Kerry Evans is a clinical academic midwife whose research focuses on improving perinatal mental health and maternity care through the development, evaluation and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Working across the NHS and higher education, she combines methodological expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, including realist methodology, complex interventions and clinical trials, with a strong commitment to research that addresses real-world service needs. Kerry is passionate about developing the next generation of clinical academics and leads initiatives to build research capacity across nursing, midwifery and allied health professions. Her research is underpinned by co-production with women, families and communities to ensure that findings translate into meaningful improvements in maternity care and reduce health inequalities.

Dr Katshu is a Clinical Associate Professor and Joint Director of the Centre for Translational Neuroscience in Mental Health at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham. He is the Deputy Lead of Mental Health and Technology theme at NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. He is an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in Early Intervention and Chronic Psychosis and leads the Neuromodulation services at the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He leads the undergraduate Psychiatry teaching at School of Medicine, University of Nottingham. Dr Katshu graduated in Medicine from University of Kashmir. His work focusses on understanding the biological underpinnings of cognitive and clinical features, particularly of psychosis, with the aim to develop individualised treatments, including neuromodulation like TMS and FUS. He has led initiatives to encourage and train interested clinicians from diverse backgrounds, including community psychiatric nurses, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, CBT therapists, and doctors, to take part in research and  is excited to develop this work further through the Wellcome Midlands DTP programme.

Professor Joseph Manning MBE is Professor of Nursing and Child Health at University of Leicester and Nottingham Children’s Hospital.  He is an internationally recognised clinical academic children’s nurse whose clinical and academic work focuses on improving outcomes for children, young people, and families affected by acute illness/injury and mental health challenges.

His research has shaped international understanding of recovery after paediatric critical illness through the development of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome in children (PICS-p), the globally adopted framework for paediatric intensive care survivorship. His work has influenced research, clinical practice, and policy across the UK and internationally.  Joseph also leads research focused on mental health crisis care and patient safety in acute paediatric settings. He has led the development of innovative safety and education interventions, including Our Care Through Our Eyes and the SAPhE® programme, which have influenced clinical practice, workforce education, and service delivery in the UK and internationally.

Alongside his research, Joseph is passionate about supporting the next generation of clinical academic leaders. He mentors nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, and clinicians at all career stages, helping them develop research independence and progress into leadership roles. Joseph holds several national and international leadership roles, including Associate Director of Health Data Research UK Midlands and President-elect (Nursing) of the European Society for Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care.

Director, Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.
Chair, NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration.
NIHR Senior Investigator

Rachel trained in Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital, University of London and completed Psychiatry training in Birmingham. Her research focuses on the identification of novel treatments for early stages of schizophrenia. She has worked with many international colleagues, including as UK lead on EUFP7 PRONIA and NIH funded PRESCIENT/AMP-SCZ cohorts. She leads the UKRI funded Psychosis Immune Mechanism Stratified Medicine Study (PIMS), a collaborative multi-stage project investigating inflammatory mechanisms of psychosis. Her translational research includes NIHR funded Early Psychosis Informatics into Care (EPICare) platform. She is chief investigator and co-investigator on a number of trials for repurposed and targeted treatments.

A clinical and health psychologist, Noelle is Director of Research for the Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology at the University of Leicester, and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Associate Professor of Communication in Mental Health at University of Leicester.

Grazziela Figueredo is an associate professor in Health Data Science at The University of Nottingham. She is also the HDR UK Training Lead for Federated Analytics. Grazziela has a background in computer science and her current research is focussed on developing novel methodologies for big data analytics, federated analytics, systems simulation, and explainable artificial intelligence with applications in the (bio)medical and (bio) materials domains. She is particularly interested at co-development of intelligent healthcare data-driven solutions that incorporate expert clinical and patient feedback to explain, moderate and further validate outcomes of artificial intelligence approaches.

Hayley Crawford is Associate Professor at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick where she leads research that aims to reduce negative clinical outcomes for individuals with intellectual disabilities through improving health care, and developing tools to better understand mental health and behaviour. Hayley leads the DTPs work to foster an inclusive and supportive research culture that prioritises fellows’ integrity, adaptive collaboration and wellbeing.

Dr Elena Nixon is an Assistant Professor in Applied Neuropsychology at the University of Nottingham, working within the Institute of Mental Health since 2013. Her teaching and research focuses on mental health and wellbeing, applied psychology, behavioural sciences and neuroscience, with a particular interest in cognitive-behavioural mechanisms that shape executive functioning, wellbeing and performance in everyday and academic or professional contexts. Her work spans diverse groups including adults and young people, students and trainees, healthcare professionals, and individuals experiencing maladaptive emotional/cognitive states such as depressive and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and offence related psychopathology. This includes research on digital mental health delivery and assessment; behavioural wellbeing intervention development and implementation; wellbeing in remote communities; wellbeing and performance in medical students and healthcare professionals; and the role of affective–cognitive factors in shaping functioning, wellbeing and resilience, with a dedicated focus on dispositional and trained mindfulness. Alongside her research and teaching responsibilities, Elena holds leadership roles in doctoral student academic-pastoral support and interdisciplinary research engagement and development.

Lisa Dikomitis is Professor of Medical Anthropology and Social Sciences and NIHR Senior Investigator. At the University of Warwick (UK) she leads the Directorate of Warwick Applied Health, with 220 staff, in Warwick Medical School. After completing significant ethnographic work on refugee issues and displacement, Dikomitis expanded her research beyond social anthropology to engage with timely issues in health research. Her work is characterized by generating bridges between radically different academic disciplines. Professor Dikomitis has pioneered new and transformative ways of conducting interdisciplinary global health research, combining anthropology, development studies and health services research with culturally appropriate and context-bespoke community engagement. She has led major interdisciplinary research programmes across the UK and globally, securing over £24 million in funding from UK research bodies, with more than £10 million as Principal Investigator. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including several books, and is deeply committed to communicating science publicly, curating exhibitions, producing podcasts and writing regularly for audiences far beyond academia.