Members of the CAR

Contact details research interests for CAR members.

Directors

Name Key research interests
Professor Diana Harcourt
Co-Director
  • Psychosocial impact of visible difference, in particular changes to appearance as a result of cancer treatment
  • Women’s experiences of breast reconstruction following mastectomy
  • Psychosocial impact of changes to appearance due to chemotherapy on breast cancer
  • Adolescent cancer patients’ experiences of changes to appearance
Dr Amy Slater
Co-Director
  • Young people’s body image and a particular interest in the role of the internet and social media

Staff

Name Key research interests
Dr Issy Bray
Senior Lecturer in Public Health
  • Mental health
  • Happiness
  • Suicide
Dr Alex Clarke
Visiting Professor
  • Visible difference
  • Cosmetic procedures
  • Health professional training
  • Psychological care of people with appearance concerns
Bruna Oliveira Costa
Research Associate
  • Health psychology
  • Appearance and visible difference

Nadia Craddock
Research Fellow
  • Big business and body image
  • Colourism and skin tone ideals
Professor Phillippa Diedrichs
Professor of Psychology
  • Body image
  • Influence of the mass media and advertising on body image
  • School interventions to promote positive body image
  • Health psychology
Dr Catrin Griffiths
Senior Research Fellow
  • Health psychology
  • Visible Difference
  • Development of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for use in Burn Care
Kirsty Garbett
Research Fellow
  • Body image interventions
  • Cosmetic procedures
  • Health psychology
Ella Guest
Research Associate
  • Health psychology; visible difference
  • The psychosocial impact of living with a burn injury
  • Breast reconstruction

Dr Emma Halliwell
Associate Professor of Psychology
  • Sociocultural influences on body image concerns
Dr Claire Hamlet
Research Fellow
  • Health Psychology
  • Ageing
  • Psychological interventions for appearance concerns
  • Randomised controlled trials
Farheen Hasan
Research Associate
  • Body image
  • Cross-cultural factors
  • Health behaviours (e.g. smoking, alcohol use).
Sharon Haywood
Research Associate
  • Body image
  • Body image interventions
  • Weight stigma
Dr Nic Hooper
Lecturer
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Relational Frame Theory (RFT)
Dr Liz Jenkinson
Senior Lecturer of Psychology
  • Health psychology
  • Appearance research and visible difference
  • The effectiveness of psychological interventions

Dr Mary Keeling
Senior Research Fellow
  • Psychosocial impact of conflict-related appearance altering injuries
  • Wellbeing of military populations
  • Military to civilian transition
Dr Helena Lewis-Smith
Senior Research Fellow
  • Body image; particularly among women with breast cancer and within the general population
  • Development of psychosocial interventions to improve body image
  • Health psychology
Dr Emily Matheson
Research Fellow
  • Body image
  • Eating disorder prevention
  • Cognitive bias modification
Dr Tim Moss
Associate Professor of
Health Psychology
  • Adjustment to disfigurement
  • Health behaviour change
  • Measurement of appearance adjustment
Dr Nicole Paraskeva
Senior Research Fellow
  • Body image interventions
  • Plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery
  • Health Psychology
Georgina Pegram
Research Associate
  • Body image interventions
  • Eating disorder prevention
  • Weight stigma
Christine Ramsey-Wade
Senior Lecturer:
Counselling Psychology
  • Cognitive-behavioural therapies
  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
  • Creative and expressive therapies
Professor Emerita Nichola Rumsey
  • Psychological aspects of cosmetic procedures
  • Development of training in the psychological care of people with appearance concerns
  • Social reintegration of people following appearance-altering trauma
Harriet Smith
Research Associate
  • Positive body image
  • Intervention development
  • Health psychology and the role of body image in chronic health conditions.
Dr Nicola Stock
Senior Research Fellow
  • The psychological and social impact of appearance-altering conditions
  • Psychological support for individuals born with craniofacial conditions and their families.
Dr Nick Sharratt
Research Fellow
  • Visible Difference and Health Psychology
  • Intimacy and romantic relationships
  • Psychosocial interventions for visible difference
Dr Pippa Tollow
Research Fellow
  • Patient experiences of treatment
  • Clinician-patient communication
  • Health psychology
Dr Heidi Williamson
Senior Research Fellow
  • Health psychology
  • Visible differences / disfigurement, particularly among young people with cancer and women with breast cancer
  • Developing interventions to support young people distressed by altered appearance
Fabio Zucchelli
Research Associate
  • Mindfulness-based interventions (including Acceptance Commitment Therapy)
  • Visible difference
  • Male body image
  • Social psychology

Current PhD Students

Name

 Title of PhD Supervisors
Chantelle Bailey Development and evaluation of a school-based body image intervention to change attitudes towards appearance and promote acceptance of appearance diversity
Caterina Gentili Body Image, Appearance and Physical Activity after Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer Diana Harcourt and Stuart McClean
Beth Herring Body image and men with breast cancer Diana Harcourt, Emma Halliwell, Helena Lewis-Smith, Nicole Paraskeva
Christina Huntington Online support for people affected by burns injuries Diana Harcourt, Catrin Griffiths, Pippa Tollow
Sabrina Meechem The impact of social media on adolescent health and wellbeing Amy Slater, Emma Halliwell, Yvette Morey
Jade Parnell Developing an intervention for primary school-aged children to increase acceptance of diversity of appearance Amy Slater and Heidi Williamson
Maia Thornton Promoting positive psychological adjustment in parents and carers of children and young people with an appearance-altering condition or injury Heidi Williamson, Diana Harcourt, James Kiff, Toity Deave

