Cross Council Mental Health Network Plus Call Potential Collaborators
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Medical Research Science & Technology Council Facilities Council Cross Council Mental Health Network Plus call Potential collaborators Jose Abdelnour-Nocera - [email protected] University of West London José Abdelnour Nocera is Associate Professor (Reader) in Sociotechnical Design and Head of the Sociotechnical Centre for Innovation and User Experience at the University of West London. He is the current Chair for UNESCO IFIP TC 13.8 working group in Interaction Design for International Development, as well as Chair for the British Computer Society Sociotechnical Specialist Group. His interests lie in the sociotechnical and cultural aspects of systems design, development and use. In pursuing these interests, he has been involved as researcher and consultant in several projects in the UK and overseas in the domains of mHealth, e-learning, social development, e-commerce, e-governance and enterprise resource planning systems. Dr. Abdelnour-Nocera gained an MSc in Social Psychology from Simon Bolivar University, Venezuela, and a PhD in Computing from The Open University, UK. Charith Abhayaratne - [email protected] University of Sheffield My research expertise is in computer vision, multidimensional signal processing and analysis, video and image coding and streaming, multi-modal sensing, data analysis machine learning and applications in creative industries, networked digital media, security, surveillance, assisted living, healthcare, remote sensing and digital manufacturing. In terms of assisted living, my past projects included vision-based monitoring of lifestyle, behaviour and activities of daily living for promoting independent living for older people. These projects have resulted in tools for fall detection, activity level/intensity estimation, abnormal activity/behaviour pattern detection. All these technologies used low-cost visual sensors and first-person cameras. The algorithms were made privacy-aware visual processing leading to non-visual outputs. The other relevant project includes design of a vision based human balance (sway) monitoring technology, hand gesture recognition, hand gesture-based interface for PC/TV operation, fast signal processing methods for fMRI image analysis. Jim Ang - [email protected] University of Kent I am a Senior Lecturer in Multimedia and Digital Systems. My main research area is in digital health, where I investigate, design and develop new technologies which can provide treatment and management of health conditions through effective prevention, early intervention, personalised treatment and continuous monitoring of the conditions. I am particularly interested in virtual worlds (virtual or augmented reality), computer games and sensing technologies. I work with researchers from various disciplines, including electronic/mechanical engineering, bio and medical sciences, psychology/psychiatry. My recent projects include i) development of algorithms for wristband sensors to monitor epileptic seizures collaborating with a clinical consultant and software companies; ii) design of mobile apps and algorithms for emotion detection based on phone usage patterns ii) design/development of skin-like sensors and the accompanying algorithms for swallowing/checking monitoring; iii) design of virtual reality applications for people with dementia, working with a psychiatry hospital and care homes. Brian Brivati - [email protected] The Stabilisation and Recovery Network Dr Brian Brivati is Director of the Stabilisation and Recovery Network, which is a social enterprise working in conflict and post-conflict situations. It runs PSVI, reconciliation and sub-national governance projects for the FCO in Iraq and incorporates practice based research in trauma and recovery methodologies. TSRN has an academic partnership with Kingston University and their expressive writing and listening project http://www.kingston.ac.uk/research/research-showcase/research-case- studies/expressive-writing-workshops-in-iraq/ Dan Black - [email protected] db+a, UWE and Reading University I am currently Project Director of a 3-year Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health pilot, which aims to make health a priority upstream in urban development decision-making. We have compiled available evidence linking urban form to health outcomes (including mental health), are currently developing the economic valuation of cost-benefit (e.g. proximity to green space), and are undertaking two rounds of ‘elite interviews’ with top executives from six case study partners. We are highly focused on impact, targeting key power centres and dynamics. Our partners include representatives from all the UK’s major urban development delivery agencies: city region, city council, district council, development corporation, FTSE250 volume house- builder and major real estate developer. I have also led two other InnovateUK/NERC-funded studies, which linked projected economic costs of climate change to end payer, and another on what is ‘good density’ development. I specialise also in impact assessment (health/sustainability) for mixed-use large-scale urban development. Dan Bloomfield - [email protected] University of Exeter I have spent four years (funded by NERC and Valuing Nature Programme) developing partnerships between NERC science, primary care referrers, patients, service providers and environmental charities, creating a network of nature-on-referral projects across the south-west (www.adoeofnature.net).This has involved a multi-disciplinary team across the University of Exeter (medical school, life sciences, psychology) and has resulted in ongoing collaborations with local authorities, commissioners and a newly established social prescribing network in Cornwall. Our network would now benefit from help getting grounded in social science and economic evaluation. I work closely with Mind and other mental health charities to make links with relevant research at the university and am an author on a forthcoming systematic review of social prescribing modalities, as well as a psychotherapist focusing on anxiety, hearing voices and eating disorders. Lisa Bortolotti - [email protected] [email protected] I am a Philosopher of the Cognitive Sciences, who is interested in the relationship between rationality and mental health and who has worked on delusion, confabulation, false memory, positive illusions, and break-downs of self-knowledge. I am currently the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant and my project (2014-2019) looks at the unexpected benefits of cognitive states that are either false or irrational. Josefien Breedvelt - [email protected] Mental Health Foundation I am the research manager at the Mental Health Foundation, which is a UK-wide research charity. Our research interest lies in the prevention of mental health problems across the life course, with interest in transitions and pressure points, with a focus on marginalised communities. We are also interested in the potential of digital mental health technology for improving mental health, reducing stress and promoting behaviour change. At the Mental Health Foundation I develop and lead on public mental health research projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have a long-standing history in user-led research, co-production and involvement of people with lived experience. In addition, we are experienced in knowledge exchange activities. For example, the Foundation hosts Mental Health Awareness week and regularly offers an active voice in the public and policy narrative related to public mental health. Liz Brewster - [email protected] Lancaster University My research focuses on self-directed, self-defined, non-medical interventions for mental health. I am interested in how people find small-scale solutions to manage their mental health and well-being for themselves without engaging with health services, and what health services can learn from this. My work has previously focused on reading (fiction, poetry, self-help, non-fiction) and online photography sharing for mental health. I currently work on digital daily practices – everyday activities that connect online communities and improve well-being. My interest is in exploring the affordances and complexities of these practices, with a view to considering equitable and safe access for vulnerable groups. I also lead research with aged military veterans, exploring storytelling and autobiography in the context of well-being. I am an experienced qualitative researcher, using ethnographic methods to facilitate healthcare improvement. I hold a PhD from the University of Sheffield and work as a lecturer at Lancaster University. Matthew Broome - [email protected] University of Birmingham I am Professor of Psychiatry and Youth Mental Health and Director of the Institute of Mental Health at the University of Birmingham. http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/psychology/ news-events/2017/26Jul-spotlight-imh.aspx The IMH at Birmingham is explicitly interdisciplinary, including colleagues from social science, education, psychology, philosophy & ethics, psychiatry, neuroimaging, and sport, exercise & rehabilitation sciences, as well as colleagues in the NHS and Third Sector. My own research has been largely in the area of early intervention and in psychosis, particularly in those at risk of developing psychotic illness, and in the formation of delusions, utilizing functional neuroimaging, cognitive neuropsychology, psychopathology and health service evaluation methodologies.