APPLIED MINDFULNESS IN HEALTH AND EATING LAB
Department of Psychology, Birmingham City University
OUR TEAM
Applied Mindfulness in Health and Eating
Our team of researchers are making important discoveries in our areas of focus. While everyone is working in their particular field, our collaborative Research Lab means that we are all working towards a common goal. Read on to find out about specific areas of research that Lab members are involved and lead-in.
DR MICHAEL MANTZIOS
Reader In Health Psychology
Pronouns: He/Him
Michael is adding important insights into our work and is constantly aiming to work in ways that are empowering members of the team. He specialises in mindfulness, mindful eating and eating behaviours.
DR HELEN EGAN
Reader In Health Psychology
Pronouns: she, her
Helen’s work focus on eating behaviours and wellbeing in clinical populations including people with Cystic Fibrosis. She is particularly interested in how self-compassion and self-kindness influence health behaviours, and what the compassion and self-compassion means to Health Care professionals both in the workplace and outside of it.
DR JEFFREY WOOD
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Research Director, Research Centre for Lifespan Behavioural Sciences
Pronouns: He/Him
Jeff was a Post-Doctoral Tutor in Psychology at the University of Manchester before starting a lectureship at Birmingham City University in the summer of 2017. Jeff's interests are summarised in psycholinguistics, cognition and statistics.
DR DEBORAH WALLIS
Reader in Health Psychology/Research Director, Research Centre for Health and Wellbeing
Pronouns: she, her
My research on the psychology of eating focuses on the interplay between cognitive and emotional factors associated with eating behaviours. Within this, one of the key strands is emotion regulation and emotional eating behaviours, including the relationships between alexithymia (difficulties in describing and identifying feelings) and eating-related behaviours and cognitions. I am also interested in a variety of cognitive factors associated with disordered eating behaviours, such as attentional biases, emotion recognition deficits, and autobiographical memory specificity. Understanding the ways in which these factors relate to eating behaviours has the potential to inform targets for the design of interventions to improve psychological wellbeing.
DR REBECCA KEYTE
Lecturer in Psychology
​Pronouns: she, her
Being an academic allows Rebecca to follow her passion for research, with Rebecca’s doctoral research providing a qualitative exploration into experiences and beliefs around risky health behaviours within a Cystic Fibrosis (CF) population, which is informing current advice and practice. Rebecca’s research interest’s predominantly surround the psychological implications of CF; eating behaviours; and mindfulness within clinical populations.
.jpg)
DR KATHRINA CONNABEER
Course Director MSc Health Psychology/Lecturer in Health Psychology
Pronouns: she, her
Kathrina’s research interests are within the area of healthcare interactions, more specifically looking at the interactional practices used by health professionals when interacting with patients (doctor-patient communication). She specialises in using conversation analysis and more recently, in developing interactional coding frameworks to analyse treatment decisions in healthcare. She is also interested in ethical decision making in healthcare and the impact on health professionals’ psychological and physical health.
DR MISBA HUSSAIN
Lecturer in Psychology
Pronouns: she, her
Misba is currently exploring eating behaviours using experimental research. She is particularly interested in psychological concepts, such as mindfulness, self-compassion, self-kindness and self-distancing, and their effect on facilitating healthier eating.
MS SOPHIA KAUSER
Doctoral Researcher & Assistant Lecturer
​Pronouns: she, her
Sophia is working towards her PhD in health psychology. Her research areas include Cystic Fibrosis, Mindfulness, Self-compassion and Quality of Life. Her research aims to inform future interventions to improve the quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis.
MR HARVEY REGAN
Doctoral Researcher & Visiting Lecturer
​Pronouns: He/Him
Harvey is currently investigating eating and health behaviours of gay men with a focus on mindfulness, mindful eating and self-compassion. Exploration of these concepts will contribute to possible interventions aiding in the reduction of disordered eating in gay men. This research focus derives from Harvey's passion to improve the wellbeing of the gay population.
MS KATHERINE MCATAMNEY
Doctoral Researcher
​Pronouns: she, her
Katie’s doctoral research explores the effects of alexithymia and emotional dysregulation on emotional eating. Other research areas of interest include self-compassion, mindfulness and memory. Her research aims to inform interventions designed to support negative emotional eating and enhance wellbeing.
DR HENNA BAHIA
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Henna’s mixed-methods doctoral research explored the effectiveness of a self-regulated mindful eating and self-compassion intervention in clinical populations, including clinically obese and post-operative bariatric surgery patients. She has also conducted some experimental research exploring eating behaviours and mindful eating in university students. interests broadly relate to tackling the obesity epidemic through psychological concepts such as mindfulness, mindful eating and self-compassion.
MS KAROLINA KOKOCINSKA
Doctoral Researcher
​Pronouns: she, her
Karolina's work is focusing on alternative mindfulness-based interventions for HE.
MS ELIZA KALIKA
Doctoral Researcher
​Pronouns: she, her
Eliza is currently investigating the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and self-compassion on Orthorexia Nervosa. Her research aims to explore potential risk factors and inform future interventions for Orthorexia Nervosa.
MS MOLLY MILEY
Doctoral Researcher
​Pronouns: she, her
Molly is currently exploring the impact of ethical decision-making in the healthcare sector. She is particularly interested in the role of self-compassion, health behaviours and coping strategies in conjunction with these decisions and their consequences.
MS HELEN PARSONS
Doctoral Researcher
​Pronouns: she, her
Helen’s research explores the role of self-compassion on health behaviour during pregnancy and early motherhood. Other research areas of interest include the impact of sleep, stress and maternal-fetal attachment on health behaviour in pregnancy. The findings are intended to inform antenatal interventions to support women in making healthy choices during pregnancy.