Nancy Jones is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. Her research focuses on infant emotional development, maternal mental health, and neurophysiological markers of temperament and resilience. Education: Ph.D. in Human Development (University of Maryland, College Park), M.A. in Human Development (University of Maryland, College Park), B.A. in Psychology (University of Wisconsin, Madison) Research Interests: Dr. Jones investigates how maternal depression and socio-emotional interactions shape infant brain development, with a focus on EEG activity, heart rate variability, and alternative therapies like kangaroo care and mindfulness meditation. Her work also explores autism-related emotional processing and frontal lobe maturation. Recent Publication Trends: Her articles emphasize psychophysiological methodologies (EEG, heart rate variability), maternal-infant neurohormonal interactions, autism spectrum disorder markers, and interventions like mindfulness meditation to improve child neurodevelopment and stress regulation. Service & Collaborations: She serves on the Departmental Executive Committee, chairs grant review panels for NIH and NSERC, and advises journals in developmental psychology and psychopathology. She leads the WAVES Lab and chairs the Palm Beach County Breastfeeding Coalition.
Zelalem Negeri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo, affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics. His work focuses on statistical methods for diagnostic test accuracy, depression screening tools, and meta-analytic techniques. He collaborates with groups like DEPRESSD (Depression Screening Data) to improve mental health assessment methodologies. Research interests include robust meta-analysis models for accommodating outliers, optimal cutoff determination for screening tools (e.g., PHQ-9, EPDS), and evaluating diagnostic accuracy across diverse populations. His studies often use individual participant data (IPD) to enhance precision in estimating depression prevalence and screening tool performance. Recent work emphasizes validating shortened screening tools (e.g., EPDS-Dep-5) and comparing depression assessment methods across modes (e.g., self-administered vs. clinician-administered). He also investigates pandemic-related mental health impacts in populations with systemic sclerosis and explores statistical methods to mitigate biases in data-driven cutoff selection. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned. His contributions span collaborations with interdisciplinary teams, including the Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN), and involve developing robust statistical frameworks to address variability in diagnostic studies.
Jennifer Somers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Auburn University , directing the FLOWER Laboratory (Families: Leveraging Opportunities for Wellbeing and Resilience). Her research examines biobehavioral processes in parent-child interactions that influence depression and anxiety risks. Education: PhD in Clinical Psychology (Arizona State University, 2021) MA in Clinical Psychology (Arizona State University) BA in Psychology & English (Pomona College) Her work focuses on dyadic resilience , emotion regulation , and physiological synchrony in families. She has secured funding from NIMH, NSF, and private foundations. Recent publications analyze parent-child interactions , RSA synchrony , and transdiagnostic biomarkers spanning developmental psychology, clinical research, and behavioral science. Labs & Teams: FLOWER Lab investigates mechanisms to promote family resilience across the lifespan, integrating biological and environmental factors in mental health outcomes.
Dr. George Waddell is Performance Research and Innovation Fellow at the Royal College of Music (RCM), where he also serves as Area Leader in Performance Science for the BMus programme. Additionally, he holds an honorary Research Associate position in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. His work focuses on understanding and optimizing how performers learn, prepare, perform, and are evaluated, with particular emphasis on the role of technology in enhancing these processes. Dr. Waddell's research spans multiple domains within performance science, with significant contributions to understanding musicians' health and wellbeing, performance evaluation methodologies, and technology-enhanced learning. His work often bridges disciplines, connecting music performance with psychology, health sciences, and technology. As Area Leader in Performance Science, he oversees modules that integrate the latest scientific knowledge into musical training, and he designs and leads courses on research methods, performance psychology, and professional skills development. His research output demonstrates a consistent trajectory of innovation, with recent publications focusing on musicians' health, pandemic impacts on arts professionals, technology-enhanced performance training, and interdisciplinary applications of performance science. Dr. Waddell's work has expanded from traditional music performance contexts to broader applications in mental health (particularly postnatal depression interventions through songwriting) and cross-cultural studies of arts professionals' wellbeing. Dr. Waddell has secured significant research funding, including multiple Arts and Humanities Research Council grants totaling over £2 million, and has led the development of the RCM's Performance Laboratory featured in BBC News. He serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Psychology: Performance Science and on the editorial board for the Journal of Piano Research. As a doctoral supervisor, Dr. Waddell mentors several research students working on diverse projects within performance science. His collaborative approach is evident in his extensive co-authorship with colleagues across multiple institutions, particularly with Professor Aaron Williamon and other members of the Centre for Performance Science.
