Our researchers and research team

Profile

I am the Trust R&D Lead and have worked in Research at HPFT since 2001. I am responsible for the Trust’s research portfolio, which includes all ongoing research studies, the R&D Team, and the R&D Finances. My background is in psychology (BSc) and I have a PhD in cognitive neuropsychology from The University of Hertfordshire (UoH). I have held a visiting Professorship with UoH since 2008 and have supervised 8 PhD students in this time. I represent HPFT on the UoH Advisory Group for Research Governance of Clinical Studies. I am an academic member of the NIHR and review grant applications for them.

I have research interests in several areas including cognitive neuropsychology of dementia and brain injury, object recognition and conceptual representation in the brain, abnormal psychology (depression, OCD, schizophrenia), risk assessment and scale development. I have published more than 100 research papers across all these areas.

Recent Publications and Grants

• Gale, T. M., Woodward, J., Meredith-Windle, G., Balakumar, T., Littlechild, B., & Hawley, C. J. (2022). Whole Life: a feasibility study of a recovery-focussed intervention in patients with stabilised schizophrenia [version 2; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]. NIHR open research, 1(9).

• Toutountzidis, D., Gale, T. M., Irvine, K., Sharma, S., & Laws, K. R. (2022). Childhood trauma and schizotypy in non-clinical samples: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos one, 17(6), e0270494.

• Gale, T. M., & Boland, B. (2021). COVID-19 deaths in a secondary mental health service. Comprehensive psychiatry, 111, 152277.

• Boland, B., & Gale, T.M. (2020). Mental and behavioural disorders and COVID-19-associated death in older people. BJPsych Open, 6(5), E101. doi:10.1192/bjo.2020.87

• Gale, T. M., & Boland, B. (2019). A model for predicting missing items on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS), Comprehensive Psychiatry, 93, 61-64.

Books

Category Specificity: Evidence of Modularity of Mind (ISBN 978-1608766437) Authors: Laws, K.R., Adlington, R.L., Moreno-Martinez, F, J., Gale T.M. (2011) NOVA

Recent Book Chapter: Gale, T.M., Larner, A.J. (2017). Six-Item Cognitive Impairment Test (6CIT). In: Larner, A.J. (eds) Cognitive Screening Instruments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44775-9_11

Grants

I have held grants from The British Academy and National Institute of Health Research over the last two decades.

Contact Details:

t.gale@herts.ac.uk  or  tim.gale@nhs.net

Profile

Professor Asif Zia is a consultant psychiatrist and executive director for Quality and Medical Leadership at Hertfordshire Partnership University Foundation Trust. Asif has also been appointed as chair of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network's Medical Director Forum for the NHS Confederation in July 2022. He has been involved in service development and quality improvement activities at regional and national level. He has published peer reviewed papers and policy documents on models of service delivery, quality standards, service users’ engagement, managed clinical networks, and on clinical topics such as epilepsy and autism. Asif was awarded professional of the year by the Royal College of the Psychiatrist in 2021.

Recent Publications

• Gates, Bob & Sawhney, Inder & Alexander, Regi & Shardlow, Sophie & Zia, Asif. (2022). Telepsychiatry for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health difficulties during Covid-19 pandemic: survey of self-reported experience and acceptability to patients, carers and psychiatrists in the UK. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities. 1-7. 10.1080/20473869.2022.2143047.

• Velani, Bharat & Sawhney, Inder & Alexander, Regi & Shardlow, Sophie & Zia, Asif. (2022). Implementing proposed reforms of the Mental Health Act for people with intellectual disability and autism: the perspective of multidisciplinary professionals in intellectual disability teams. BJPsych Open. 8. 10.1192/bjo.2022.604.

• Sawhney, Inder & Bassett, Paul & Zia, Asif & Alexander, Regi & Shankar, Rohit. (2021). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in people with intellectual disability: statistical approach to developing a bespoke screening tool. BJPsych Open. 7. 10.1192/bjo.2021.1023.

