Biography
Jessica has a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. She also has an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from University College London. Her Master’s dissertation qualitatively explored women’s experiences of specialist mother-and-baby inpatient units compared to general psychiatric wards. After completing this MSc, Jessica worked as a Research Assistant on the New Interventions for independence in Dementia Study (NIDUS) at University College London.
In 2019, Jessica secured a place on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) at University College London. Her thesis focused on exploring predictors of self-reported mental health difficulties after traumatic brain injury.
After the completion of her DClinPsy in 2022, Jessica joined the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Mental Health (MHPRU) as a Research Associate. In this role, she has led and contributed to research informing national-level policymaking, on topics including: surveillance technology use in inpatient care, relational care, inpatient care alternatives, peer support, trauma-informed care and mental healthcare for autistic people.
Research Interests
- Mental health
- Mental health services research
- Women’s mental health
- Epidemiology
Key publications
Cooper, R.E., Saunders, K.R.K., Greenburgh, A. et al. The effectiveness, implementation, and experiences of peer support approaches for mental health: a systematic umbrella review. BMC Med 22, 72 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03260-y
Pemovska, T., Loizou, S., Appleton, R., Spain, D., Stefanidou, T., Kular, A., Cooper, R., Greenburgh, A., Griffiths, J., Barnett, P., Foye, U., Baldwin, H., Minchin, M., Brady, G., Saunders, K. R. K., Ahmed, N., Jackson, R., Olive, R. R., Parker, J., Timmerman, A., … Johnson, S. (2024). Approaches to improving mental health care for autistic children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological medicine, 1–31. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724001089
Loizou, S., Pemovska, T., Stefanidou, T., Foye, U., Cooper, R., Kular, A., Greenburgh, A., Baldwin, H., Griffiths, J., Saunders, K. R. K., Barnett, P., Minchin, M., Brady, G., Ahmed, N., Parker, J., Chipp, B., Olive, R. R., Jackson, R., Timmerman, A., Sapiets, S., … Johnson, S. (2024). Approaches to improving mental healthcare for autistic people: systematic review. BJPsych open, 10(4), e128. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.707
Saunders, K. R. K., McGuinness, E., Barnett, P., Foye, U., Sears, J., Carlisle, S., Allman, F., Tzouvara, V., Schlief, M., Vera San Juan, N., Stuart, R., Griffiths, J., Appleton, R., McCrone, P., Rowan Olive, R., Nyikavaranda, P., Jeynes, T., K, T., Mitchell, L., Simpson, A., … Trevillion, K. (2023). A scoping review of trauma informed approaches in acute, crisis, emergency, and residential mental health care. BMC psychiatry, 23(1), 567. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05016-z
Griffiths J, Lever Taylor B, Morant N, Bick D, Howard LM, Seneviratne G, Johnson S. A qualitative comparison of experiences of specialist mother and baby units versus general psychiatric wards. BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Dec 16;19(1):401. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2389-8. PMID: 31842836; PMCID: PMC6916441.
Rapaport P, Burton A, Palomo M, Griffiths J, et al. A mixed-methods feasibility study of a goal-focused manualised intervention to support people with dementia to stay living independently at home with support from family carers: NIDUS Family. Aging Ment Health. 2021 Aug;25(8):1463-1474. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1845299.
Zhukovsky P, Alsiö J, Jupp B, Xia J, Giuliano C, Jenner L, Griffiths J, et al. Perseveration in a spatial-discrimination serial reversal learning task is differentially affected by MAO-A and MAO-B inhibition and associated with reduced anxiety and peripheral serotonin levels. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2017 May;234(9-10):1557-1571. doi: 10.1007/s00213-017-4569-x