Katarzyna Augustyniuk is a Tutor at the Department of Nursing within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. Her academic work focuses on nursing and health sciences, with a strong emphasis on postnatal care, depression, and quality of life assessments. Her research spans epidemiology, mental health, and nutritional factors like zinc and magnesium, particularly in adult and elderly populations. She has contributed to 104 publications with a cumulative impact factor of 7.472 and a ministry score of 619, reflecting significant academic output. Her profile includes collaborations in multi-center studies, and her work addresses health education, patient education, and clinical aspects of nursing. She maintains an ORCID (0000-0003-3898-5362) and is indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and Europe PMC.
Dr. Angela Flynn is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Population Health at RCSI. She holds a BSc in Pharmacy from Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Nutrition, and a PhD in maternal health from King's College London. Her academic career includes a Lecturer position at King's College London (2021–2023) before moving to RCSI in 2023. Her research focuses on optimizing pregnancy preparation, improving outcomes for women at metabolic risk, and leveraging community pharmacies for public health interventions. Key themes include gestational diabetes prevention, postpartum care for pregnancy complications, and intergenerational health patterns. She employs large datasets and qualitative methods to inform policy and clinical practice. Her work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and targets vulnerable populations through innovative interventions. Recent studies investigate preconception health behaviors, maternal obesity outcomes, and the role of AI in nutritional assessment. Publications span peer-reviewed journals like BJOG , Nutrients , and Public Library of Science , with a focus on systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical trial insights. Her research emphasizes translational healthcare solutions and community engagement.
Lenka Benova is a Researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp , where she serves as Unit Head in Reproductive and Maternal Health. She is a quantitative population health scientist with interdisciplinary training in management, economics, Middle East studies, demography, and epidemiology . Her career includes project coordination with Médecins Sans Frontières in Nigeria, West Bank, and South Sudan, as well as leading health pillar design in Egypt's conditional cash transfer program (2008-2010). Education: MA in Middle East studies (American University in Cairo) MSc in Demography and Health (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) PhD in Population Health (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) Her research focuses on health-seeking behavior in low- and middle-income countries, particularly reproductive/maternal health , with methodological interests in innovative data capture, self-reported indicator validity, and geospatial modeling . Her recent work examines maternal healthcare provision discontinuities in urban Sub-Saharan Africa through system dynamics and geospatial approaches. She teaches on Masters course modules and supervises PhD students , contributing to projects like: modeling maternal care accessibility in Guinea, analyzing fertility transitions in DR Congo, and evaluating hospital data utility for community epidemiology. Her research appears in journals such as Bioinformatics , BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth , and Scientific Reports , focusing on public health, maternal care, and health equity.
