University of Nottingham: Nottingham expert awarded prestigious NIHR Advanced Fellowship
A Nottingham academic has been recognised as a future leader within applied health research by being awarded a coveted National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellowship.
Dr Fiona Ng, from the School of Health Sciences, will lead a five-year project, which will develop and test a new digital intervention to support posttraumatic growth in experiences of psychosis.
People with experiences of psychosis report higher levels of trauma, compared to the general population. Whilst some people report positive changes or posttraumatic growth as a result of their experiences, there is limited knowledge as to how these positive changes occur and no interventions to support this.
During her fellowship, Dr Ng will work in partnership with people with lived experience of psychosis to develop a better understanding of factors, which contribute to posttraumatic growth and how it can be best supported. These findings will underpin the development and testing of a new digital intervention, which will combine cognitive behavioural and narrative therapy approaches. This first-in-field intervention is important, as it will provide people with psychosis with concrete support for recovery through developing a greater sense of self, and making meaning from experiences.
This research will be based in the Recovery Research Team at the Institute of Mental Health and conducted in collaboration with NIHR MindTech, the Sheffield Clinical Trials Research Unit, and international experts from Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, and the USA.
Dr Fiona NG said: “I am delighted to receive an Advanced Fellowship. This funding will allow me to build research capacity and provide invaluable training and mentoring opportunities I need to realise my vision of transforming mental health services internationally.”
Mike Slade, Professor of Mental Health Recovery and Social Inclusion at the University of Nottingham, who leads the Recovery Research Team, said: “This is fantastic news for our research group and for the University of Nottingham. This prestigious award will establish Fiona as a leading researcher in this field, and her research will give us greater knowledge about what is necessary to support recovery and develop new positive approaches to interventions for people with experience of psychosis.”