• Alexander, Regi & Zia, Asif & Hunt, Anne & Chester, Verity & Langdon, Peter & Devapriam, John & Gangadharan, Satheesh & Shankar, Rohit. (2020). People with Intellectual Disability and Mental Health/Behavioural Problems: Guidance on COVID-19 for Community Settings.

Contact Details

a.zia@nhs.net

MBBS, MA, MRCPsych

Profile

Professor Naomi Fineberg is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Hertfordshire, and a Consultant Psychiatrist at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT), where she leads the HPFT centre within the NHS England, Highly Specialised Service for Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders (OCRD). She currently chairs the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Anxiety & Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Scientific Section and the European Union COST Action into Problematic Internet Usage, and is Secretary of the International College of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. Professor Fineberg has a substantial track record in the investigation of the neurobiology and treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and disorders of behavioural addiction. She has published widely in the field and her publications are highly cited. She is the Editor in Chief of Comprehensive Psychiatry.

Publications

• Feasibility, acceptability and practicality of transcranial stimulation in obsessive compulsive symptoms (FEATSOCS): A randomised controlled crossover trial

• Fineberg, N., Cinosi, E., Smith, M., Busby, A., Wellsted, D., Huneke, N., Garg, K., Aslan, I., Enara, A., Garner, M., Gordon, R., Hall, N., Meron, D., Robbins, T., Wyatt, S., Pellegrini, L. & Baldwin, D. S., 26 Jan 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Comprehensive Psychiatry.

• Effects of exercise on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• Bottoms, L., Prat Pons, M., Fineberg, N., Pellegrini, L., Fox, O., Wellsted, D., Drummond, L. M., Reid, J., Baldwin, D., Hou, R., Chamberlain, S. R., Sireau, N., Grohmann, D. & Laws, K., 21 Dec 2022, In: International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice.

• Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (r-TMS) and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Resistance in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis and Clinical Implications

• Pellegrini, L., Garg, K., Enara, A., Gottlieb, D. S., Wellsted, D., Albert, U., Laws, K. & Fineberg, N., 31 Oct 2022, In: Comprehensive Psychiatry. 118, 9 p., 152339.

• Advances in Problematic Usage of the Internet Research – A Narrative Review by Experts from the European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet

• Fineberg, N., Menchon, J. M., Hall, N., Dell'Osso, B., Brand, M., Potenza, M., Chamberlain, S. R., Cirnigliaro, G., Lochner, C., Billieux, J., Demetrovics, Z., Rumpf, H. J., Muller, A., Castro-Calvo, J., Hollander, E., Burkauskas, J., Grünblatt, E., Walitza, S., Corazza, O., King, D. L., & 24 others, 30 Oct 2022, In: Comprehensive Psychiatry. 118, 24 p., 152346.

Contact Details:

naomi.fineberg@nhs.net

Profile

Working across hospital and community forensic services in psychiatry, Regi Alexander is a Consultant Psychiatrist based within the Trust’s Norfolk services and clinical lead in Forensic Learning Disability in the NHS East of England Provider Collaborative. A fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and visiting professor at the University of Hertfordshire, he is also president of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Intellectual Disability Section and convenor of RADiANT (Research in Developmental Neuropsychiatry), a network of NHS Trusts, academics, service users, family members and community leaders (http://radiant.nhs.uk)

Area of Research Interest

A full-time practising clinician throughout his career, his research interests focus on the interface between neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric illnesses and challenging or offending behaviour. He is the author of about 100 research papers, book chapters, treatment guidelines, monographs, and articles in the lay press on these topics.

Recent Publications and Grants

Publications

• Tromans, S., Bhui, K., Sawhney, I., Odiyoor, M., Courtenay, K., Roy, A., Boer, H., Alexander, R., Biswas, A., McCarthy, J., Gulati, G., Laugharne, R. and Shankar, R. (2023) “The potential unintended consequences of Mental Health Act reforms in England and Wales on people with intellectual disability and/or autism,” The British Journal of Psychiatry. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–3. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2023.10.