Michael Wallace serves as an Assistant Professor at Boston University, leading research at the intersection of basal ganglia circuitry, motivated behavior, and synaptic transmission mechanisms. His work addresses fundamental questions about neural control of goal-directed actions and their disruption in neurological disorders. Education: Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dr. Wallace's research program centers on genetically defined circuits within the basal ganglia, investigating how these structures guide motivated behaviors and motor control. His laboratory employs a sophisticated multidisciplinary toolkit including in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, molecular genetics, computational modeling, and behavioral assays. Key research themes encompass neurotransmitter cotransmission (particularly GABA/glutamate interactions), synaptic vesicle dynamics, and circuit-level pathophysiology in conditions ranging from Parkinson's disease to addiction. The lab's long-term mission targets therapeutic interventions through mechanistic understanding of neural circuit dysfunction. Analysis of his publication record reveals consistent focus on multitransmitter neurons and basal ganglia microcircuitry since 2011, with increasing emphasis on entopeduncular nucleus function and neurotransmitter co-packaging mechanisms. His work demonstrates methodological evolution from anatomical and transcriptional profiling toward real-time circuit interrogation using optogenetic and electrophysiological approaches. The Wallace Lab operates as a dynamic neuroscience research hub, integrating expertise across molecular, cellular, and systems levels. Current investigations leverage cutting-edge techniques to dissect how specific basal ganglia pathways process motivational signals and motor commands, with particular attention to disease-relevant perturbations. This systems neuroscience approach bridges fundamental circuit mechanisms with translational applications for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Claudia Buß is a University Professor (W3) at the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, where she has been serving since 2019. She also holds an Adjunct Professor position in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine since 2022, having previously served as Adjunct Associate Professor (2016-2022) and Adjunct Assistant Professor (2013-2016). Additionally, she is a faculty member at both the Berlin School of Mind & Brain and the Einstein Center for Neurosciences in Berlin. Dr. Buß received her psychology education at the University of Trier, Germany, and completed her PhD in Psychobiology at the University of Trier and McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2006. She conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California Irvine, USA, before becoming an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the same institution from 2010-2012. Professor Buß's research focuses on the pre- and postnatal programming of health and illness across the lifespan, with particular emphasis on brain development. Her work investigates how maternal stress during pregnancy affects fetal development and disease vulnerability, including the intergenerational transmission of early childhood stress and trauma effects. She employs advanced imaging techniques such as MRI and EEG to examine stress effects on the brain and cognitive performance throughout life. Her extensive publication record demonstrates a consistent trajectory in understanding how maternal factors—including cortisol levels, inflammatory markers like IL-6, and childhood trauma history—influence fetal and newborn brain development. These studies frequently connect prenatal exposures to specific brain structures (amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus) and subsequent behavioral outcomes in children. Her recent work has expanded to examine multiple simultaneous exposures ("poly-exposures") and their cumulative effects on neurodevelopment. 2017: Elected Member, Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR) 2015: Curt Richter Award of the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology (ISPNE) for "distinguished early to mid-career scientific contributions at the interface of health-related biological and psychological processes" As a principal investigator, Professor Buß leads research examining the developmental origins of health and disease, with particular focus on how early life experiences shape brain development and long-term health outcomes. Her work bridges basic science and clinical applications, investigating both biological mechanisms (endocrine, inflammatory) and psychological factors that influence the maternal-fetal interface. She collaborates extensively across institutions, as evidenced by her dual appointments in Berlin and California, and her involvement with the Berlin School of Mind & Brain and Einstein Center for Neurosciences. Professor Buß's laboratory utilizes a multidisciplinary approach combining psychological assessment, biological sampling, and advanced neuroimaging to investigate how maternal experiences become biologically embedded and transmitted across generations. Her team employs ecological momentary assessment methods to capture real-time stress experiences during pregnancy, providing a more accurate picture of maternal exposures than retrospective reports.
Dr. Jeroan Allison is Chair and Professor at UMass Chan Medical School's Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences. Trained as a primary care physician and epidemiologist (Harvard SPH), he leads research in narrative interventions for health behavior change, with continuous funding from NIH, AHRQ, and RWJF. His work spans hypertension control in Vietnam, AI-driven health communication, and implementation science for non-communicable diseases. Harvard School of Public Health: Master of Science in Epidemiology University of Alabama at Birmingham: MD Samford University: BS in Chemistry Research interests include narrative medicine , health disparities , mHealth , and health services research . He has published extensively on hypertension interventions in Vietnam, digital health tools, and tobacco cessation strategies using peer engagement. Recent publications focus on AI applications , global implementation science , and social determinants of health . His team has developed culturally adapted interventions for HPV vaccination and hypertension management using community storytelling methods. Scientific contributions include: Co-Editor-in-Chief of Medical Care Developing simulation-based training for research assistants Designing peer recruitment models for smoking cessation Dr. Allison holds multiple grants and leads the UMMS-Vietnam research collaboration , focusing on late-stage translation research in low-resource settings.
