My research focuses on common mental health problems in adults. I am currently working on the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Professor Thalia Eley’s EDIT Lab. TEDS is a longitudinal study of twins born in England and Wales, and the participants are now in their mid/late 20s. We are able to use information from across the twins’ lifespans, including genetic, sociodemographic and behavioural data, to investigate risk factors for mental health problems. I am primarily interested in anxiety disorders, which, although highly common and disabling, are under-researched in comparison to depression. I am also interested in psychological treatment and improving outcomes for patients. I enjoy learning new analytical methods and code primarily in R.   

 

I joined King’s College London in 2017 as a ‘1+3’ student, funded by the NIHR Maudsley BRC to do a master’s and PhD. I graduated from the Genes, Environment and Development in Psychology and Psychiatry MSc programme and subsequently undertook a PhD supervised by Professors Thalia Eley and Gerome Breen. My thesis focused on treatment-related phenotypes in depression and anxiety, using longitudinal structural equation modelling and genetic approaches. I worked with data from the UK Biobank and the Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study, as well as electronic patient records from the NHS England Talking Therapies services (previously called IAPT).

 

Prior to joining King’s College London, I was at the University of Leeds where I completed a BSc in Psychology and worked as a Research Assistant in the School of Psychology and the School of Education.

Research interests:

• Anxiety and depression
• Functional impairment associated with mental health symptoms
• Psychological treatment outcomes
• Genetic influences on mental health
• Longitudinal data
• Electronic health records

 

Research groups:

• The Emotional Development, Interventions and Treatment (EDIT) Lab