Meet the team

Our team comprises NHS practitioners, researchers and administration staff.

Principal Investigators

Professor Jonathan Green

Jonathan Green.Chief Investigator 

Prof. Green is a Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s Hospitals University NHS Trust and Manchester Biomedical Research Centre.

Read more about Prof. Green’s research

 

Dr Kathy Leadbitter

Kathy’s research interests and expertise are in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children and effective interventions. She is passionate about pragmatic and high-impact research that will directly improve the lives of children with ASD and their families in the UK and internationally, including in low resource contexts. She has expertise in the management of large multi-site randomized controlled trials. She is an autistic ally and embraces neurodiversity.

Read more about Dr Leadbitter’s research

 

Professor Linda Davies

Linda became Professor in Health Economics in 2008 and is based in the Manchester Centre for Health Economics (MCHE). Her key roles are the design and implementation of economic evaluations in mental health and chronic disabilities, focussing on complex interventions for people with complex needs. This includes research in mental health (e.g. depression, psychosis and bipolar disorder), dementia, co-morbid physical and mental health problems, psoriasis and arthritis.

Read more about Prof. Davies’s research

 

Professor Penny Bee

Penny is a Reader in Health Services Research based in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work. She contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate (Masters & PhD) learning, particularly in relation to research methods, evidence synthesis methods and online e-learning enviroments. She is co-lead of the Mental Health Research Group, where her main research interests lie in the development and evaluation of innovative models of mental health service delivery, specifically telephone CBT (T-CBT).

Read more about Prof. Bee’s research

 

Louisa Harrison

Louisa is a specialist in ASD and SEN. She has worked closely with our team over a number of years as a parent representative and expert by experience.

 

 

 

Professor Richard Emsley

Richard’s research interests are in clinical trials methodology, and developing statistical methods for efficacy and mechanisms evaluation using causal inference approaches. The applications of these methods include randomized trials of complex interventions in mental health, and trial designs and associated analysis methods in precision medicine.

Read more about Prof. Emsley’s research

 

Dr Latha Hackett

Dr Hackett is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at The Winnicot Centre, Manchester University NHS Trust.

 

 

 

Dr Leo Kroll

Dr Kroll trained as a paediatrician and then switched careers to psychiatry. He worked as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist for 20 years in Stockport and Salford, Manchester. He retired in 2015 and is now an associate specialist with a private multidisciplinary team, which provides clinical assessments for children and teenagers with suspected autistic spectrum condition and ADHD.

 

 

Dr Alison Dunkerley

Dr Dunkerley is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who works in a multidisciplinary mental health team for the assessment and treatment of young people and their families.

 

 

Tessa Hutton

Tessa is a Senior Psychological Therapist who works in a multidisciplinary mental health team for the assessment and treatment of young people and their families.

 

Trial Management Team

Dr Richard Smallman

Trial Manager

 

Sofia Ahmed

Research Administrator

Practitioners

Hilary Beach

Amy Van Gils

Researchers

Dr Ceri Ellis 

Research Associate

 

 

 

Sophie Langhorne

Research Associate

 

 

 

Cam Sawyer

Placement Student/Research Support Assistant

 

 

 

Caitlin Goldie

Research Assistant

 

 

 

Charlotte Butter

Research Assistant

Advisory Group

Our advisory group is made up of parents and autistic individuals who are helping us shape our intervention and research programme.

Elsie

Autistic Young Person Advisor

 

Fiona

Expert by Experience

 

Ioniobong

Expert by Experience

 

Graham

Expert by Experience