• Academic Director of King's Clinical Trials Unit
• Professor of Medical Statistics and Trials Methodology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience
• Director of the NIHR Research Support Service Hub based at King's College London
• Theme lead for Trials, Genomics and Prediction in the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
• Director of the Innovative Trials Hub in the Data and Digital Alliance Team as part of the UK Mental Health Goals Programme.
• NIHR Senior Investigator
• NIHR Research Professor (2019 to 2025).

Biography
Before joining King's in January 2018, I held a personal Chair at The University of Manchester as Professor of Medical Statistics and was Deputy Director of the Manchester Clinical Trials Unit.  

I studied at The University of Manchester for a BSc in Mathematics and a PhD in Biostatistics under the supervision of Professor Graham Dunn and Professor Andrew Pickles.  Following my PhD, I worked as a Research Associate in the Centre for Biostatistics, and was awarded personal fellowships including an MRC Career Development Award in Biostatistics and an MRC Early Career Centenary Award, before being appointed as a Lecturer in 2012, and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015 and Professor in 2016.

My research interests are in clinical trials methodology, and developing statistical methods for efficacy and mechanisms evaluation using causal inference approaches. Our research group develop clinical trial designs which aim to answer questions about treatments more quickly and using fewer patients, and promote trial designs and associated analysis methods for precision medicine.  

The applications of these methods focus on randomised trials of complex interventions in mental health - a full list of projects is shown below.

Leadership roles

• Academic Director of King's Clinical Trials Unit
• Director of the NIHR Research Support Service Hub based at King's College London
• Theme lead for Trials, Genomics and Prediction in the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
• Director of the Innovative Trials Hub in the Data and Digital Alliance Team as part of the UK Mental Health Goals Programme

Externally, I am an investigator on the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership, and co-lead of its Statistical Analysis Working Group. I am the founder of the European Causal Inference Meeting (Euro-CIM), and an Associate Editor of the journal Clinical Trials.

For the National Institute of Health Research, I hold a number of roles  including as a member of the NIHR EME funding committee.  Previously I was Chair of NIHR Academy Member's Voices Group and member of the NIHR Academy Board.

Within the Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, I founded the Trials Methodology Research Group, and was the co-lead for the joint department and NIHR Maudsley BRC Methodology Patient and Public Involvement group. 

Methodology projects

Some of my current methodological projects are:

• NIHR Research Professorship: Design and analysis of efficient trials in mental health (2019-2025).
• MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership
• PROMoting THE USE of SWATs (PROMETHEUS)

Clinical projects

Some of my current clinical projects are:

Psychosis and schizophrenia:

• The SlowMo trial (a digital therapy for people who fear harm from others)
• AVATAR therapy trial 
• Study of Trauma and Recovery (STAR trial)
• CLEAR: CLozapine in EARly psychosis
• PUMA: Early Psychosis Multi-arm Multi-stage Platform Trial
• Feeling Safer: Enabling patients with psychosis to receive the most effective psychological therapy

Depression and self-harm:

• The Prevention Of Suicide Behaviour in Prison: Enhancing Access to Therapy (PROSPECT) Programme
• STOP-D: A multi-centre randomised controlled trial of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of sertraline in preventing depression in adults following a traumatic brain injury

Autism:

• A Randomised Controlled Trial of PsychoEducation and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Parents of Children recently diagnosed with ASD (REACH-ASD)
• Communication-centred Parent-mediated treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder in South Asia (COMPASS)

Other projects:

• BEACON: Best systemic treatments for adults with atopic eczema over the long term
• Recovery Colleges Characterisation and Testing (RECOLLECT2)
• BalanceAct: Balance acceptance and commitment therapy for Long COVID

Education

On the MSc in Applied Statistical Modelling and Health Informatics, I contribute to the following modules:

• Multilevel and Longitudinal Modelling (module lead)
• Causal Modelling and Evaluation
• Research Project

I was Chair of the Assessment SubBoard for the MSc from 2019-2023.

I deliver lectures on clinical trials and intervention studies on various MSc courses and external short courses.

Supervision

I welcome enquiries for potential PhD students. If you are interested in studying for a PhD, please get in contact directly using email.