Ms Nooreen Akhtar
Nooreen is currently carrying out a content analysis of the use of the term "anti-depressant" and that of related drugs in UK newspapers. The principal aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the kind of information available to the general public on anti-depressants via newspapers. This could be used to formulate a way to improve the available information by working alongside the media, as well as providing a base for further study of the public's perception of anti-depressants. |
Dr Daniel Bennett
Dr Daniel Bennett is a Clinical Lecturer here at the University and practices clinically in Forensic Psychiatry. He is a graduate of the University, completed his core training in the North of Scotland Deanery and is in his final year of the national forensic training programme. He has a number of research interests in the fields of electro-convulsive therapy, medical education and forensic psychiatry. At present Daniel is pursuing projects relating to the cognitive outcomes of ECT and their relationship to the genetic profile of the patient. He is also involved in co-ordinating ECT research and Audit on the National Stage through the Royal College Special Committee on ECT and related treatments. His educational interests include improving the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduates in psychiatry and he is currently investigating the use of the portfolio in postgraduate medical training. |
Dr Isobel Cameron
The focus of Isobel's research is on the detection and treatment of depression in primary care. She has conducted epidemiological studies investigating factors associated with, and that follow on from, the detection of depression in primary care. Her work also includes studies which assess the appropriateness of antidepressant treatment in primary care and the monitoring of treatment. Additionally she conducts research on the psychometric properties of depression severity measures. A further interest of Isobel's is on the role of culture in the manifestations of depression. |
Dr James Currie
James' research is investigating decision-making in schizophrenia using game theory and functional neuro-imaging. This is the subject of his PhD and has been his focus for the past year. James is a Clinical Lecturer and trainee psychiatrist who has taken 3 years out from training to complete this PhD. |
Dr James Cusack
James is a research fellow on the Northern temperament programme. His current research is focussing on the effect of culture on the facial expression of emotion. James is also interested in the development of automated techniques to measure facial expression and their potential application to the study of mood disorders, as well as other psychiatric disorders. In his PhD he studied biological motion perception in autism with Dr Peter Neri and Dr Justin Williams. He has also worked at the University of Oxford on "Psychophysiological response to eye gaze in autism", and with a group of leading British autism researchers on "Educational outcomes in autism". He is a member of the special advisory board on: "The future of autism research in the UK". James also played a central role in the inception of Scotland's first ever autism strategy. |
Dr Gordon Fernie
Gordon is employed by the Scottish Mental Health Research Network (SMHRN) to facilitate ongoing research in the Department of Mental Health. This includes examining memory impairments in depressed patients while they undergo Electro-Convulsive Therapy. Tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), the mini-mental state examination and subjective memory scales are being compared across treatment (pre-ECT, after 4 sessions, on ECT completion) and post-treatment (1 month, 3 months and 6 months). Before coming to Aberdeen Gordon carried out post-doctoral research work on the relationships between impulsivity, attentional bias and alcohol consumption in adolescents in the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool until 2010. His PhD used laboratory-based behavioural experiments to investigate the factors involved in learning on a popular decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task. |
Dr Ross Hamilton
Ross is an NHS consultant psychiatrist who works in the department as a senior lecturer. Ross has a health services research background and currently leads a protocol development group investigating management strategies in addressing obesity in schizophrenia. He is also the Scottish Mental Health Research Network's regional lead for Grampian and is PI in Grampian for their Research Register and the Family and Population Genetics Studies in Mental Illness. Ross currently collaborates with a number of senior psychiatric trainees and also nursing staff in research projects involving "Therapeutic Time" on psychiatric wards, nursing observation levels and clinical audits. He introduced and has helped organise the senior psychiatric trainees' annual research jamboree for the last 5 years. |
Dr Mariesha Jaffray
Mariesha's research is concerned with the management of depression in primary care. Her most recent project is exploring reasons for early discontinuation of treatment with antidepressants. She is soon to commence work on an international, multidisciplinary project involving researchers from the UK and India exploring the potential use of mobile phone technology to support the management of depression in rural areas. She is also interested and has conducted research exploring the successful management and implementation of change in the healthcare setting. |
Nattaporn Opasanon
Nan is in the first year of her PhD supervised by Justin Williams. She is developing a visuospatial working memory training program for children with ADHD. The purpose for this program is to compare traditional visuospatial working memory training with a new program that combines visuospatial and the movement working memory. Nan's hypothesis is that if both visual sensation and movement are stimulated then this training program could improve the working memory of children with ADHD. |
Dr Jennifer Perrin
Jennifer is a research fellow whose research interests include sex differences in the structure and function of the brain, as well as in mental disorders. Jennifer is involved with research into electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) including a neuroimaging study examining the effects of ECT on the structure and function of the brain. Jennifer, along with colleagues in Aberdeen, is currently running a clinical trial examining the use of ketamine as the anaesthetic for ECT treatment. |
Professor Ian Reid
Ian is Professor of Mental Health and Clinical Lead for Psychiatry here at the University of Aberdeen. Ian has a long-standing interest in depressive disorder and his current research portfolio ranges from trans-species molecular and imaging studies to analysis of treatment strategies in primary care. Ian is also Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatry special committee on ECT, and his recent work has focused on the biology of the efficacy and adverse effects of this therapy, encompassing clinical trials and neuroimaging projects. Ian studied for his PhD in neuroscience as a Wellcome research fellow in Edinburgh. |
Grit Scheffler
Grit is a PhD student supervised by Justin Williams and is investigating if non-invasive brain stimulation (trans Direct Current Stimulation; tDCS) can facilitate motor learning in children and young people with cerebral palsy. She is using mixed methods to test if tDCS improves arm movement in these children with the further aim of assessing the acceptability of this method as a potential therapeutic tool. |
Dr Richard Taylor
Dr Richard Taylor is an SD Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Mental Health at Aberdeen University. He is currently part of the IPT Training Committee of IPT Scotland (part of the IPT-UK network) and delivers and supervises all accredited IPT training for NHS Grampian. He has NHS training in group and individual psychodynamic psychotherapy as well as MBT and is part of Aberdeen's active MBT group/individual clinical treatment programme for BPD patients. He also works with the interface Urgent Psychiatric Referrals team as part of his clinical commitment. Richard is currently lead applicant on an Aberdeen-Edinburgh-London joint pilot study comparing DIT v CBT for depression. He is wanting to evaluate the role and feasibility of training and delivering DIT in psychodynamic service provisions in NHS Scotland as a whole for affective disorders. |
Dr Justin Williams
Justin's research is focussed on the development of motor control and social behaviour in typical and atypical populations, particularly with respect to imitation and autism, in order to better understand how a child's neurodevelopment mediates between their experience of their environment and the development of cognition. He uses MRI, kinematic and other computerised technologies to explore these topics. |
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Research Team
