Principal Investigator - Professor Helen Minnis, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I spent time working as an Orphanage Doctor in Guatemala in the 1990s and this stimulated an interest in the effects of early maltreatment on children's development, which has remained my research focus. My research training was in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and my PhD was in Child Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry. I have investigated maltreatment-related disorders as regards prevalence, behavioural genetics and interventions and I am currently interested in why some maltreated children develop psychiatric disorders and others do not. I am a Patron of Scottish Attachment in Action.
Dr Fiona Turner-Halliday, Research Associate, University of Glasgow. I lead on the process evaluation component of the trial. I am a Doctor of Health Psychology with expertise in qualitative health research and led on the DDP trial feasibility. I have undertaken the process evaluation component of the BeST?Services Trial, which has been vital to understanding the contextual factors and perceptions in the system that can affect the running of the trial and the intervention/control services. My main areas of research interest include assessment/ intervention post-maltreatment for children who have suffered abuse and neglect. My PhD looks at the effects of the foster care system on child mental health, particularly on the impact of foster carer commitment to the child. To ensure that qualitative research methods are inclusive in their approach to researching vulnerable groups I am working on recommendations for how we best manage the research process when it comes to gathering information from participants who may find it challenging to verbalise their experiences and perceptions.
Dr Kathleen Boyd, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, University of Glasgow. I am the Team Leader for the Economics Evaluation alongside Clinical Trials programme, supporting and advising researchers, collaborators and research grants regarding trial design, analysis of economic evaluations alongside clinical trials, incorporating modelling and economic evaluations of complex and public health interventions. I have a track record of successful research grants from prestigious UK and international funding bodies working alongside world-leading clinical collaborators to design and undertake economic evaluations within a wide variety of health care areas including oncology, hepatology, obstetrics, child health and social care interventions, diagnostic test studies and smoking cessation interventions.
Professor David Tappin, Clinical Trials for Children, University of Glasgow. I lead the CPIT III trial group, performing evaluation of specialist smoking cessation services for pregnant women throughout Scotland. This group looks at accuracy of self reporting by pregnant smokers, seeking to improve treatment of smoking during pregnancy in Scotland by establishing methods to identify all smokers, improving methods of referral and engagement and treatment including access to nicotine replacement therapy.
Associate Professor Mina Fazel, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the Department of Children’s Psychological Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals. The focus of my work has been on finding ways to improve access to mental health services for children and young people, especially the most vulnerable populations. I have been working for over a decade developing mental health services for refugee children and I am also interested in researching how mental health services can work within schools to reach and treat children who might not easily access services otherwise. In my clinical work, I am part of a team helping children and young people with chronic health difficulties and pain at Oxford Children’s Hospital.
Dr Bridie Fitzpatrick, Project Coordinator. I am an experienced researcher working on trials involving complex interventions for vulnerable populations across multiple sites. I have established a reputation of setting up, implementing and maintaining robust systems for achieving recruitment and retention targets and ensuring the safe and reliable collection, management and transfer of data and samples.
Professor Kapil Sayal, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham. I lead epidemiological and intervention research to improve the identification and mental health outcomes for children and young people in community, school and clinical settings. Following a large RCT of a school-based intervention to prevent depression in high-risk adolescents (PROMISE), I led a trial of a remotely-delivered digital mental health intervention for young people with depression who self-harm (e-DASH). I currently lead a £1.5m multi-site RCT investigating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a standardised diagnostic assessment tool for children and young people referred to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) with emotional difficulties (STADIA).
Fiona Lettice, Adoptive Parent of two young adults. Recently retired. I previously worked in development roles for Scottish Attachment in Action and Adoption UK in Scotland. I have completed Level 1 and Level 2 DDP training. Myself and family members took part in a pilot of DDP over a decade ago. I am one of three Directors of Cairnsmoir Connections a social enterprise based in Scotland, providing books and resources for those living and working with the impact of trauma and adversity.
Carolyn Fair, Director Children and Families, Ealing Council