Professor Mitch Duncan is a Professor of Public Health in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research focuses on understanding how patterns of physical activity and sleep influence health outcomes, and developing digital technology interventions to help people be more physically active and sleep better. Professor Duncan's work is supported by a prestigious NHMRC Career Development Fellowship, and he has published over 170 papers while securing more than $9 million worth of research funding. Professor Duncan earned his PhD from the University of Central Queensland, a Bachelor of Health & Human Performance (Honors) in Human Movement Science from the University of Central Queensland, and a Master of Medical Statistics from the University of Newcastle. His educational background has provided a strong foundation for his interdisciplinary research approach that bridges physical activity, sleep science, and digital health interventions. Professor Duncan's research centers on two key areas: (1) understanding how physical activity and sleep work together to influence health outcomes, and (2) developing and testing interventions to improve these behaviors. His unique approach focuses on the combination of these two behaviors rather than examining them separately. Much of his intervention work uses technologies such as mobile devices and the internet to deliver the interventions, including the development of a smartphone app that has been used by over 20,000 people internationally through the 'Balanced' intervention program. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward multi-behavioral interventions that address both physical activity and sleep simultaneously, often leveraging mobile and web-based platforms to deliver personalized interventions at scale. Professor Duncan has received several prestigious awards for his research, including: National Heart Foundation Queensland Researcher of the Year Australian Institute of Policy & Science Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award He also holds a competitive NHMRC Career Development Fellowship, which supports his ongoing research into physical activity and sleep behaviors. Professor Duncan has been highly successful in securing research funding, with more than $9 million in grants from major organizations including the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council (ARC), National Heart Foundation, and Queensland Government. His research program has involved mentoring numerous students and early-career researchers. Professor Duncan serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health and the Journal of Activity, Sedentary and Sleep Behaviors, contributing to the scholarly community in his field. Professor Duncan leads the development and implementation of evidence-based digital interventions like the 'Balanced' program, which has reached over 20,000 users internationally. His work often involves collaborations with researchers across multiple institutions and disciplines, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of his research on physical activity, sleep, and health. Current projects include investigations into the impact of breaking up prolonged sitting on sleep architecture, app-based interventions for shift workers, and multi-behavioral approaches to improving postnatal mental health.
Prof Jolene Skordis holds multiple senior roles at University College London (UCL): Vice-Dean (International) of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, Director of the Centre for Global Health Economics, and Deputy Director of the UCL Institute for Global Health. She also serves as Vice Chair of the European Global Health Research Institutes Network. Her expertise lies in health and development economics, focusing on public health interventions, fiscal sustainability, anti-poverty programs, and health equity. She has influenced policy across multiple countries through her research. Education includes a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2006), multiple commerce degrees from the University of Cape Town and University of South Africa, and postgraduate qualifications in higher education and marketing. Her work emphasizes translating evidence into policy, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Research interests span economic evaluations of health interventions, including randomized trials of community-based care, fiscal strategies for healthcare delivery, gender empowerment through economic interventions, and social networks influencing health behaviors. She explores how digital technologies impact healthcare workforce dynamics and advocates for equitable global health strategies. Her recent work focuses on pandemic agreements, maternal mental health programs in Kenya/Lebanon, and optimizing tuberculosis care in Eastern Europe. She emphasizes participatory approaches in women’s groups to improve child health outcomes and has pioneered cost-effectiveness analyses for interventions like conditional cash transfers and radio-based early childhood development programs. Prof Skordis’s projects often address systemic challenges such as labor crises in healthcare systems, universal health coverage design, and leveraging multi-sectoral partnerships (agriculture, education) to enhance health outcomes. She is a leading voice in aligning global health policies with implementation realities, emphasizing equity and evidence-based decision-making.
