Our staff's talent is also recognised by others. Northumbria is now rated in the top 20 in the UK in eleven subjects, and in the top five in three subjects, by the Complete University Guide 2015.
Between 2008 and 2014 we doubled the number of our academic staff submitted for research assessment. We encourage early-career researchers and have a distinctive appeal based on academic excellence, entrepreneurialism and innovation. Our academics balance teaching, research and working with external organisations.
Our professional staff ensure the smooth delivery of the University’s activities. Their work contributes to an outstanding student experience, supports research and underpins successful partnerships and collaborative working with external organisations.
Here are a selection of some of our academic staff who teach within this subject area;
Programme Leader
Dr Joanna Greer | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Jo’s research interests include neuropsychological
mechanisms underpinning attention and inhibition. She is also interested in the
development of interventions to support emotion recognition in Autism Spectrum
Disorder.
Teaching staff:
Gill Case | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Gill’s
research has focused on measuring self-regulation and underlying physiology in
pre-schoolers, and also a number of projects related to emotional development
and resilience.
Dr Colin Hamilton | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Colin’s research interests include the
identification of the processes underlying visual working memory task
performance, and a differential psychology emphasis, looking at individual
differences in cognition associated with autistic-like-traits.
Dr Johannes Hönekopp | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Johannes’ interests include research methods
(meaning and usefulness of effect sizes, variability of research results across
studies) and effects of prenatal testosterone.
Dr Philippa Jackson | Senior Lecturer and Director of the Brain, Performance, and
Nutrition Research Centre
Bio: Philippa’s research is broadly focused on
investigating the relationship between the diet and brain function and
behaviour, with a specific focus on the cognitive and mood effects of omega-3
fatty acids. She has 15 years’ experience conducting nutritional intervention
studies, and recently has become interested in nutritional approaches to improving
sleep quality.
Dr Deborah McGann | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Deborah’s PhD thesis investigated prospective
memory and divided attention. Her research interests now
primarily focus on postive psychology, well-being, mindfulness, and mind
wandering.
Dr Andrew McNeill | Senior Lecturer
Bio: Andrew gained his PhD studying the discursive construction of
political victimhood in Northern Ireland. He has continued with a strong
interest in both discursive social psychology and political psychology. His current
work includes exploring biases in conflict-research and examining the effects
of accents on implicit social attitudes.
Dr Gillian Pepper | Lecturer
Bio: Gillian’s main research
interests are around socioeconomic inequalities in health. She uses observational
and experimental data to examine differences in factors such as health
behaviour, risk perception and biomarkers of health and ageing. She has an
interest in the applications of science to policy and has worked with Newcastle
City Council, for the Department of Health, and for Newton’s Apple--a charity
engaging scientists with policy.
Dr Lisa Thomas | Senior Lecturer and member of the
Psychology and Communication Technology (PaCT) Lab
Bio: Lisa is interested in the role of
technology in life transitions, particularly parenthood. She is predominantly a
qualitative researcher.
Dr Santosh Vijaykumar | Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow
Bio: Santosh’s research focuses on the role of mobile and social
media in global health with a focus on infectious disease outbreaks and
nutrition. Currently, he leads several research studies on the psychology of
online misinformation and public health responses to this global problem.
For further staff insight please see the tutor profiles below
