Dr Yasmin Ahmadzadeh’s research is focused on understanding how common mental health concerns run in families. She is a member of the INHERIT Lab, specialising in genetically informed, intergenerational research.

Dr Ahmadzadeh holds an ESRC Administrative Data Research UK fellowship, to explore links between prenatal exposure to maternal psychiatric illness and offspring developmental outcomes within the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) resource. Dr Ahmadzadeh was Principal Investigator on the ESRC Emerging Minds funded TRADE project, exploring the Transmission of experiences of Racism, Anxiety and DEpression in families.

Dr Ahmadzadeh joined King’s College London as a Research Assistant, helping to set up and run the Children of the Twins Early Development Study (CoTEDS). She completed her PhD part-time alongside this Research Assistant role, exploring familial risk for anxiety and depression: intergenerational effects and genetic transmission.

Prior to working at King’s College London, Dr Ahmadzadeh completed her BSc in Neuroscience with Industrial/Professional Experience at the University of Manchester.

Research interests

• Intergenerational transmission
• Anxiety and depression
• Family interactions
• Genetics
• Child development
• Mental health inequalities
• Anti-racism in mental health research

Teaching

• Nature Nurture 1 module co-lead for the Developmental Psychology & Psychopathology MSc: 2022/23, 2023/34

Expertise and public engagement

• Project manager for Family Footsteps: a parent engagement project, in collaboration with Bethlem Gallery and Centre for Mental Health
• Joint coordinator of the IoPPN Youth Awards
• Member of the SGDP Anti-Racism Working Group
• Blog author (e.g., for The EDIT Lab, The Mental Elf, Centre for Mental Health, and Inspire the Mind blogs)
• Panel member on webinars (e.g., McPin Foundation webinar “Inclusive #MentalHealthResearchMatters: the role of mental health research in tackling inequalities”)
• Podcast guest (e.g., the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, ACAMH, podcast)
• Planned and facilitated “Intergenerational transmission of racial trauma: a day of reflection and learning”, a July 2022 public engagement event at Science Gallery London: involving a gallery exhibition, two artist-led workshops, and a round table research discussion; and “Intergenerational trauma: science, poems, stories, illustration, reflection” October 2022: involving two online public engagement events with a poet, storyteller, and illustrator.
• Available to organise events, workshops and talks with primary and secondary schools
• Available to talk with young people or prospective students about my work and/or university experience