It’s been a busy few weeks at DECIPHer. Here are the newest recruits
Erin Doherty, Research Administration Assistant and Personal Assistant to Dr Graham Moore
Erin graduated from Cardiff University in June 2017 with an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences (BSc BPS accreditation). Since graduating, she has worked with the University English Language Programmes as social programme assistant for the international students taking part in the pre-sessional summer school. After working for Cardiff Council in Connect 2 Cardiff on Council Tax and Housing Benefit, she now joins us here at DECIPHer.
Erin is looking forward being involved in the administration of public health research with WISE (Wellbeing in Secondary Education), TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) and CHETS3 (Changes in Child Exposure to E-Cigarettes and Tobacco Smoke; Wales). Erin will also be Dr Graham Moore’s part-time PA, offering general project support.
Jesse Smith, Fulbright Postgraduate Fellow
Jesse has recently joined us as a postgraduate fellow through the US-UK Fulbright Program. He is pursuing an MPH at the School of Medicine and will be investigating pathways to effectively improve depression outcomes for at-risk individuals, as well as collaborating on several ongoing projects to gain experience in the field.
Having recently graduated from Mississippi State University, Jesse previously majored in biological engineering and investigated the mechanics/epigenetics of traumatic brain injury. Prior to this role, he worked as a research assistant in the Department of Psychology at MSU, as well as researching the neurobiology of spinal cord injury at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He co-founded his university’s chapter of Gift of Life Marrow Registry and has spent time with Global Medical Brigades in Honduras as a public health volunteer.
Jesse is keen to merge his engineering and neuroscience experience with a public health perspective of mental wellbeing and looks forward to working across disciplines at DECIPHer.
Rebecca Anthony, Research Associate
Rebecca has recently taken up the position of research associate at DECIPHer, and will be leading and supporting the development of policy reports and peer-reviewed publications using data generated by the School Health Research Network (SHRN). She will be conducting public health improvement research at the intersection of the fields of child and adolescent development, children’s social care and education.
Prior to joining us, Rebecca worked as a researcher at Dartington Social Research Unit, University of East Anglia and Swansea University. At Dartington, Rebecca worked on a wide range of projects, including the joint management of a project with a local authority assessing how well children’s needs were being met by local services, using an assessment framework. At the University of East Anglia, Rebecca carried out an extensive qualitative evaluation of the Common Assessment Framework in Wales. At Swansea University, Rebecca was Trial Manager for a Randomised Controlled Trial evaluation of the Family Links Nurturing Programme, which took place across four South Wales sites.
Alongside research, Rebecca trained as a counsellor and worked for the Aneurin Bevan health board, delivering solution-focused counselling interventions to people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.
Rebecca has recently submitted a PhD investigating parent-child relationship quality and psychological well-being among adoptive families at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University. With a background in Psychology, clinical trials and complex interventions, Rebecca is looking forward to building on the research from the PhD and to develop new research ideas with the DECIPHer team. Her research interests include: looked-after children, adoption, parenting, complex interventions, therapeutic interventions, education, mixed methods, mental health and wellbeing.