Meet the Research Teams

I work in all areas of research but major in youth mental health interventions. I love the opportunity to look at what does or doesn’t work, implement changes and use these to shape services.

I teach communication skills and finals examinations at Norwich medical school. I am also a professor and director of medical education St George's University Grenada and a CASC examiner for the Royal College membership exams.

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5279-6237

I work across all areas relating to mental health research and dementia research and lead strategic research programmes and operational delivery of research across the Trust.

My specific research interests are in health equity, with a particular focus on remote, rural and farming mental health and improving integrated care provision for children with complex health needs and their families. I lead a regional programme of work relating to rural research engagement. 

I am Associate Professor in mental health services research at the University of East Anglia and act as supervisor for nursing and doctoral psychology trainees in areas of health equity. I am also a Fellow of the RCSed Faculty of Remote, Rural ad Humanitarian Healthcare. 

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3248-2257 

 

I manage the research oversight team which means I have responsibility for performance, compliance and safety for all studies recruiting in NSFT. This involves having oversight over the feasibility process and ensuring our studies meet national study set up targets and recruitment to time and target. I am also the Department’s Audit Lead and one of the Sponsor representatives for any NSFT sponsored studies.

I thoroughly enjoy working in the Research & Innovation team as no two days are the same. What I enjoy the most is working with study teams and clinical teams to find out what research opportunities we can bring to NSFT for our service users, carers and staff!

 

Within my role I manage a team delivering a portfolio of research studies across a range of mental health services. My role involves overseeing study delivery, supporting staff in their development and ensuring that research is conducted to a high standard. 

Alongside my management responsibilities, I lead on service improvement within the department. This includes developing and refining processes to improve efficiency and accessibility, particularly through our REACH referral system which supports people to access research opportunities more easily. 

I recently completed a Master's degree in Clinical Trials, which has strengthened my understanding of study design, delivery and evaluation. 

I enjoy working together with colleagues across clinical, research and lived experience roles, and I am motivated by the opportunity to contribute to meaningful and lasting improvements in mental health services. 

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3992-0280

 

My role as Lead Research Nurse involves raising the awareness and the importance of mental health and dementia research by offering opportunities for people to take part. I support the set-up, feasibility and delivery of local, national and international research studies and clinical trials, collaborating with a wide variety of professionals and organisations. Research delivery continues hereon from opening to recruitment, collaborating with clinical teams and talking with potential participants offering opportunities to take part. Meeting participants in clinics, their home, by telephone or video call and collecting required outcome measures really is a privilege.

I have and continue to support the delivery of many different types of research including clinical trials, genetics, and research studies which seek to understand more about symptoms and lived experience. This research experience spans a wide range of people including for staff, carers, or people living with diagnoses such as dementia, mild cognitive impairment, psychosis, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, or learning disabilities.

Through research and listening to people’s life stories, we can better understand what contributes to maintaining a person’s mental wellbeing and how this can be enhanced. This curiosity drives me forwards to continually explore how we can improve future care and treatments.

Working in research with an inspirational team, completing my MSc in Clinical Research and welcoming new research colleagues, trust staff and students and interns has given me the opportunity to learn and question more about what we do, how and why. As a Research Nurse there is so much variety to learn and experience, even venturing into a Podcast on ‘NSFT’s Mental Health and You: Being a Research nurse at NSFT’, and it is a hugely rewarding and exciting career!

I am the Nursing Research Lead for NSFT. I work across all pathways and teams in Norfolk and Suffolk, with a primary focus on supporting mental health nurses interested in research and in developing nurse-led research projects.

I have many years' experience working as a mental health nurse and in supporting the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) studies, acting as a Principle Investigator and Co-investigator on funded projects. 

My research interests are diverse and include mental health and conditions in older people and dementia and reducing the use of restrictive interventions.

Following an NIHR Senior Nurse Research Leader Programme (2019-2022) I continue to build and grow the nursing research environment in the organisation. I collaborate on projects with colleagues at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and hold an honorary contract with them, supervising nursing students and the MSc nursing programme.

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6321-3810

 

 

I inititally joined the Research Department to provide a financial service to the team and associated external research clients. 

I chose research as I was looking for a new challenge and it was a way to expand my experience and knowledge, whilst still working within NSFT.

I love learning about research and when the opportunity arose to take on new responsibilities within research, I jumped at the chance, so hence my transition to also working within a governance role as the Senior Research Facilitator.

Governance within research is so important, as it ensures that high standards are met to improve research quality, promote good practice and safeguard the public. 

Mental Health Research saves lives. Taking part in a research study not only benefits the general public for future treatment, it can also benefit the participant, as they may be able to gain access to up and coming effective treatment. 

 

I manage the REACH pathway, which is our departmental referral system into current and future research studies. This links the research department with clinical teams, external services and the general public to encourage people to take part in mental health research studies.  

I love seeing the opportunities that taking part in research can offer so many people and how it can drastically change their life both physically and mentally.

Research is one of the most inspiring fields you can work in. Things are always changing and developing and its amazing being able to see it happen first hand.

Outside work, I have been a competitive cheerleader for 10 years and my team has been national champions for five five years.

My role as Research Development Lead for CFYP services involves working with children and young people, their family members, health and social care practitioners and academics, to develop new research and evaluation projects. Because our research priorities are guided by the needs and preferences of our local communities and the services we work alongside, I have been lucky to be involved in the development and delivery of research spanning a broad range of clinical presentations, settings and methodologies. Most of our projects are funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR), and in recent years we have been awarded competitive funding via their Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB), Health Services and Delivery Research (HSDR), Invention for Innovation (i4i) and Mental Health Implementation Network (MHIN) programmes.  

