On the 23rd February 2022 we held the sixth webinar in our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Lunchtime Seminar Series. This webinar was on non-academic career pathways for researchers. We heard some expert advice from
- Dr Eloise Crush, Research Director, Positive Group
- Dr Dan Robotham, Deputy Research Director, The McPin Foundation
- Dr Stephanie Smith, Senior Advisor, Centre for Evidence and Implementation
- Dr Minh Dang, Executive Director, Survivor Alliance
Speaker Presentations and Resources
-
Eloise Crush
-
Minh Dang
-
Dan Robotham
-
Stephanie Smith
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About Eloise:
Eloise began her academic journey with an undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Nottingham where she developed an interest in memory and the potential for individuals to improve their cognitive abilities. After university, she accepted a graduate programme in banking, where she worked for several years in Corporate Banking and Restructuring. Later she worked as a Management Consultant, providing strategic and financial advice to banks, private equity firms and funds invested in the healthcare and medical sectors.
Eloise returned to the field of Psychology further to being awarded a 4-year scholarship from the Medical Research Council. She completed a MSc and PhD at King’s College London in Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry. Her PhD focused on Psychological Resilience, specifically considering protective factors for psychological wellbeing.
Eloise has a number of publications that have been able to establish the importance of cognitive ability, physical activity, social support and social cohesion for improving mental health outcomes amongst individuals in the general population, and amongst high risk groups exposed to adversity. She has a passion for positive psychology and understanding how psychological wellbeing and resilience can be sustained over time, and relatedly, the protective factors that support this process.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:03:53 to watch Eloise's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @eloise_crush
Web: https://www.positivegroup.org
Eloise began her academic journey with an undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Nottingham where she developed an interest in memory and the potential for individuals to improve their cognitive abilities. After university, she accepted a graduate programme in banking, where she worked for several years in Corporate Banking and Restructuring. Later she worked as a Management Consultant, providing strategic and financial advice to banks, private equity firms and funds invested in the healthcare and medical sectors.
Eloise returned to the field of Psychology further to being awarded a 4-year scholarship from the Medical Research Council. She completed a MSc and PhD at King’s College London in Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry. Her PhD focused on Psychological Resilience, specifically considering protective factors for psychological wellbeing.
Eloise has a number of publications that have been able to establish the importance of cognitive ability, physical activity, social support and social cohesion for improving mental health outcomes amongst individuals in the general population, and amongst high risk groups exposed to adversity. She has a passion for positive psychology and understanding how psychological wellbeing and resilience can be sustained over time, and relatedly, the protective factors that support this process.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:03:53 to watch Eloise's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @eloise_crush
Web: https://www.positivegroup.org
About Minh:
Minh Dang, MSW, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Survivor Alliance, an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery to be leaders in their own communities. She is also a Research Fellow and Lead in Survivor Wellbeing and Scholarship at the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab. Recently, Minh earned her Ph.D in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Nottingham, studying the wellbeing of survivors of slavery and human trafficking in the UK. Minh is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area region of California and a proud two-time University of California, Berkeley alum. Minh earned her B.A. in Sociology and Masters in Social Welfare, with an emphasis on Community Mental Health. Minh is also an avid backpacker, poet, Arsenal fan, and deeply concerned about our planet. You will rarely find her without a journal or post-it notes, and she hopes to one day launch a stationery line called Minhspiration.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:16:13 to watch Minh's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @minhspeakstruth @empwrsurvivors
Web: www.minh-dang.com
Extra Resources
1. https://couragerenewal.org/wpccr/parker/writings/politics-of-the-brokenhearted/
2. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/03/30/importance-being-scholar-activist-opinion
Minh Dang, MSW, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Survivor Alliance, an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery to be leaders in their own communities. She is also a Research Fellow and Lead in Survivor Wellbeing and Scholarship at the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab. Recently, Minh earned her Ph.D in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Nottingham, studying the wellbeing of survivors of slavery and human trafficking in the UK. Minh is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area region of California and a proud two-time University of California, Berkeley alum. Minh earned her B.A. in Sociology and Masters in Social Welfare, with an emphasis on Community Mental Health. Minh is also an avid backpacker, poet, Arsenal fan, and deeply concerned about our planet. You will rarely find her without a journal or post-it notes, and she hopes to one day launch a stationery line called Minhspiration.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:16:13 to watch Minh's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @minhspeakstruth @empwrsurvivors
Web: www.minh-dang.com
Extra Resources
1. https://couragerenewal.org/wpccr/parker/writings/politics-of-the-brokenhearted/
2. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/03/30/importance-being-scholar-activist-opinion
About Dan:
Dan has hopped back and forth between the charity sector and the university sector for the last fifteen years. He completed a part-time PhD at UCL whilst working on a Randomised Controlled Trial. He then worked for Mental Health Foundation for four years. After this, he returned to academic research, coordinating Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) at the Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. For the past five years, he has worked at McPin Foundation, a London-based mental health research charity that seeks to embed people’s ‘lived’ experiences into research and evaluation.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:28:05 to watch Dan's presentation.
