Staff Profile

I joined the FMS Research Project Management team as a Research Project Manager in December 2022.

I have worked in research at the university for over eight years, initially on the MRC-funded BLISS study and more recently on the EU H2020 R-LiNK study, both investigating personalised treatment response to lithium in bipolar disorder. Dr David Cousins leads on the lithium MR brain imaging aspect of the project, a technique which was developed here at Newcastle.

I currently support the Health Checks for Autistic Adults study, which is led by Professor Jeremy Parr and Dr Barry Ingham alongside a consortium of autistic people, health professionals and researchers. The study is now at stage 3 (RCT) and aims to evaluate a biopsychosocial health check for autistic adults for use by NHS Primary Care professionals. 

Previous positions

Research Assistant, Team Lithium, TCRI, Newcastle University 

Admissions Secretary, SHCA, Newcastle University

Assistant Psychologist, Walkergate Park Centre for Neurorehabilitation and Neuropsychiatry, CNTW NHS Trust 

Mental Health Support Worker, CNTW NHS Trust 

Qualifications

First Class Honours in BSc Psychology - University of Liverpool 2010

• Articles

  • Necus J, Sinha N, Smith FE, Thelwall PE, Flowers CJ, Taylor PN, Blamire AM, Cousins DA, Wang Y. White matter microstructural properties in bipolar disorder in relationship to the spatial distribution of lithium in the brain. Journal of Affective Disorders 2019, 253, 224-231.
  • Necus J, Smith FE, Thelwall PE, Flowers CJ, Sinha N, Taylor PN, Blamire AM, Wang Y, Cousins DA. Quantification of brain proton longitudinal relaxation (T₁) in lithium‐treated and lithium‐naïve patients with bipolar disorder in comparison to healthy controls. Bipolar Disorders 2019, 23(1), 41-48.
  • Smith FE, Thelwall PE, Necus J, Flowers CJ, Blamire AM, Cousins DA. 3D ⁷Li magnetic resonance imaging of brain lithium distribution in bipolar disorder. Molecular Psychiatry 2018, 23(11), 2184-2191.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Cousins D, Smith F, Necus J, Thelwall P, Flowers C, Taylor P, Sinha N, Wang YJ, Blamire A. Imaging the distribution and effects of lithium in the brain in bipolar disorder. In: 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Biological Chemistry. 2018, New York: Elsevier.