• Langdon, P.E., Thompson, P.A., Shepstone, L., Perez‐Olivas, G., Melvin, C.L., Barnoux, M., Alexander, R., Roy, A. and Devapriam, J., 2023. Psychiatric inpatient admissions and discharges of people with intellectual disabilities: A time series analysis of English national data. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 36(1), pp.196-204.

• Hanson, P., Lange, M., Oduro-Donkor, D., Shuttlewood, E., Weickert, M.O., Randeva, H.S., Menon, V., Alexander, R.T., Basset, P., Shankar, R. and Barber, T.M., 2022. The role of mindfulness training in sustaining weight reduction: retrospective cohort analysis. BJPsych Open, 8(6), p.e198.

• Velani, B., Sawhney, I., Alexander, R.T., Shardlow, S. and Zia, A., 2022. Implementing proposed reforms of the Mental Health Act for people with intellectual disability and autism: the perspective of multidisciplinary professionals in intellectual disability teams. BJPsych Open, 8(6), p.e197.

• Melvin, C.L., Barnoux, M., Alexander, R., Roy, A., Devapriam, J., Blair, R., Tromans, S., Shepstone, L. and Langdon, P.E., 2022. A systematic review of in-patient psychiatric care for people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism: effectiveness, patient safety and experience. BJPsych Open, 8(6), p.e187.

Grants

RCT of group CBT for men with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and harmful sexual behaviour: the HaSB-IDD trial, Award ID: NIHR128550, £1,544,377.06, co-investigator https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR128550

A multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial of SerTRaline for AnxieTy in adults with Autism (STRATA), Award ID: NIHR127337, £1,892,956.87, co-investigator https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR127337

People with AuTism detained within hospitals: defining the population, understanding aetiology and improving Care patHways (The mATCH study), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme: PB-PG-0214-33040, Award: £350,000, co-investigator https://research.kent.ac.uk/tizard/the-match-study/

Books

Editor, Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability, Oxford University Press, 2020

Editor, Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Clinical Guide, Cambridge University Press, in press, expected publication May 2023

Editor, Oxford Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability, Oxford University Press, in press, expected publication December 2023

Editor, Frith Prescribing Guidelines for People with Disorders of Intellectual Development, 4^th edition, Cambridge University Press, expected publication December 2023

Contact Details:

regialexander@nhs.net

Profile 

Dr Chetan Shah is an experienced healthcare leader, clinician and researcher who has worked across a variety of areas within the NHS and academia. Chetan holds an undergraduate degree in pharmacy, postgraduate qualifications in clinical pharmacy and psychiatry. Chetan has held senior roles within the NHS including Chief Pharmacist and within national organisations. Chetan has also held a variety of other appointments that include being a pharmacy advocate for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Greater London Primary Care Research Network, a member of the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Community Nursing, a peer reviewer for several health-related journals and he currently acts as an associate adviser to the NHS Resolution Practice Performance Advice Team.

Areas of Research Interest

Chetan’s areas of research interest include medicines safety, mental health and learning disabilities, and workforce development. His PhD explored the delivery of medicines optimisation through strategic leadership within the context of medicines safety, mental health, and multi-disciplinary working. Chetan has over 30 publications in peer reviewed journals, presented at national and international conferences and been invited as an expert member on several steering groups.

Publications

• Adams D, Hastings RP, Maidment I, Shah C and Langdon PE (2023). Deprescribing psychotropic medicines for behaviours that challenge in people with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry. 28;23(1):202. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-04479-w.

• Shah P, Shah C and Umaru N (2022). Assessing the impact of a specialist mental health pharmacist in a primary care mental health service. Pharmacy Management Healthcare Journal. (2); 18-25.