Completed PhD Students

Name

 Title of PhD Supervisors
Nadia Craddock Big business and body image Phillippa Diedrichs, Emma Halliwell, Fiona Spotswood, Meaghan Ramsey
Matthew Ridley Redefining resilience in the context of cleft lip and/or palate: Using adult data to inform the development of an intervention to promote positive outcomes Nichola Rumsey,
Amy Slater
Dr Nick Sharratt The impact of appearance concerns on intimacy in people with disfigurement Nichola Rumsey, Tim Moss, Elizabeth Jenkinson
Dr Jennifer Heath Peer support for parents of people affected by burn injuries Diana Harcourt,
Heidi Williamson,
Lisa Williams
Dr Laura Armstrong-James Paediatric and young people's psychosocial adjustment to burn injuries Diana Harcourt, Nichola Rumsey, Heidi Williamson, Julia Cadogan
Dr Jenny Barke Young people’s experiences of visible differences associated with genetic/inherited conditions Diana Harcourt
Dr Alyson Bessell Facing up to visible difference: The design and evaluation of a new computer-based psychosocial intervention Tim Moss, Nichola Rumsey, Diana Harcourt
Dr Heather Brant Psychosocial and ethical issues around visible difference associated with genetic conditions Diana Harcourt
Dr Emma Dures Psychosocial impact of Epidermylosis Bullosa (EB) Nichola Rumsey, Marianna Morris, Kate Gleeson
Dr Fiona Fox An exploration of online peer support for young people with chronic skin conditions Marianne Morris, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Nikki Hayfield Bisexual women’s visual identities: A feminist mixed-methods exploration Victoria Clarke, Emma Halliwell, Nichola Rumsey, Helen Malson
Dr Caroline Huxley An exploration of the sociocultural influences affecting lesbian and bisexual women’s body image Emma Halliwell, Victoria Clarke, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Sue Jackson The psychosocial importance of eyes and the impact of strabismus on adults Nichola Rumsey, Marianne Morris, Richard Harrad
Dr Fiona Kennedy The psychosocial impact and perception of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ Diana Harcourt, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Helena Lewis-Smith Psychosocial support for appearance-related concerns amongst people living with a visible difference: exploring the use of body image interventions in women with breast cancer Diana Harcourt, Nichola Rumsey, Phillippa Diedrichs
Dr Emily Lovegrove Adolescents, appearance and anti-bullying strategies

Nichola Rumsey, Keith Postlethwaite
Dr Geeta Patel Black Minority Ethnic (BME) women's experiences following breast cancer diagnosis Diana Harcourt, Nichola Rumsey, Habib Naqvi
Dr Melissa Pilkington Psychosocial interventions to support women affected by hair loss due to chemotherapy treatment Diana Harcourt and Nichola Rumsey,
Dr Ben Rosser Cognitive information processing biases and appearance adjustment: The role of the appearance self-schema Tim Moss, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Irmgard Tischner A critical psychological investigation of obesity Helen Malson, Emma Halliwell, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Daisy Townsend

Exploring the role of cognitive, physical and social variables between body image and appearance concerns and physical activity participation

 James Byron Daniel, Emma Halliwell, Diana Harcourt
Dr Melissa Wallace The psychosocial impact of conditions altering appearance during adolescence Diana Harcourt, Nichola Rumsey
Dr Jamie White Development of negative body image and disordered eating in adolescents Emma Halliwell, Tim Moss, Nichola Rumsey

Visiting Staff - previous

Name Year From
Professor David Sánchez-Carracedo May–June 2018 Univeristat Autonoma de Barcelona
Dr Jessia Alleva Sep 2016–Oct 2017 University of Masstricht, Netherlands
Tara De Paoli (PhD student) Oct 2016 - Jan 2017 University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Susan Paxton Sep - Nov 2013 LaTrobe University, Melbourne
Jasmine Fardouly Feb - July 2013
Dr Kristin Billaud-Feragen Sep 2012–Sep 2013 Statped, Norway
Dr Zali Yager Nov 2011 -Nov 2012 LaTrobe University, Melbourne
Dr Lina Ricciardelli Oct–Nov 2011 Deakin University, Melbourne

Honorary CAR Members

Name Honorary Award
Dr Rosanna Preston UWE Doctor of Science
Dr Julia Cadogan, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Fdn Trust CAR Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Alex Clarke UWE Doctor of Science
Dr James Partridge UWE Doctor of Science

Prof Martin Persson, Kristianstad University, Sweden

 CAR Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Jessica Alleva, Maastricht University, the Netherlands CAR Honorary Research Fellow

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About

About the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at UWE Bristol.

Collaborations

Read about our collaborations with Dove, YMCA, Clic Sargent, Breast Cancer Now and many more.

Recent funding

Centre for Appearance Research recent funding, from The Healing Foundation, National Institute for Health Research and many more.

Contacts

How to contact the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE Bristol if you have any queries.