• Psychology of Sexual & Domestic Violence
• Mental Health & Social Justice
• Supercomplexity of Higher Education

Susan Lea is a Professor, and Vice Dean for Education, at KCL Institute of Psychiatry.  She joined King’s in November 2010 from the University of Plymouth, where she held a number of academic leadership positions, including: Acting Dean of the Health Faculty, Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) of the Health Faculty and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Professional Placement Learning. 

Susan originally trained as a community psychologist at Cape Town University in South Africa.  She obtained her PhD from the Social Sciences Department of Loughborough University, where she was a member of the Discourse and Rhetoric Group.  Her research interests are in the field of social justice.  Her current psychological research focuses predominantly on sexual and domestic violence, while in the field of pedagogy she is interested in the supercomplexity of higher education and its implications for teaching and research.  Some of her current projects involve the attrition of rape cases within the criminal justice system, rape survivors’ experiences of sexual assault referral centres, sexual and domestic violence and mental health and inter-agency working to support those with enduring mental health needs.  She works in partnership with police and NHS staff in some of these areas, as well as academics in Plymouth and abroad.