• Shah C, Singh P, Matin S et al. (2021) An evaluation of a physician associate led enhanced physical health clinic for people with severe mental illness (SMI) in the United Kingdom. Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. 34(8), 1-6. Available via DOI:10.1097/01.JAA.

• Shah C, Umaru N, Adams E et al. (2021) Assessment of the impact of integrating pharmacist independent prescribers into child and adolescent mental health services. The Pharmaceutical Journal, Online: DOI:10.1211/PJ.2021.1.45513.

• Vekaria S, Shah C, Barnett N et al. (2020). Implementing a pharmacist-led medicines optimisation clinic in a community mental health team. Journal of medicines Optimisation. 6 (2); 42-51

• Shah C, Hough J, Jani Y (2018). Medicine’s reconciliation in primary care: a study evaluating the quality of medication-related information provided on discharge from secondary care. Eur J Hosp Pharm:1–6.

Contact Details:

chetanshah@nhs.net

Profile

Dr Cinosi is Consultant Psychiatrist at HPFT and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. He specialised in Psychiatry developing clinical and academic skills at the Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University “G. d'Annunzio”, Chieti, Italy. He expanded subspecialist interest in Eating Disorders qualifying with a II Level Master Degree at the Specialized Centre “Palazzo Francisci”, Todi, Italy. In the UK, Dr Cinosi acquired further subspecialist clinical and academic interest in Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders working in the HPFT Highly Specialized National OCD/BDD Treatment Service. He co-leads the General Adult Mental Health Research Workstream, and he is member of the HPFT Research Board.

Area of research interest

His areas of research interest include compulsivity and impulsivity, new clinical challenges and treatment perspectives in psychiatric disorders. Dr Cinosi led the NIHR-funded neurostimulation trial of tDCS in OCD “Feasibility and Acceptability Of Transcranial Stimulation in Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms (FEATSOCS)” in the HPFT Highly Specialized National OCD/BDD Treatment Service. He had been Management Committee Member for the United Kingdom COST Action –“European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet" (PUI). Dr Cinosi co-authored several scientific peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and conference presentations.  

Recent peer-reviewed publications and book chapters

• Pellegrini L, Cinosi E, Wellsted D, Smith M, Busby A, Hall N, Albert U, Aslan I, Garner M, Chamberlain SR, Robbins TW, Baldwin DS, Fineberg NA. Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at different cortical targets on cognition in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): an exploratory analysis. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2025 Apr 4. doi: 10.1097/YIC.0000000000000589. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40178114.

• Fineberg NA, Cinosi E, Smith MVA, Busby AD, Wellsted D, Huneke NTM, Garg K, Aslan IH, Enara A, Garner M, Gordon R, Hall N, Meron D, Robbins TW, Wyatt S, Pellegrini L, Baldwin DS. Feasibility, acceptability and practicality of transcranial stimulation in obsessive compulsive symptoms (FEATSOCS): A randomised controlled crossover trial. Compr Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 26;122:152371

• Grundmann O, Veltri CA, Morcos D, Knightes D, Smith KE, Singh D, Corazza O, Cinosi E, Martinotti G, Walsh Z, Swogger MT. Exploring the self-reported motivations of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth.) use: a cross-sectional investigation. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2022 Jul 4;48(4):433-444

• Cinosi E, Adam D, Aslan I, Baldwin D, Chillingsworth K, Enara A, Gale T, Garg K, Garner M, Gordon R, Hall N, Huneke NTM, Kucukterzi-Ali S, McCarthy J, Meron D, Monji-Patel D, Mooney R, Robbins T, Smith M, Sireau N, Wellsted D, Wyatt S, Fineberg NA. Feasibility and acceptability of transcranial stimulation in obsessive-compulsive symptoms (FEATSOCS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2021 Dec 6;7(1):213.

