Our Team
Professor Andrew Gumley (Group Lead)
Andrew (He/Him) is an academic clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychological Therapy with interests in psychological therapies for people with severe mental health problems including psychosis. He is interested in how services can better serve people with severe mental health problems. Andrew is passionate about helping support research involvement for people with lived experience of mental health. He is the Principal Investigator on several research projects in the PRG. He has a number of very cute cats (Evie, Bilbo, Bella and Daisy), and has an incompatible love of cycling and wine (never at the same time of course.
Dr Moya Clancy
Moya joined the Psychosis Research Group in 2017 when completing her doctoral research investigating voice-hearing, dissociation, and Complex PTSD. Since then, Moya has worked as Trial Coordinator and AVATAR Therapist for the Wellcome Trust funded AVATAR2 Trial (https://www.avatartherapy.co.uk). Moya is currently a Clinical Psychologist in NHS Prison Healthcare and a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, where she is Principal Investigator of the AVATAR Therapy Implementation Project. Outside of work, Moya loves a good book, travelling and going to gigs.
Dr Louise Beattie
Louise is the Research Co-ordinator for the Glasgow site of the CONNECT study. She has previously worked on a range of clinical studies and trials, and has a PhD in psychology. Her research includes sleep disturbances, and early psychosis.
Suzy Syrett
Suzy Syrett is both the Psychosis Research Group’s (PRG) Peer Researcher. This role allows her to utilise her own Lived Experience perspective in combination with her 15 year experience of working on large scale Randomised Control Trials, including FOCUS, EMPOWER, AVATAR2 and more, and apply this combined knowledge to every stage of any research study/trial she might working on. Her goal is always to optimise and enhance every aspect of the research process while, at the same time, ensuring the participant remains at the centre of the research teams’ focus and consideration too. Her current focus is to discover what kind of purpose fit infrastructure, be that guidelines, training, support, career pathways and/or more – that will better enable and support this group as well as establishing Peer Researchers – present and future – as a core resource across Scotland’s mental health research landscape.
Over the last few years, Suzy has also become involved in the PRG’s Patient and Public Involvement group and thoroughly enjoys her role there. She also teaches on the DClinPsy course at Glasgow University and continues to give presentations, seminars, and works with leading academics and clinicians across the UK to engage, share, inform and underline the value of utilising PPI, Peer Researchers and Experts by Experience in all aspects of clinical mental health research. Suzy is married to Michel Syrett and they live with their slashing murder goblin/beautiful and adoring Tonkinese cat, Ripley. Suzy spends much of her free time battering out rock tunes on one of her electric guitars and marvelling at the absolute racket she can make.
Kara Keddie
Kara is a Psychological Studies Master’s student at the University of Glasgow. With a background in UX design for medical devices and healthcare technology, her interests sit at the intersection of psychology, mental health, and user-centred health technologies. She is currently a Research Assistant with the Psychosis Research Group, working on a co-design project focused on weight loss interventions for people taking antipsychotic medication. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time in nature with her dog, as well as illustrating, painting, and hand-embroidering.
Negar Khozoee
Negar is a Clinical Psychologist with a specialist interest in psychological approaches to understanding and treating psychosis. She completed her doctoral research at the University of Glasgow, where she was based in an Early Intervention in Psychosis service. Her research involved people with lived experience and focused on co-designing a digital health intervention to support people experiencing a “fear of relapse”.
Negar has worked on several research trials and is currently the Trial Co-ordinator for the Sleeping Better Trial -a multi-centre randomised controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a sleep intervention for people who experience difficulties such as excessive mistrust or hearing voices. Outside of work, Negar enjoys Taylor Swift albums on repeat and participating in exercise classes that leave her paralysed for 3-5 business days.
Dr Nikos Xanidis
I am a Clinical Psychologist interested in increasing access to evidence based psychological therapies for people experiencing psychosis. I have been involved in the Avatar 2 trial (https://www.avatartherapytrial.com) and currently working with colleagues on the Avatar Therapy Implementation Project in the NHS. In my clinical practice, I work in an Early Intervention Team , which supports people who experience psychosis for the first time.
