Miranda has been the lead investigator for The MEND Study and will be the co-lead investigator for MEND II. Miranda is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who currently works as an Associate Network Director for Psychological Therapies (Adults and North locality) in Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, based in Manchester. She has worked in the field of psychological healthcare for 25 years, being a qualified Clinical Psychologist for 16 years.
Miranda has had a varied career, working across inpatient, residential, education, forensic, custodial and community settings. Working systemically and applying attachment and trauma theory is an area of special interest for Miranda, but so is working at a preventative, early intervention level.
Umesh is a Professor of Primary Care within the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and GP partner in East Lancashire.
Umesh is Place Quality Lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board and standing member of the NICE Quality Standards Advisory Committee.
Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham is a GP Principal in Central Manchester, Professor of General Practice Research at Keele University, Honorary Professor of Primary Care Mental Health at Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust and Honorary Professor of Primary Care, University of Manchester.
Carolyn has particular interest and expertise in the primary care management of people with anxiety and depression, multimorbidity and unexplained symptoms. She has qualitative research expertise, drawing on theories from social sciences and psychology, but always with a focus on clinical practice - trying to answer questions that are important to patients, their families, health care professionals and the NHS.
Carolyn is the Chair of the RCGP Scientific Foundation Board and RCGP 'Curriculum Advisor, Mental Health'.
Dr Sarmad Nadeem is a Consultant Psychiatrist with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, where he also works as the Associate Medical Director (North Locality) and is Clinical Lead for the Community Transformation programme. The Community Transformation programme oversees initiatives aimed at enhancing community-based mental health services and strengthening relationships between primary and secondary care.
Sarmad is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester, contributing to the academic development of future medical professionals. Additionally, Sarmad chairs the Suicide Prevention Committee at Pennine Care, dedicated to implementing strategies to reduce the incidence of suicide and support those affected.
Sarmad's areas of interest include Medical Education, Medical Leadership, Suicide Prevention and Quality Improvement. These interests drive a passion for advancing the field of Psychiatry through the development of educational programs, leadership in healthcare settings and initiatives aimed at improving the quality of mental health services.
Sarmad is also a Royal College Examiner, an Appraiser, an international speaker and a leader of numerous projects focused on improving mental health care.
Throughout Sarmad's career, there has been a consistent demonstration of leadership and a passion for improving mental health outcomes. These roles have allowed for collaborative work with multidisciplinary teams to deliver innovative and patient-centred care.
Info coming
Professor Stephen Walters graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Economics. This was followed by a PGCE and an MSc in Medical Statistics and Information Technology. His PhD involved using computer intensive statistical methods for estimating sample sizes and analysing quality of life outcomes. Stephen joined Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (ScHARR) in January 1995, he was then promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2003; Reader in 2008 and to a Personal Chair in 2009. He was the first Director of the Design, Trials and Statistics section in ScHARR from 2012 to 2018.
Stephen is a Chartered Statistician with over 27 years experience of health services research and technology assessment. The main focus of his research has been in the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of trials of complex interventions; and the design, assessment, analysis and interpretation of patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials. He works with clinicians from a variety of backgrounds to develop pragmatic clinical trial designs to capture the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a variety of health technologies. Stephen has been a co-investigator for more than 30 randomised controlled trials.
From 2018 to 2022 Stephen was National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. He has been a member of the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Clinical Evaluation and Trials Board (2011 to 2017) and the East Midlands Regional Funding Committee for the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme (2011 to 2012). He has also been a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee (2008 to 2013).
Stephen has co-authored over 330 publications (including 200 in refereed journals and 5 books, with over 25,000 copies sold). The majority of his peer-reviewed journal articles have been applied research, with the emphasis on the evaluation of new services. He has been a co-applicant, statistical advisor and collaborator on 74 funded Health Service Research projects with a total income value of £49.1 million.
Dr Anju Devianee Keetharuth is a health economist. She completed her doctorate in development economics and then worked as a trade policy adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade in Fiji (Overseas Development Institute Fellow). She then worked as an Economic Affairs Officer researching foreign direct investment at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Anju also teaches economics at the University of Sheffield and has previously been employed as an Economic Adviser at the Department of Health in the Choice Analysis and Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) team.
Anju’s research interests include outcome measurement, psychometrics, economic evaluation and current health policy analysis including PROMs. She is also interested in economic evaluation of mental health policies and community services. Anju is also a yoga teacher in her spare time and interested in researching how yoga can improve the health of the population.
Lynette Whitehead works within the Patient Involvement and Engagement team at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust. Lynette is supporting this project and ensuring the voice of people with lived experience of mental health difficulties shape all aspects of the research.
Info coming
Gita is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. She currently works in Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s Traumatic Stress Service, is the Co-Chair for the Psychological Professions Network North West and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.
Gita trained in Glasgow and clinically specialised in working with adults and older adults. Her current clinical work is in a specialist Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Service in Lancashire. In addition to contributing to the MEND study, she recently contributed as a co-investigator on a NIHR RfPB funded research project on Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Psychosis with further research development underway.
From 2006 to 2023, Gita was the Director for Psychological Professions at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust, with professional responsibility for psychological professions staff across the lifespan and a range of settings. Alongside this role within the Trust, Gita also implemented a supervision system for all staff, developed the staff wellbeing portfolio and during Covid, set up the county-wide staff wellbeing service: The Resilience Hub.
Gita was a founding member of the Psychological Professions Network (PPN) which started in the North West in 2013. From 2018 to 2023, she undertook a range of projects and roles with Health Education England including National Psychological Professions Development Lead. In the North West, Gita has been part of an innovative new roles project seeking to improve psychological professions workforce supply.
Gita has contributed to and chaired committees for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and was also a member of the Guideline Development Group for the PTSD Guidelines update. In addition, she has been a member of a number of BPS Division of Clinical Psychology Faculties and Groups over the past 25 years.
