Newcastle University

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Psychology (2005)

MSc Health Psychology (2008)

Trainee Health Psychologist (2010) 

I am currently completing a Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology, whilst working full-time as a Research Assistant at Newcastle. I am ultimately working towards a Chartered Psychologist status and eligiblity to register as a Health Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC). My main interests are survivorship issues in cancer.

Previous Positions 

Research Assistant, Renfrewshire Educational Psychology Service (2008-2009)

Research Assistant, The Edinburgh Sleep Centre (2007-2008) 

Memberships

British Psychological Society, Division of Health Psychology 

Pan-European Network for Care of Survivors after Childhood and Adolescent Cancer (PanCare) 

Main Research Interests

• Survivorship issues in cancer (particularly in childhood, adolescent & young adult patients)
• Perceptions and experiences of health, illness and treatment
• Qualitative methods

Current Research

I arrived at Newcastle University in 2009 to initially be involved in the European Bone Tumour Outcome Study (EBTOS) - a large collaborative study researching functional, social and health-related quality of life outcomes in bone tumour survivors.

I went on to conduct a study of the cardiovascular implications of pre-eclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. This involved a systematic review of the area as well as a qualitative study with women who had experienced pre-eclampsia during a recent pregnancy, with both accepted for publication.

At present I am carrying out a pilot study which is exploring the long-term psychosocial impact of surviving cancer as a child or adolescent.  This includes a large literature review of the area in combination with planned focus groups with both survivors and NHS staff.

Recently I have been very pleased to become involved in PanCareSurFup (PanCare Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivor Care and Follow-Up Studies). This is a European collaborative programme funded by the EU which will develop guidelines for the clinical practice and organization of long-term follow-up (LTFU), transition of care to age-appropriate LTFU in survivors of or approaching adult age, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle in long-term survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer.

Presentations 

European Bone Tumour Outcome Study (EBTOS): Overview of health-related quality of life in study cohort at British Sarcoma Group Conference 2011

Funding

Newcastle Healthcare Charities (Co-applicant): "Quality of life, socio-economic status, relationships and risk perceptions in survivors of childhood or young adult cancer: a pilot study." 2011-2012 

Children with Cancer (Co-applicant): "Psychosocial health outcomes after childhood cancer - pathways from initial survival to long-term survivorship". 2012-2013

Undergraduate Teaching

'Medicine in the Community' course for Stage 1 and 2 MBBS students.

• Assisting in developing the social science seminars for the MiC programme.
• Tutor for social science seminars.
• Marking of student essays. 

• Brown MC, Best KE, Pearce MS, Waugh J, Robson SC, Bell R. Cardiovascular disease risk in women with pre-eclampsia: systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Epidemiology 2013, 28(1), 1-19.
• Brown MC, Bell R, Collins C, Waring G, Robson SC, Waugh J, Finch T. Women's perception of future risk following pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. Hypertension in Pregnancy 2013, 32(1), 60-73.
• Woolfson RC, Heffernan E, Paul M, Brown M. Young people’s views of the Child Protection System in Scotland. British Journal of Social Work 2010, 40(7), 2069-2085.