Meet the Team

Cambridge

Psychiatry Department

Peter B. Jones
Peter B. Jones

Chief Investigator

I’m the co-chief Investigator for the TYPPEX programme. I’m a professor of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and honorary consultant psychiatrist with CPFT, the trust that hosts TYPPEX. I see the work of our fantastic TYPPEX team both as a way to develop and test a new treatment pathway for a group of IAPT service users whose needs are currently not met by a service that doesn’t hear their voice, and an experiment to test whether psychotic (or anomalous) experiences tell us more about the severity of depression and anxiety than they do about the likelihood of someone developing a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia. When I’m not working on TYPPEX I might be walking and fishing in the South Cumbria where we have family, growing veg and cooking it in Cambridge, or stuck in a traffic jam or on a train somewhere in between.

Ushma Patel
Ushma Patel

Therapy Development Lead

I am the training development lead for the TYPPEX programme, I have worked in IAPT primary care services for over 12 years as a Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Clinical-Operational Manager. My contributions to the research team are centred around knowledge on mental health, clinical practice, CBT, IAPT services and primary care. My role is to develop and lead on the training for psychotic experiences including the content and resources that supplement the training. I train the qualified CBT therapists and meet with them regularly to offer support and supervision for their clinical practice. For patients, therapists and IAPT services, the TYPPEX research programme is trailblazing; improving recovery for those with severe Depression and Anxiety can be life changing for patients, their friends and family.

Jesus Perez
Jesus Perez

Co-Chief Investigator

I am co-chief investigator for the TYPPEX programme. I have worked in the NHS for more than 17 years. I was trained in psychiatry in Spain and then joined the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust to work as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the award-winning CAMEO Early Intervention in Psychosis Service. Working for that service I began to learn that psychotic experiences were not exclusive to people with psychotic disorders; in fact, people with a wider range of mental health difficulties, including common mental disorders, could also suffer from them and affect their lives significantly. Professor Jones and I, along with the invaluable help from other experts, including collaborators with lived experience, designed the TYPPEX programme. Currently, as co-chief investigator I supervise the running of the programme. I see TYPPEX as a groundbreaking programme of applied research that looks beyond conventional thinking about the meaning of psychotic experiences and aims to treat them in the primary care IAPT services effectively. This programme should contribute to a better understanding of these experiences in the context of a common mental disorder, such as depression and anxiety, and, subsequently, increase the likelihood to recover from it.

Michelle Griffiths-Reeve
Michelle Griffiths-Reeve

Specialist Clinical Supervisor

I have worked in mental health for 20 years, originally training as an Occupational Therapist before joining IAPT services to train as a cognitive behavioural therapist (CBT) in 2009.  After 12 years working, managing, and supervising in IAPT, I joined the TYPPEX team to offer specialist clinical supervision to the therapists participating in the study. I coordinate the supervision component of the trial, and my main role is to provide clinical support to all trained therapist so they can deliver the TYPPEX intervention with confidence and fidelity.

Debra Russo
Debra Russo

Research Associate

I am the Research Associate for the TYPPEX programme, and I have worked on various projects within the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge for the last 14 years, including the preceding programme that identified the need for TYPPEX. My role is very varied as I help in any way I can to support the programme. Some of my main tasks include supporting the IAPT therapists to take part in the research and calling patients who have volunteered to take part to help them complete questionnaires. I also assist our IAPT Trainer and Therapy Development Lead with multiple tasks associated with the 3-day training course for therapists.  I am very proud to be part of TYPPEX because we are trialling an intervention designed to improve outcomes for people and this real-life application of academic research is important to me.

Raquel Gomes Alves da Conceicao
Raquel Gomes Alves da Conceicao

Research Assistant

I am the Research Assistant for the TYPPEX programme and joined the team in June 2023. Previously, I worked in the Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Science Departments at the University of Cambridge. I studied Biomedical Sciences in Portugal, obtained a MPhil in Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge, and recently completed a MSc in Psychology at Northumbria University. My role within the TYPPEX team is quite diverse, as I assist Debra in supporting the programme. My main responsibilities involve liaising with and supporting patients who agree to participate in the Health Economics aspect of the programme. Additionally, I am responsible for managing the programme’s website, Twitter account, newsletters, and other communication and dissemination channels. Aside from my passion for mental health and psychology, I have a deep love for dancing. I have been teaching Zumba for eight years and recently embarked on a personal project teaching Brazilian Rhythms. During my rare moments of free time, I enjoy watching Netflix, reading, traveling, and practicing meditation.