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge from 2007-2010, and a PhD in clinical psychology at UEA from 2013-2017 alongside continuing to work as an Assistant Psychologist within NSFT. My doctoral research was conducted in collaboration with Early Intervention in Psychosis services and aimed to contribute towards understanding negative symptoms during a first episode of psychosis and their relationship to social recovery. My research now spans early intervention across a wide range of mental health presentations, and I have developed a particular interest in how we can improve access to mental health support through approaches to intervention that sit outside of mental health services (e.g. within schools and colleges, social care, the voluntary sector and community organisations). I have experience with both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and favour mixed methods approaches where appropriate. I have also led a number of systematic reviews and evidence synthesis projects relevant to our primary research.   

One of the aspects of my job I enjoy most is teaching. I deliver training for clinicians and public collaborators on research design, evidence-based practice, qualitative approaches and applied statistics. I also offer bespoke support to individuals and teams planning their own research or service evaluation projects, or looking to develop their research careers.

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0781-7753

The research we develop is clinically applied and has co-production at its heart. Meaningful research development should encompass a multitude of perspectives and empower everybody. This has included work on diagnosis, peer support, autistic spectrum disorders, eating disorders and discharge from inpatient settings. We have worked in collaboration with the World Health Organisation on a paper published in the Lancet Psychiatry on the need to include service-user perspectives in diagnostic guidelines.

I am also interested in co-creativity, the arts and language. We are currently working on a project to explore the impact of the language on people who have experienced mental health issues.

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4940-6998

I hold a BSc and MSc in psychology and have worked across both inpatient and outpatient mental health services. I completed a PhD at UCL focusing on antipsychotic prescribing in primary care, with a particular interest in how clinical decision-making operates within complex systems. My current research includes studies on discharge processes from mental health inpatient wards, staff-service user relationships in eating disorder services, and the impact of stress and burnout (conceptualised as empathy-based stress) on staff wellbeing.

Co-production and ensuring that all voices are heard particularly those of service users, carers, and staff are central to my work. Methodologically, I have worked across a range of approaches, including RCTs and CTIMP/ATIMP studies, with a particular interest in realist reviews, evaluation, and implementation science, aiming to generate findings that are both theoretically robust and practically meaningful for those who use and work in mental health services.  

Publications

For publications, please see https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7010-871X

I am working as a Study Manager on MINDS (investigating the process of discharge and discharge planning from adult inpatient mental health services), and ALLIANCE (investigating the relationships between staff and service users in inpatient eating disorder settings).

My role involves coordinating the studies and ensuring that everything runs according to plan, as well as getting involved in activities such as recruiting and interviewing participants, reviewing literature, and analysing data. I work as part of a large team of people in research, clinical, and lived experience who have come together because they want to improve peoples' experiences of mental health services.

Getting to work with such a broad range of people with a variety of skills and expertise is brilliant, and I feel very privileged to be able to watch and learn from such talented individuals and teams. Knowing that the research that I am involved with has the potential to create meaningful change in mental health settings feels worthwhile and something I am proud to be a part of.

Publications

For a full list of publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0697-4415 

I work as a research delivery nurse supporting and delivering studies across Older Persons, Adult Mental Health and Child and Youth Services. Studies may include drug trials, genetic research, wellbeing, and therapy studies.  I also facilitate research training within the trust and support NIHR training sessions and courses.

I feel very privileged in my job, I meet amazing people who give up their time to take part in research, who share their life stories and experiences to provide information and knowledge that may help others in the future.

 

I chose to work in research because I am passionate about positively influencing the care experienced by patients and their families. I was keen to transfer my skills and knowledge from clinical practice and develop my professional curiosity.

The benefits of taking part in research is that it can provide an opportunity for individuals to share their views and lived experiences, which can provide valuable insight and knowledge to help shape services, treatments and care in the future.

 

 

My background is in mental health nursing, and I have worked across a variety of settings, including Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment, and more recently within Primary Care.

I joined the Research and Development Team in July 2025, and I am the Locality Research Nurse for East and West Suffolk, focusing on research delivery.

I enjoy my role because it allows me to contribute to advancing healthcare and improving patient outcomes and every study brings us closer to new treatments and better ways of caring for people. I particularly value working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and supporting participants throughout the research process, knowing that each project helps shape the future of patient care.

 

 

I am working on the LIMITLESS study as a research associate from September 2021 to December 2022. The LIMITLESS study will undertake a realist review to aid understanding of how, why and for whom Life Story Work can improve mental health outcomes for adolescents in the care system.  

I am pleased to have the opportunity to positively impact mental health outcomes by adding to the evidence base. I am passionate about evidence informed practice and enjoy working in an area that can increase knowledge to develop services for the benefit of service users.

 

I am currently working on the LIMITLESS II study. This study aims to improve the well-being support available to teens in care by exploring how life story work is delivered and experienced by teens and improving the guidance to support them. 

I have always had a passion for research, often being drawn toward young people's well-being and have enjoyed engaging with the individual experience.  

Outside of work I enjoy yoga and play Saturday league hockey. 

I recruit participants for different studies and work with teams and organisations to promote opportunities for people to take part in research.  

I love that my job allows me to work clinically within research. In previous roles I have utilised different therapies within clinical settings as an assistant psychologist and now I am working on developing the evidence base for new interventions. Taking part in mental health research is important because it helps to develop new ways services can support people who are experiencing difficulties with their mental health.

Outside work I enjoy travelling, running, crafts, and eating out.

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