the role of stigma within child and adolescent psychiatry. His research focus has moved towards sleep in child psychiatry and optimising the use of digital technology for both research and clinical practice.

During his PhD Laurence will be based in the CAMHS Digital Lab, where he will use electronic health records to study the use of sleep medications in children with ADHD. He also aims to develop and implement an automated sleep assessment tool using the innovative myHealthE system. The goal is to support clinicians to detect sleep disturbances at an early stage and improve young people’s access to treatments.

PhD Fellow - Cohort 2

Shuo is a trainee Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and a clinical academic. Her research interests focus on the social and environmental determinants of poor mental health and how they might be ameliorated through better design and delivery of healthcare services.

Shuo completed her pre-clinical studies at the University of Cambridge with a year in Politics, (social) Psychology, Sociology and International Studies (PPSIS), before moving to King’s College London to complete her medical degree. Prior to starting core psychiatry training, Shuo completed a Masters in Global Mental Health that was taught jointly by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Shuo’s PhD will use routine health care data to better understand inequities in access and outcomes for racially minoritised young people whilst they are waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.