• Benedetta M. Grancini,  Kevin J. Craig, Eduardo Cinosi, Ayotunde Shodunke,  Jemma Reid,  Zoya Marinova, Naomi A. Fineberg. Pharmacotherapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In: The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Textbook of Anxiety, Trauma, and OCD-related Disorders. The American Psychiatric Association Publishing Textbook of Anxiety, Trauma, and OCD-Related Disorders. Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub. 2020

• Fineberg NA, Drummond LM, Reid J, Cinosi E, Carmi L, Mpavaenda DN. Management and treatment of OCD. in Geddes JR, Andreasen NC and Goodwin GM (Eds). The New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry 3edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 2020

Contact Details:

eduardo.cinosi@nhs.net

MBBS, FRCPsych, DPM (I), DPM, FRCPC, FRCP (Edin)

Profile

Dr. Mirza is currently employed as a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the HPFT NHS trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. He is the lead for research in the Children and Young People (CYP) Services work stream at HPFT NHS trust and lead for the ADHD services at East Herts CYP. Dr. Mirza has held senior academic and clinical positions in major universities across the world over the previous 26 years including University of Cambridge, UK, Dalhousie University Canada, and Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London.  He has held research and educational grants, and conducted research into the neurobiology of childhood maltreatment, substance misuse, ADHD, PTSD, depression, and psychopharmacology. Dr. Mirza has written numerous peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters on ADHD, Depression, Substance misuse, PTSD, and psychopharmacology.  He has edited special issues and served on the editorial board   of international journals.  He was a member of the Curriculum committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Faculty of Child and Adolescent psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which produced a competence-based curriculum for the higher specialist training in child and adolescent psychiatry in the UK. He held the posts of Postgraduate Training Programme director at the Guys Kings and St. Thomas’s Medical school, London and Lead for the training Programme at the Maudsley Higher Specialist Training Programme. He has served as a research guide and examiner to fellows and students, both nationally and internationally. He has lectured to learned societies over the world, conducted international conferences and continues to teach at universities in Japan, Ireland, and India, as a visiting lecturer.

Areas of Research Interest

His areas of research interest include neuroimaging in childhood maltreatment, relationship between developmental trauma and ADHD, Psychological treatments of ADHD, Substance misuse in young people, Depression in young people, psychopharmacology, post-traumatic stress disorder in children and epidemiology of child psychiatric disorders in developing countries. He is currently involved in several research projects including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in adolescent depression, relationship between ADHD and problematic internet use, relationship between Developmental trauma disorder (Complex PTSD) and ADHD and psychological treatment of ADHD.

Recent Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals and Textbook Chapters

• Lim L, Hart H, Mirza KAH, Rubiya K, et al (2019) Altered white matter connectivity in young people exposed to childhood abuse: a tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) and tractography study. Journal of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, 44(4): DOI: 10.1503/jpn.170241.

• Mirza KAH, Sudesh S, Sudesh R (2019) Misuse of drugs and alcohol and other substance in Mental Health and illness of Children and Adolescents, Edited by Eric Taylor, Anula Nikapota, Verlhurst F, Keiko Yoshida, and  John Wong, Series on Mental Health and Illness world wide, series editor Norman Sartorious and Ee Heok Kua, Springer, New York

• Hart H, Lim L, Mirza KAH, Rubiya K, et al (2018) Altered functional connectivity of fronto-cingulo-striatal circuits during error monitoring in adolescents with a history of childhood abuse. Frontiers in Human Neurosciences, 12(7): 1-14.

• Mirza KAH, Sudesh R, Mirza. S (2017) Substance misuse in young people, in Child Psychology and Psychiatry: Frameworks for Clinical Practice and Training, Third Edition. Edited by David Skuse, Helen Bruce and Linda Downey, 2017 John Wiley and sons Ltd pp 315-328.

• Mirza KAH, Sudesh R, Mirza. S (2017) A guide to Childhood ADHD- commissioned review article by British Journal of Hospital Medicine, supplement pp 23-28  

Books Edited

Mirza, K.A.H, Dinan, T. G (Editors) :  A Concise Text book  of Clinical Psychiatry,        Euroscience publishers, London, U.K, 2001.

