Masters

Grainne Cremin - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Project title: Investigate health inequalities and barriers to mental heal

Start / end dates: September 2024 - August 2025

Email: gcremin@tcd.ie

Orla Hilton - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Project title: Consequences of infection on mental health

Brief summary: I am a clinical academic working across the fields of infectious diseases, global neurology, and mental health. I am passionate about providing a holistic, integrated approach to ‘brain health’ in vulnerable populations across the UK and in the Global South. More than 114 million people have been forcefully displaced worldwide, due to conflict, human rights violations and persecution (UNHCR). Asylum seekers and refugees are five times more likely to have mental health needs than the UK population (Refugee Council, England). There are a wide range of contributing factors to mental health disorders in asylum seekers and refugees, but despite a higher incidence of diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis and Hepatitis in this population, the relationship between infection and mental health remains poorly understood. During my MSc I intend to perform research investigating this relationship, in an effort to understand how we can better address the multi-faceted burden of disease in this vulnerable and difficult to access population, with the hope of improving integrated services for effective care of migrants in the long term.

Start / end dates: September 2024 - August 2025

Email: Orla.Hilton@liverpool.ac.uk

Hannah Lehrain - City University

Project title: Difference in response rate to exposure therapies for individuals being treated for baby loss and birth trauma

Brief summary: I am a psychotherapist working in the NHS for the past 13 years. Currently, I am part of a Maternal Mental Health Service with a keen interest in developing better treatments for families who have experienced baby loss and birth trauma. During this degree, I aim to explore the effectiveness of the treatments offered in the Maternal Mental Health Service where I work. My hypothesis is that exposure-based treatments, while effective for birth trauma cases, are less effective for baby loss cases. 

Start / end dates: September 2024 - August 2026

Email: Hannah.lehrain2@nhs.net

Abby List - Teesside University

Project title: Mental health in working mothers, specially those working in front-line health and social care service

Brief summary: I am a Registered Adult Nurse with experience working within critical care and more recently, clinical research. I am currently working for an NIHR funded Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) where I facilitate health inequalities research to support a research culture and capacity within local authority settings. I will be studying part time alongside my position within the HDRC which means that I can link my academic work to my professional role. For my dissertation, I want to explore the mental health effects of shift work and vicarious trauma experienced by mothers with young families working within front-line health and social care services. This is in response to the problems with retainment of NHS staff.

Start / end dates: September 2024 - August 2026

Email: TBC

Florence Watson - Teesside University

Project title: Explore the impact of interventions available to increase sexual safety and reduce sexual harm for mental health inpatients

Brief summary: I have worked within mental health services for over five years in both a research and clinical capacity. My roles have included working as a Healthcare Assistant across various inpatient services, as an Assistant Psychologist within a community mental health team, as a Research Assistant working on an innovative treatment trial for distressing auditory hallucinations and most recently as a research assistant evaluating the implementation of tobacco dependency services across England. I am particularly interested in improving the care of those accessing mental health services through robust, relevant research and evidence informed practise. Patient safety is a core CQC domain and a key priority for NHS England; however, recent headlines from Sky News indicate over 20,000 cases of sexual assault or harassment towards patients and staff across English mental health services since 2019. These figures represent a systemic issue which needs to be urgently addressed. There is currently little evidence examining the impact of interventions that are available to increase sexual safety and reduce sexual harm for those already admitted to mental health hospitals. This review aims to understand more the impact of existing interventions.   

Start / end dates: September 2024 - August 2025

Email: florence.watson3@nhs.net