Health and Well-being Group

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Description:

Our team is interested in individual differences in health, education and cognitive development across the lifespan. We focus on dissecting the causes and correlates of individual differences in mental health and academic achievement. We employ interdisciplinary research methods combining behavioural genetic and statistical genetic methods with psychometrics and innovative assessment techniques. Through our collaborative research, we aim to increase our understanding of the diverse educational and health trajectories, ultimately contributing to interventions that support every child in reaching their maximum potential and enhancing their wellbeing. The SGG is a cross-department group consisting of 20 researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Department of Economics. SGG group members come from diverse academic backgrounds in statistics, psychology, neuroscience and economics and we work collaboratively to make the most of everyone's expertise. We aim to bring genetically sensitive designs to the curriculum and research at Royal Holloway.

Members:

Rebecca Ferdinand (PhD Student) 

Maddie Briggs (Trainee Clinical Psychologist)

Agnieszka Gidziela (PhD Student at Queen Mary)

Quan Zhou, PhD Student (PhD Student at Queen Mary)

Francesca Procopio (PhD Student at KCL)

Engin Kesser (PhD Student at KCL)

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Description:

I am a Clinical Psychologist with post-qualification experience in clinical health psychology and adult mental health. My main research interests relate to psychological and behavioural aspects of HIV. There are five main inter-related themes to this work:1. HIV testing, 2. HIV-related behaviour change, 3. Psychological elements to individuals' engagement with HIV care, 4. Well-being and adjustment in HIV, 5. HIV disclosure and HIV communication. 

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For more information, see here. 

Description:

The core aim of the Royal Holloway Sleep Lab is to further demystify the third of our lives we spend asleep.

That led by Dr Alice Gregory focuses on sleep and our mental health.

Research led by Dr Jakke Tamminen focuses on sleep, learning and memory.

Developmental questions are central to our work. Facilities include a two-bedroom sleep laboratory with full Embla polysomnography equipment for monitoring neural activity during sleep; as well as actigraphy. 

Members:

Dr Rebecca Crowley (postdoctoral researcher)

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Description:

Our lab investigates the cognitive processes and computations involved in agency and metacognition, addressing questions like: How do we learn from our actions to make better decisions? Who’s in control? Am I sure that was the right choice? As we navigate the world, we face many decisions and need to learn from the consequences of our actions to do better next time. At the same time, we have subjective experiences, such as feeling in control of our actions (a sense of agency), or feeling confident that we made good choices (a sense of confidence), which arise from monitoring our internal cognitive processes and the external world. Using behavioural, computational, and neuroimaging methods, we investigate these (meta)cognitive processes, how they interact with each other, and their relation to mental health symptoms, such as depression.

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Description:

My PhD (University of Sussex, 2018) was a mixed methods programme of research into gay men’s masculinities, and I continue to research in the intersections of sexuality, masculinity, and health and wellbeing, with a recent focus on bisexual men’s masculinities in the context of sexual relationships. Specifically, I am interested in how bisexual men’s beliefs about masculinity and masculine identities are related to their sexual attitudes and behaviours, including positioning and self-labelling in sex with men. I have supervised two PhD students to completion, and am currently supervisor to two doctoral candidates who are studying on ESRC and Techne scholarships. I have expertise in using qualitative methods, including discursive and phenomenological approaches. A qualified teacher in post-16 education (Institute of Education, 2005), my teaching experience is in undergraduate and postgraduate modules in gender and sexuality, forensic psychology, addiction, and qualitative methods.

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Vasilis S. Vasiliou, PhD is a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. He also holds a Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol) status with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and he is Registered Clinical and Health Psychologist (Reg. Num: #PYL043565) with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK. 

He primarily works as a Research Tutor at the Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psy) program and maintains a small private practice. Holding an MSc in Clinical Psychology from Swansea University and a PhD from the University of Cyprus, he completed post-doctoral research at University College Cork and in the UK at Cardiff University and Oxford University, the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS). 

Dr. Vasiliou's research focuses on Behavioral Medicine, developing psychological interventions for adults and children with chronic illnesses, especially in non-traditional settings and through digital, personalized approaches. His research has led to innovations in interventions delivery for adults and pediatric population with chronic pain (e.g., Algea ASpida and HeadFlexy projects) and individuals with skin conditions (Living well with a skin condition program; https://lwsc.psychologyresearch.co.uk/). He also explores innovations in clinical implementation science, such as methods in medical communication in health and illness (https://leadincare.com/), and the personal and societal harms of illegal drugs (myuse.ie), stigma, and medication use, including toxicity from polypharmacy or treatment (e.g., steroid toxicity or chemotherapy-induced side effects, e.g. VAS-UP project: https://vasup.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/). 

Dr.  Vasiliou has previously received funding from the Brain, Mind, and Pain-Centred Innovation Grants and serves as an external consultant for Wanax Ltd, an EU-based health technology start-up. Finally, he serves on the board for the Foundation for Contextual & Behavioural Science (ACBS), the OMERACT Steroid toxicity SIG group, and holds editorial roles the Journal of Contextual & Behavioural Science (JCBS), and the British Journal of Health Psychology (BJHP).

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Anna is a clinical psychologist whose clinical specialism and main area of research interest is in the practice of clinical psychology with older people.  She is the editor for the Bulletin of the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology Faculty for the Psychology of Older People, and also a national committee member and workstream lead for the faculty.  

For more information, please see here.

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Within the ECHO-O lab we are interested in understanding how experiences and connections we form, online and offline, may impact mental health and wellbeing. We are exploring research on self-disclosure, social media, nature connection and loneliness. Much of our work focuses on addressing these questions during the period of adolescence, but we are interested in the questions across the lifespan as well. We use a combination of research methods to allow us to better understand the experiences that people are having with an aim of identifying how we can maximise positive experiences, and have a benefit for mental health and wellbeing.

For more information see here.