Professor Caroline Hollins-Martin is a faculty member at Edinburgh Napier University's School of Health and Social Care , specializing in maternal and child health. She is a leading expert in birth satisfaction scales, with extensive cross-cultural validation work on the Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R), including translations into Slovak, German, Japanese, Czech, and Vietnamese. Her research spans perinatal bereavement care, midwifery education, and psychological interventions for postnatal mental health. Research Themes : Maternal and child health, mental health, public health, midwifery, and educational practices. Key Collaborations : Dr. Andrew Smith (School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment), Prof. Thanos Karatzias (Mental Health), and Dr. Gail Norris (Maternal Health). Grants : Funded by organizations including Newborns Vietnam , Held in Our Hearts Limited , and NHS Lothian . Scientific Contributions : She has developed global standards for measuring birth satisfaction and contributed to policy on respectful maternal care. Her work includes studies on fathers' postnatal mental health, EMDR therapy for perinatal PTSD, and continuity models in midwifery care. Advising : Supervised PhD students such as Natalie Bain-Reguis (school ventilation systems) and Francesca Giannatiempo (bereavement support). She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on projects like Compassionate Companions and Respectful Care in Vietnam .
Wendy P. Robinson is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine , and a Senior Scientist at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute . She holds the CIHR Sex and Gender Science Chair . Research Interests: Genetics and epigenetics of early human development, placental function in pregnancy complications (fetal growth restriction, preterm birth), DNA methylation, non-coding RNA, sex differences, and polymorphisms. Her lab employs genomic and bioinformatic tools to study placental health and its impact on newborn outcomes. Recent Publications (2025-2024) focus on X-chromosome inactivation patterns in placenta, cell-type specific DNA methylation, maternal socioeconomic effects on placental epigenetics, and modeling placental development with organoids. Key themes include sex-specific epigenetic regulation , maternal-fetal interactions , and human placental methylome . Awards: UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award (2018), with trainees receiving the James Miller Memorial Prize and Mary-Jane Carroll Trainee Award. Students & Collaborations: Supervised PhD/MSc students include Li Qing Wang, Icíar Fernández Boyano, Giulia Del Gobbo, Victor Yuan, and Magda Price. Collaborators span the Alex Beristain Lab and University of Toronto institutions. Laboratory Activities: Regular team-building events like mountain hikes, climbing outings, and kayaking trips, alongside providing open access to epigenetic tools (e.g., Bisearch, SeqDoc) for the research community.
Hilary Marland is a retired Professor in the Department of History at the University of Warwick’s Faculty of Arts. She remains active in research, currently leading a Wellcome Trust-funded project on maternal mental illness in modern Britain (2021-2025) and previously directing a study on prison healthcare (2014-2021). Her work focuses on intersections of mental health, gender, and healthcare systems, particularly in historical contexts. Research interests include maternal mental health, prison health policy, women’s health history, and the social history of medicine. She co-authored Disorder Contained: Mental Breakdown and the Modern Prison in England and Ireland, 1840-1900 (2022) and Dangerous Motherhood: Insanity and Childbirth in Victorian Britain (2004). She has held leadership roles, including directing Warwick’s Centre for the History of Medicine (CHM) and editing the Social History of Medicine journal. Her recent articles examine prison diets in 19th-century England, postnatal depression advocacy in the 20th century, and women’s health advocacy strategies. She has received prestigious Wellcome Trust Strategic Awards for the CHM and collaborated with theatre groups to translate research into public engagement projects like Disorder Contained and audio pieces touring UK arts venues. Teaching includes undergraduate modules on medical history, mental health history, and gender/medicine intersections, as well as postgraduate courses on medical history methodologies. Her work bridges academic research with public outreach, emphasizing historical perspectives to inform contemporary healthcare debates.