Cambridge

THIS Institute

Mary Dixon-Woods
Mary Dixon-Woods

Process Evaluation Lead

Meredith McLaughlin
Meredith McLaughlin

Research Fellow Process Evaluation

Janet Willars
Janet Willars

Qualitative Researcher Process Evalution

I am a qualitative researcher and part of the THIS Institute process evaluation team evaluating the TYPPEX Programme. Over the last fifteen years and working both with THIS Institute and Leicester University, I have conducted an extensive number of in-depth semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations and focus groups with patients, the public, professionals, practitioners, and managers, most recently focusing on the evaluation of patient safety initiatives in mental health, acute adult care and maternity services plus evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health services.

Rosie Lindsay
Rosie Lindsay

Research Associate Process Evaluation

I am a research associate for The Health Care Improvement Studies Institute based at Cambridge University. I have a MSc in Exercise as Medicine from Loughborough University, and a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University. Alongside TYPPEX I  am also working on projects examining how physical illnesses are diagnosed for people who have a mental health condition, and how virtual wards operate in practice. My favourite things are mountains, dogs, snacks and people, not necessarily in that order.

Norwich

Clinical Trials Unit

Polly-Anna Ashford
Polly-Anna Ashford

Programme Manager

I am the programme manager for TYPPEX. I also work as a research lead at Norwich Clinical Trials Unit. I joined the team in 2019 to run the feasibility study, and now leads the management of the randomised controlled trial and oversees the overall running of the programme. I have a particular interest in the use of routinely-collected electronic health record data in clinical trials, and I am responsible for collating and processing the IAPT data needed for the monitoring and analysis of the TYPPEX trial.

Allan Clark
Allan Clark

Senior Statistician

Caitlin Pearce
Caitlin Pearce

Clinical Trials Assistant

I joined the team as a Clinical Trial Assistant at the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit in January 2022! My role on the TYPPEX project involves central monitoring of recruitment and follow up, writing SOPs for monitoring and recruitment, and assisting with administrative tasks and the day to day running of the trial.

Ramesh Vishwakarma
Ramesh Vishwakarma

Statistician

Maria Leathersich
Maria Leathersich

Database Programmer

I’m a Database Programmer at the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit. I’ve been involved with the TYPPEX programme since 2018 and my main role is to develop and maintain the system which collects the study data.  The data will then be analysed by the statisticians at the end of the trial.

London

McPin Foundation

Roya Kamver
Roya Kamver

Senior PPI Coordinator

I joined the TYPPEX study team in September 2021 via the McPin Foundation, a mental health research charity centring lived experience in research. My primary role is to facilitate Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) within the TYPPEX Study. This means ensuring the study works alongside those with lived experience of mental health issues to contribute in a range of ways; including illuminating how the study can have an impact on the public in practice, and helping to ground academic or clinical concepts in a person-centred way. Please refer to the PPI Page for more information about this. I am also using my background in qualitative research and evaluation to assist with the Process Evaluation

London

Kings College London

Margaret Heslin
Margaret Heslin

Health Economics

Emma Tassie
Emma Tassie

Health Economics

Former TYPPEXians

Anna Wiedemann – PhD student, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge

Jan Stochl – Senior Statistician and Psychometrician, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge,

Annabelle Olson – Research Assistant, THIS Institute, Cambridge, 2022-2023

Naima Ali – Research Assistant, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge, 2022-2023

Zoe Lautz – Graduate supporting participant follow up, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge, 2021

Mei-See Man – Senior Trial Manager, NCTU, Norwich, 2020-2021

Freya Stuart – Research Assistant/Admin, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge, 2020-2022

Clare Knight – Programme Manager, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge, 2020-2021

Vikki Charles – Research Assistant, SPFT

James Skinner 

Alexandros Georgiadis – Research Associate, THIS Institute, Cambridge

Emma Soneson – Research Assistant, Psychiatry Department, Cambridge, 2017