Staff Profile

Susanna is a Newcastle University Academic Track (NUAcT) Clinical Fellow, and Consultant in Public Health at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust. She uses mixed-methods in her research, and focusses on diet, nutrition and obesity, particularly in the context of people experiencing mental health conditions and other vulnerable groups. Susanna has held National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) career development awards since 2012, and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.

Roles and responsibilities

• NUAcT (Newcastle University Academic Track) Clinical Fellow, 2024-present
• Consultant in Public Health at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust, 2024-present
• NIHR Public Health Research Prioritisation Committee and Funding Committee member, 2023-present
• NIHR Pre-doctoral Award - Local Authority, Public Health and Social Care Funding Committee member, 2026-present
• Lancet Commission on Obesity Fellow 2016-2018

Funding

• National Institute for Health and Care Research: Three School Prevention Career Development Award, 2026-27, £27,775. Prevention of obesity and related physical health conditions amongst young people living with severe mental illness. Role: Lead recipient
• Newcastle University, 2024-25, £9,999. Returners’ Support Programme. Role: Lead recipient of funding to catalyse return to the workplace following parental leave
• Novo Nordisk Foundation, 2024-25, £36,000. Weight management in secure mental health services. Role: Chief Investigator
• Alzheimer’s Research UK, 2023-24, £4,416. Understanding the barriers and facilitators towards diet and dementia prevention among South Asian communities living in the UK. Role: Co-Investigator
• National Institute for Health and Care Research: Programme Grants for Applied Research, 2022-25, £2,605,905. DIAMONDS: Diabetes and mental illness, improving outcomes and self-management. Role: Sub-Investigator at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust
• National Institute for Health and Care Research: Research for Patient Benefit Programme, 2021-23, £178,657. A mixed methods study using co-production to explore food insecurity in adults with severe mental illness living in northern England. Role: Principal Investigator at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust
• Academy of Medical Sciences Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers, 2021-23, £29,995. Mixed-methods study to generate evidence to inform weight management interventions in adult secure care mental health inpatient settings. Role: Chief Investigator
• British Council Researcher Links Climate Challenge Grant 2021-22, £7,000. Healthy and sustainable cooking practices among school kitchen staff - A pilot project in Campinas, SP, Brazil. Role: Co-Investigator
• Global Food Security 2018 Food Systems Resilience Development 3rd Call, 2019-2021, £525,456. T-GRAINS: Transforming and Growing Relationships within regional food systems for Improved Nutrition and Sustainability. Role: Co-Investigator
• National Institute for Health & Care Research Clinical Lectureship CL-2017-01-003, 2018-24, approx. £320,000 salary. Role: Lead recipient
• National Institute for Health and Care Research Doctoral Research Fellowship DRF-2014-07-020, 2014-17, £269,000. A mixed methods programme of study on the determinants and health outcomes of home food preparation. Role: Chief Investigator
• National Institute for Health & Care Research Academic Clinical Fellowship ACF-2012-01-005, 2012-14, approx. £75,000 salary. Role: Lead recipient

Areas of expertise

• Public health nutrition
• Overweight and obesity
• Mental health
• Health inequalities
• Environmental sustainability   

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Susanna's research focusses on diet, nutrition, obesity and the intersection with vulnerable groups and planetary health. She works closely with people with lived experience, and collaborates widely across the NHS, academia, local government and third sector organisations.

Areas of interest include:

• Overweight and obesity
• Mental health
• Health inequalities
• Cooking and home food preparation
• Food insecurity
• Environmental sustainability

Susanna welcomes opportunities to supervise students with interest in her field of research.

Teaching experience

• Postgraduate students: Masters in Public Health; Masters in Dietetics
• Undergraduate students: Biomedical Sciences; Food and Human Nutrition
• Medical doctors in training: Public Health; Paediatrics; Psychiatry
• National CPD sessions for Medical Consultants and other NHS healthcare professionals

Supervision

• Lead supervisor for PhD student: Ella Bradley - 'Understanding Risk Factors to Prevent Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in People with Severe Mental Illness'
• Co-supervisor for PhD student undertaking viva corrections: Hannah Jones - 'Nutrition Education, Diet and Health in British Overseas Territories: A Tailored Approach to Public Health'
• Lead supervisor for one Research Assistant
• Lead mentor for pharmacist awarded Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Trust Non-medical Researcher Development Internship
• Co-supervisor for undergraduate and postgraduate research projects
• Previously co-supervised two undergraduate BSc research students in Food and Human Nutrition

Accreditation and training

Associate Fellow of Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate School