Alie Phiri
I have been part of the Psychosis Research Group as a Public and Patient Involvement since 2020 at the University of Glasgow. I presently hold an MSc in Biomedical Engineering. I am currently aspiring to be a PhD candidate in a programme in Mental Health at the School of Health and Wellbeing. My aspirations are to focus on an intervention in improving bowel cancer screening in people with severe mental health illness, utilising a mixed methods approach.
Carol. A.
Carol has been part of the PPI group since finishing her Avatar Therapy as treatment for her Schizophrenia/Psychosis in 2021. She is very much a proud patient representative and has helped with the recruitment of a research assistant by sitting in on the interview panel. Living with Schizophrenia is challenging but Carol has ambitions to study two short courses at Glasgow University this year, one being: An Introduction to Art Psychotherapy.
Claire Matrunola
Claire (She/Her) is a research assistant with an interest in psychosis, digital interventions, trauma, and dissociation. She works across a number of studies, including in the PRG. Claire enjoys playing guitar and listening to heavy metal.
Yufan Chen
Yufan (she/her) is a PhD candidate focusing on fear of recurrence and progression in psychosis, as well as developing interventions. In her spare time, she enjoys street dancing, going to the gym, and cuddling with her wee Bengal cat while reading fascinating books.
Tor-Ivar Krogsæter
I originally came to Glasgow to study suicide; that is how I came in contact with the LEAP project. I am now very proud to be a PPI member of the Glasgow group. I revel in music and in particular metal genres like prog metal, djent or funk metal; I love training and instructing taekwon-do and have been for the past 25 years; I enjoy woodworking, calligraphy and leatherworking; and I regularly play roleplaying games like HackMaster and Dungeons & Dragons. I also have a keen interest in mental health and hope to contribute to making men’s mental health an acceptable conversational topic.
Beth McCulloch
Beth (She/Her) is a Research Assistant who joined the PRG in 2024. She is working on the CONNECT digital study, and is involved in recruitment, follow-ups and supporting participants through the study. Beth is passionate about improving access, early intervention and the involvement of lived experience. In her free time, Beth enjoys hosting quiz nights with her friends (“host” – so she knows all the answers!), and climbing a “wee” Scottish hill.
Liam Rankin
Liam has been a member of the PRG PPI group since 2020 and has contributed to many studies, including AVATAR2, which has published one of his poems on their blog. Liam has been active in fighting against stigma experienced by those living with schizophrenia in Scotland for many years now.
Julia Zabawa
Julia (she/her) is a Peer Support Worker on the RAPID trial. My main responsibilities involve delivering PREVAIL intervention and allocation calls. In my free time I enjoy coffee runs with my partner and working on my vinyl collection ranging from Fleetwood Mac and Tame Impala to Taylor Swift.
Barbora Watt
Barbora (She/Her) is a Research Assistant – she recruits participants and conducts assessments for the RAPID trial. Barbora really enjoys meeting and getting to know participants. Outside of work, Barbora finds tranquillity in long hikes in nature. Yet, she equally enjoys spending time at home, snuggling her tabby cat while streaming documentaries or losing herself in a good book.
Katie Hughes
Katie (She/Her) is a Research Assistant for the NIHR RAPID Clinical Trial. Her main role is to work alongside NHS crisis intervention services in Glasgow to identify and recruit eligible participants and complete research assessments. When not working, Katie loves reading, going to the gym, watching films and day tripping around Scotland.
Professor Hamish McLeod
Hamish (He/Him) is Professor of Clinical Psychology and an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist with the NHS. Much of his research activity focuses on workforce development and improving the psychological understanding and treatment complex mental health conditions. He is Principal Investigator on research projects in the PRG.
Recent Research Group Alumni
Leonie Richardson, Marta Da Costa Lopes