Professor Helen Minnis, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Glasgow. Joint Principal Investigator and expert on trials of interventions to improve the mental health of chidlren and families involved in social care.
Helen has experience in epidemiology and trials. Helen has had a clinical research interest in the mental health problems of children in foster and adoptive placements for many years and, recently, her team has been focusing on testing the cost-effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for this group of children and their families. This includes an ongoing randomised controlled trial of an infant mental health service for abused and neglected chidlren (BeST?).
Matt Forde, Partnerships & Development Director, NSPCC, Joint Principal Investigator / Lead Applicant with expertise in developing and scaling up integrated health and social care models.
Matt joined the NSPCC in 2010 as first National Head for Scotland. Previously, worked in statutory children's services, researching childhood experiences of offenders led him to develop evidence-based prevention services. Matt is a registered social worker who is active in policy, practice development, and research projects. In 2014, completed a Winston Churchill fellowship travelling in the USA and Europe to explore insights in preventing child abuse and upholding children's rights.
Kirsty Macleod, Project Manager, University of Glasgow
Kirsty is responsible for the coordination and management of the study across sites in Scotland and Englan. Kirsty's role includes ethical approvals, governance, reporting, budget management and partnership working with the referring sites and delivery partners (NSPCC). Before joining the team, Kirsty worked in the mental health sector, in education and community services in various roles, including strategical lead, team management and care-coordination.
Abdullah Alvi, Project Manager, University of Glasgow.
Abdullah has specialise in complex, collaboration, multi-stakeholder healthcare delivery projects. He has extensive experience in clinical trial across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He is currently involved in developing branding and a comms strategy for Partnership for Change.
Sharon Graham, Patient and Public Lead, University of Glasgow
Sharon has experience of the care system and professional experience of supporting parents and families who access social care. Sharon works in person centred and trauma informed way and will work in partnership with two groups of parent collaborators from Glasgow and Bromley to shape the development of the intervention and research.
Lindsay Dalgarno, Research Associate, University of Glasgow.
Lindsay is an experienced researcher on all aspects of social and health focused mixed methods studies and has particular expertise in qualitative research and analyses. Interests include societal impact on quality of life, health and wellbeing across a range of adult and child populations. Lindsay has worked on feasibility and pilot studies to multisite randomised controlled trials including formal process evaluations.
Anne Burns, Family Recruitment Manager, University of Glasgow
Anne worked in NHS children's services for over 40 years as a nurse, midwife, health visitor and had a lead role for maternal and child health improvement. The last 10 years she has been working in Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) as a Supervisor and then Lead Nurse/Service Manager. Anne has always been interested in maternal and child health, and this was the focus of her Masters research. She has a BSc in Health Studies, a Masters in Primary Care and a post-graduate diploma in Child Protection.
Jaycee Pownall, Research Associate
Jaycee has 18 years' research/teaching experience. Jaycee has worked on a broad range of qualitative and quantitative projects, with particular focus on neurodiversity and health and well-being. Interests include exploring sex and relationship issues for young people with intellectual disabilities and their families and recently exploring alternative models of education for youths who experience school attendance difficulties. Jaycee is committed to working within a research framework of improving the health, well-being, and rights of vulnerable and socially excluded individuals.
Karen Bates, Specialist Partnership Assistant Director, NSPCC.
Karen has a wealth of experience in social work, direct work with children and families and significant management experience across a broad range of services. Karen has been involved in the development and delivery of different research projects, collaborating with academics and service leads to evaluate and scale up services. Karen has a BSc (Econ) in Psychology and Social Anthropology, a Dip SW and MA in Advanced SW.
Vicky Allen, Partnership Development Manager, NSPCC.
Vicky has a background in public sector Early Help and Preventive service development with a particular focus on Early Childhood. As well as leading services Vicky's career has included working as a practitioner with children, young people (0-19 years) and their families across a broad range of areas. Vicky works with NSPCC in Service Development and has a BSc in Child and Family Studies.
Emily Robson-Brown, Acting Development Manager, NSPCC.
Emily has a background in research evaluation, and worked with charities and local authorities in various areas with focus on social justice, specialises in Violence Against Women and Girls/domestic abuse and, Relationship and Sex Education (RSE). Emily works with NSPCC in Service Development, and has worked on projects in child brain development, prevention for child sexual abuse and families facing multiple adversity. Emily has a BSc in Psychology with Sociology, an MSc in Psychological Approaches to Health and a PhD with a focus on young people, gender, sexuality and domestic abuse. Emily is also an Education and Welling Specialist for Brook.
Ciara MacLaverty, Administrative Assistant, University of Glasgow
Ciara previously worked as a Survey Assistant at the University of Glasgow, collecting data in schools, prisons and marginalized communities. She enjoyed working on controlled trials aimed at improving health and wellbeing. Ciara understands the importance of research partnerships and the value of incorporating the lived experience of participants, and is keen to contribute her skills to help facilitate and advance the study.
Irene O'Neill, Senior Business Support Administrator, University of Glasgow / NHS GG&C
Irene has worked with the team for over 30 years and has built up a wealth of experience, and provides administrative support to various projects, for example budget-monitoring, site file maintenance, organising conferences, and website development/maintenance.