• Articles

  • Clear AK, Mitchell Finnigan S, Sharp RT, Milne AE, Furness E, Meador E, Mills S, Sanderson Bellamy A. Designing to Support Local Stakeholders in Negotiating about Future Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems. Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’26) 2026. In Press.
  • Mills S, Kaner E, Ramsay S, McKinnon I. What are the key influences and challenges around weight management faced by patients in UK adult secure mental health settings? A focused ethnographic approach. BMJ Open 2024, 14(3), e079406.
  • Mills S, Kaner E, Ramsay S, McKinnon I. Understanding weight management in adult secure mental health services: findings from a mixed-methods study in Northern England. The Journal of Forensic Practice 2024, 26(2), 100-113.
  • Sim YJ, Townsend RF, Mills S, Stocker R, Stevenson E, McEvoy C, Fairley AM. Understanding engagement in diet and dementia prevention research among British South Asians: a short report of findings from a patient and public involvement group. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 2024, 37(4), 899-908.
  • Sharp RT, Sanderson Bellamy A, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan S, Furness E, Meador E, Metcalfe H, Mills S, Coleman K, Whitmore AP, Milne AE. Implications and impacts of aligning regional agriculture with a healthy diet. Journal of Cleaner Production 2024, 449, 141375.
  • Bush KJ, Cullen E, Mills S, Chin RFM, Thomas RH, Kingston A, Pickrell WO, Ramsay SE. Assessing the extent and determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in epilepsy in the UK: a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence. The Lancet Public Health 2024, 9(8), e614-e628.
  • Bellamy AS, Furness E, Mills S, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan SM, Meador E, Milne AE, Sharp RT. Promoting dietary changes for achieving health and sustainability targets. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 2023, 7, 1160627.
  • Brown H, Mills S, Albani V. Socioeconomic risks of food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: findings from the Understanding Society Covid Survey. BMC Public Health 2022, 22(1), 590.
  • Furness E, Sanderson Bellamy A, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan S, Meador JE, Mills S, Milne AE, Sharp RT. Communication and building social capital in community supported agriculture. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 2022, 12(1), 63-78.
  • Mills S, Wolfson J, Wrieden W, Brown H, White M, Adams J. Perceptions of 'home cooking': a qualitative analysis from the United Kingdom and United States. Nutrients 2020, 12(1), 198.
  • Mills S. COVID-19, Public Health Measures, Legal Considerations: A Medical Perspective. Judicial Review 2020, 25(2), 71-79.
  • Swinburn BA, Kraak VI, Allender S, Atkins VJ, Baker PI, Bogard JR, Brinsden H, Calvillo A, De Schutter O, Devarajan R, Ezzati M, Friel S, Goenka S, Hammond RA, Hastings G, Hawkes C, Herrero M, Hovmand PS, Howden M, Jaacks LM, Kapetanaki AB, Kasman M, Kuhnlein HV, Kumanyika SK, Larijani B, Lobstein T, Long MW, Matsudo VKR, Mills SDH, Morgan G, Morshed A, Nece PM, Pan A, Patterson DW, Sacks G, Shekar M, Simmons GL, Smit W, Tootee A, Vandevijvere S, Waterlander WE, Wolfenden L, Dietz WH. The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change: The Lancet Commission report. The Lancet 2019, 393(10173), 791-846.
  • Mills S, Adams J, White M, Wrieden W, Brown H. Sociodemographic characteristics and frequency of consuming home-cooked meals and meals from out-of-home sources: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study. Public Health Nutrition 2018, 21(12), 2255-2266.
  • Mills S, White M, Wrieden W, Brown H, Stead M, Adams J. Home food preparation practices, experiences and perceptions: A qualitative interview study with photo-elicitation. PLoS ONE 2017, 12(8), e0182842.
  • Mills S, White M, Brown H, Wreiden W, Kwansicka D, Halligan J, Robalino S, Adams J. Health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking: a systematic review of observational studies. Appetite 2017, 111, 116-134.
  • Mill SDH, Brown H, Wrieden WL, White M, Adams J. Frequency of eating home cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2017, 14, 109.
  • Adams J, Mills SDH. Consuming meals prepared at home more frequently appears to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, weight gain and obesity. Evidence-Based Medicine 2017, 22(1), 38.
  • Mills S, White M, Robalino S, Wrieden W, Brown H, Adams J. Systematic review of the health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking: protocol. Systematic Reviews 2015, 4(5), 35.
  • Mills SD, Tanner LM, Adams J. Systematic literature review of the effects of food and drink advertising on food and drink-related behaviour, attitudes and beliefs in adult populations. Obesity Reviews 2013, 14(4), 303-314.
  • Tanner LM, Moffatt S, Milne E, Mills SDH, White M. Socio-economic and behavioural risk factors for adverse winter health and social outcomes in economically developed countries: a systematic review of quantitative observational studies. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2013, 67(12), 1061-1067.
  • Braddick O, Birtles D, Mills S, Warshafsky J, Wattam-Bell J, Atkinson J. Brain responses to global perceptual coherence. Journal of Vision 2006, 6(6), 426a.

• Book Chapter

  • Hall, SM, Pottinger, L, Blake, M, Mills, S, Reynolds, C, Wrieden, W. Food for thought? Material methods for exploring food and cooking. In: Holmes, H and Hall, SM, ed. Mundane Methods: Innovative ways to research the everyday. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Mills S, Furness E, Clear AK, Mitchell Finnigan S, Meador E, Milne AE, Sharp RT, Sanderson Bellamy A. The role of community-supported agriculture in building health and sustainability into UK diets: a mixed methods study. In: UK Public Health Sciences. 2022, The Lancet.
  • Mills S, Albani V, Brown H. Estimating the direct and indirect risks of becoming food insecure during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional analysis using UK cohort data. In: UK Public Health Sciences. 2022, Elsevier.
  • Mills SDH, Wright T. Access to food retail outlets in County Durham, UK: a pragmatic cross-sectional study. In: The Lancet. 2015, The Lancet Publishing Group.