Overview

Cohort: 9

I am a psychiatry trainee with an interest in public mental health.

I graduated from University College London in 2017, then completed an Academic Foundation Programme in Oxford, where I worked on a health economic study and gained experience in meta-analysis.

From 2019 to 2020, I remained at the University of Oxford as a research assistant at the Department of Psychiatry. In 2021, I returned to clinical training as an Academic Clinical Fellow in Manchester.

In 2024, I completed a Master of Public Health from The University of Manchester. I was awarded a 4Ward North PhD Fellowship in 2025.

PhD title

Care pathways for perinatal mental illness: a mixed-methods study examining health inequalities and identifying opportunities for early detection.

Brief summary of PhD project

Around 1 in 5 mothers experiences a mental illness during pregnancy or in the year after childbirth (the perinatal period). Early detection and treatment can minimise the extensive negative effects these illnesses have on mothers and their children, making this a public health priority.

However, two key challenges are undermining the clinical and cost-effectiveness of perinatal mental health care: first, many people with a perinatal mental illness do not access medical treatment, and second, access to treatment is inequitable.

Amid an ongoing expansion of perinatal mental health services, there is a need for a new approach – one that channels resources towards targeted interventions that make services more accessible and equitable.

Policymakers, clinicians and service managers must understand current care pathways for perinatal mental illness across primary and secondary care to divert funds to interventions with the greatest potential impact. My fellowship aims to provide an evidence base to inform this decision-making.

My mixed-methods study will employ retrospective cohort studies using routinely collected healthcare records (CPRD, HES), alongside qualitative interviews with people who have experienced perinatal mental illness. By doing this, I shall identify which care settings and groups should be targeted when channelling resources to early detection and treatment of perinatal mental illness.

Key collaborators/supervisors

Lead supervisor

Dr Matthias Pierce (The University of Manchester)

Co-supervisors

• Prof Kathryn Abel (The University of Manchester)
• Prof Penny Bee (The University of Manchester)
• Dr Holly Hope (The University of Manchester)
• Dr Ryc Aquino (Newcastle University)

Specialty interest/techniques

• Psychiatric epidemiology
• Observational research using electronic health records
• Mixed-methods research
• Qualitative methods
• Health inequalities

Career aspirations

My ambition is to become a consultant psychiatrist and a leading public mental health researcher tackling key challenges for research and policy: prevention, early intervention, and the provision of more equitable mental healthcare services.

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