Links:
Web: Mcpin.org
Dan has hopped back and forth between the charity sector and the university sector for the last fifteen years. He completed a part-time PhD at UCL whilst working on a Randomised Controlled Trial. He then worked for Mental Health Foundation for four years. After this, he returned to academic research, coordinating Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) at the Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. For the past five years, he has worked at McPin Foundation, a London-based mental health research charity that seeks to embed people’s ‘lived’ experiences into research and evaluation.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:28:05 to watch Dan's presentation.
Links:
Web: Mcpin.org
About Stephanie:
Dr Stephanie Smith is a senior research specialist with a varied 15-year career spanning academic, voluntary sector, and frontline healthcare roles.
Stephanie has taught quantitative research methods, epidemiology, and statistics at postgraduate level, worked closely with UK health policy experts to bridge the research-policy-practice gap, and supported vulnerable young adults in an NHS community mental health service. She played a key role in the setup of a landmark school-based cohort study of adolescent mental health in inner-city London – the REACH study, investigating risk and protective factors for mental health among young people from diverse backgrounds. Stephanie has also coordinated several Patient and Public Engagement and Involvement (PPIE) initiatives, including for the Children and Families Policy Research Unit (CPRU) at University College London (UCL).
At CEI, Stephanie manages a portfolio of projects across evidence syntheses, evaluation, and implementation science, including an innovative multi-site trial focusing on the feasibility of involving multiple youth organisations in a rigorous impact evaluation. Stephanie has a PhD in Health Services and Population Research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, where she was funded by an interdisciplinary social science scholarship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She also holds an MSc in Psychiatric Research from the IoPPN.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:40:09 to watch Stephanie's presentation.
Links:
Twitter: @StephBeards @CEI_org
Dr Stephanie Smith is a senior research specialist with a varied 15-year career spanning academic, voluntary sector, and frontline healthcare roles.
Stephanie has taught quantitative research methods, epidemiology, and statistics at postgraduate level, worked closely with UK health policy experts to bridge the research-policy-practice gap, and supported vulnerable young adults in an NHS community mental health service. She played a key role in the setup of a landmark school-based cohort study of adolescent mental health in inner-city London – the REACH study, investigating risk and protective factors for mental health among young people from diverse backgrounds. Stephanie has also coordinated several Patient and Public Engagement and Involvement (PPIE) initiatives, including for the Children and Families Policy Research Unit (CPRU) at University College London (UCL).
At CEI, Stephanie manages a portfolio of projects across evidence syntheses, evaluation, and implementation science, including an innovative multi-site trial focusing on the feasibility of involving multiple youth organisations in a rigorous impact evaluation. Stephanie has a PhD in Health Services and Population Research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, where she was funded by an interdisciplinary social science scholarship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She also holds an MSc in Psychiatric Research from the IoPPN.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:40:09 to watch Stephanie's presentation.
Links:
Twitter: @StephBeards @CEI_org
Panel Discussion
Skip to 00:55:32 to watch the panel discussion with all speakers.