Mirza, K.A.H, Dinan, T. G (Editors)   A Concise Text book  of the Scientific Basis of Psychiatry, Euroscience publishers, London, UK 2010

Grants

Reta Lila Weston Trust for Medical Research (£400,000): Neurobiology of childhood Maltreatment: (Mirza KAH, Rubia K) December 2010.

Psychiatric Research Trust fund, institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London: (£15,000) Epidemiological of child psychiatric morbidity in Kerala, an exploratory study, Mirza KAH, Goodman R, January 2011   

Anglia and Oxford Regional Research and Development Grants ( £49,000 ): A prospective study of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in children and adolescents  following road traffic accidents (K.A.H.Mirza, B. Bhadrinath, I. Goodyer) January 1996.

Contact Details:

k.mirza@nhs.net

PhD, DClinPrac, MSc Health-Law

Profile

He is the joint Lead of the General Adult Mental Health Research Working Group and a member of the HPFT Research Board. Dr. Davis Mpavaenda (PhD), a doctorate in clinical practice is dual trained in; Psychotherapy (specialising in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and Mental Health Nursing (special interest in psychopharmacotherapy). He is Principal Cognitive Behaviour & Neuroscience Psychotherapist in the National Health Service. Dr Mpavaenda is UK expert work is in the area of treatment resistant OCD and OCRDs wherein he treats OCD patients with behavioural therapy as well as providing clinical supervision and training to clinicians and therapists in the NHS across England. He is an honorary senior clinical lecturer at University of Hertfordshire.

Areas of Research Interest

His research interest is in behavioural treatment effects and cognitive-related responses in treatment resistant OCRDs. Among other research studies, he is currently investigating, alongside Professor Fineberg in collaboration with the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI) University of Cambridge, the partial reformulation of OCD compulsions as habits and the use of habit reversal therapy (HRT) as an augmentation strategy to be used alongside exposure response prevention (ERP) in adults with OCD.

He currently holds an international directorship post as an active member of the scientific board of directors of the International College of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms (ICOCS) whose global remit is dedicated in scientific investigations and promoting scientific advancements in the understanding and treatments of obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Books

He has co-authored book chapters in:

The New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry 3edn; A Transdiagnostic Approach to Obsessions, Compulsions; and Related Phenomena

Handbook on Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders among others.

He is a co-author of numerous published research papers.

Contact Details:

d.mpavaenda@nhs.net

Profile

Dr Indermeet Sawhney, a Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director for Learning Disability Services at HPFT, holds a Masters in Mental health Law (LLM) and has championed the human rights of people with an intellectual disability throughout the entirety of her career. She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and has also showcased her work in several International and national conferences.

Dr Sawhney is a member of the Midlands and East of England Mental Health Act approval panel and medical member of the Mental Health Tribunal services. Through innovations led by Dr Sawhney, health outcomes for people with LD are being improved, transforming the quality of life for our service users and their families. She embeds co production in the heart of all her innovative work with input from experts by experience, families, and carers.

Recent publications

• Gabrielsson, Alexandra & Moghaddassian Shahidi, Meissam & Sawhney, Inder & Shardlow, Sophie & Tromans, Samuel Joseph & Bassett, Paul & Shankar, Rohit. (2023). The long-term psycho-social impact of the pandemic on people with intellectual disability and their carers. International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

• Sun, James & Watkins, Lance & Henley, William & Laugharne, Richard & Angus-Leppan, Heather & Sawhney, Inder & Moghaddassian Shahidi, Meissam & Purandare, Kiran & Eyeoyibo, Mo & Scheepers, Mark & Lines, Geraldine & Winterhalder, Robert & Perera, Bhathika & Hyams, Benjamin & Ashby, Samantha & Shankar, Rohit. (2023). Mortality risk in adults with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy: an England and Wales case–control study. Journal of Neurology. 1-10. 10.1007/s00415-023-11701-6.

• Tromans, Samuel Joseph & Bhui, Kamaldeep & Sawhney, Inder & Odiyoor, Mahesh & Courtenay, Ken & Roy, Ashok & Boer, Harm & Alexander, Regi & Biswas, Asit & Mccarthy, Jane & Gulati, Gautam & Laugharne, Richard & Shankar, Rohit. (2023). The potential unintended consequences of Mental Health Act reforms in England and Wales on people with intellectual disability and/or autism. The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science. 222. 10.1192/bjp.2023.10.

• Velani, Bharat & Sawhney, Inder & Alexander, Regi & Shardlow, Sophie & Zia, Asif. (2022). Implementing proposed reforms of the Mental Health Act for people with intellectual disability and autism: the perspective of multidisciplinary professionals in intellectual disability teams. BJPsych Open. 8. 10.1192/bjo.2022.604.

• Sun, James & Perera, Bhathika & Henley, William & Angus-Leppan, Heather & Sawhney, Inder & Watkins, Lance & Purandare, Kiran & Eyeoyibo, Mo & Scheepers, Mark & Lines, Geraldine & Winterhalder, Robert & Ashby, Samantha & Silva, Ravi & Miller, Jonjo & Philpott, David & Ashwin, Chris & Howkins, Joshua & Slater, Harriet & Medhurst, David & Shankar, Rohit. (2022). Epilepsy related multimorbidity, polypharmacy and risks in adults with intellectual disabilities: a national study. Journal of Neurology. 269. 10.1007/s00415-021-10938-3.

Contact Details:

isawhney@nhs.net

Profile

My name is Verity Chester, Research Associate and RADiANT Network Manager. My role at HPFT is two-fold. I manage the research and clinical network, RADiANT, which aims to support research, staff development, and public education for those with developmental disabilities. As a Research Associate, I support a diverse portfolio of research and service evaluation. I have previously held positions as a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Bolton, and Research Lead for Developmental Disorder at the Priory Group. My professional background is psychological, with a BSc and MSc in Forensic Psychology, and I am currently undertaking my PhD which is focused on the offending behaviour of autistic people. I am the editor of Advances in Autism journal.

Area of Research Interest

I have a broad range of research interests related to developmental disabilities (particularly intellectual disability and autism), mental health, forensic involvement, and the interface between these. I have authored or co-authored over 70 publications, for a full list, please visit my ResearchGate profile.

Recent Publications and Grants

• Siddaway, A.P., Meiser-Stedman, R., Chester, V., Finn, J., O Leary, C., Peck, D. & Loveridge, C. (2022). Trauma-Focused Guided Self-Help Interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Depression and Anxiety, 39(10-11):675-685. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/da.23272

• McCarthy, J., Chaplin, E., Hayes, S., Søndenaa, E., Chester, V., Morrissey, C., Allely, C.S., & Forrester, A. (2022). Defendants with Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Conditions: The Perspective of clinicians working across three jurisdictions. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 29(5) 698-717. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2021.1976297

• Chester, V., Driver, B., & Alexander, R.T. (2022). Women with Autism. Working with Autistic People in the Criminal Justice and Forensic Mental Health Systems (pp. 146 - 162) (Eds: N. Tyler & A. Sheeran). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Working-with-Autistic-People-in-the-Criminal-Justice-and-Forensic-Mental/Tyler-Sheeran/p/book/9780367478285#

• Driver, B. & Chester, V. (2021). The presentation, recognition and diagnosis of autism in women and girls. Advances in Autism, 7(3) 194-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-12-2019-0050. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AIA-12-2019-0050

• Tromans, S., Chester, V., Gemegah, E., Roberts, K., Morgan, Z., Yao, Q.L., & Brugha, T. (2021). Autism Identification across Ethnic Groups: A Review. Advances in Autism, 7(3) 241-255. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AIA-03-2020-0017/full/html

Contact Details:

chester@nhs.net

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Verity-Chester

Charis Bontoft