Professor Richard Byng
Plymouth University
Site Principal Investigator
Richard joined the PARTNERS2 team at the very start of the project, during the initial grant preparation. Richard works both as a GP and as a researcher based at Peninsula School of Medicine. He is the Site Principal Investigator, meaning he is in charge of overseeing the project in Plymouth and Cornwall. He co-led the development of the PARTNERS Service and is taking up this role during the trial stage. Richard's motivations for involvement in mental health research is because he wants individuals with mental health problems to get support to achieve their personal goals, and for them to feel that organisations and professionals are working together with them.
Professor Nicky Britten
University of Exeter
Principal Investigator
Nicky has been part of the PARTNERS2 team from the beginning as a co-applicant. She is an experienced qualitative researcher with a PhD in Sociology. She is leading the qualitative components of the programme as a methodologist and has not worked on a mental health focused project before. She is interested in applying her knowledge of person-centred care and health care communication in primary care to the mental health context.
Dr Ruth Gwernan-Jones
University of Exeter
Qualitative Research Fellow
Ruth joined the PARTNERS2 team in April 2014. Her bachelor’s degree is in Psychology, gained from Purdue University in the US in 1988. She then completed an MSc in Educational Research in 2006, and a PhD in Education in 2011 at the University of Exeter. She is involved in developing the programme theory, working on qualitative aspects of the project, and working on process evaluations for the formative evaluation of the intervention and the randomised control trial. Ruth's research interests are around social aspects of disability, particularly elements of stigma and identity in relation to mental health. Recently, Ruth left the research team but remains involved in writing up study findings.
Dr Elina Baker
University of Exeter
Qualitative Research Fellow
Elina joined the PARTNERS2 team in September 2016. She is a qualified clinical psychologist and since completing her doctorate in clinical psychology in 2002 has specialised in working with people with a diagnosis of psychosis and developing and implementing recovery-based practice in a variety of clinical settings. She is working as a qualitative research fellow, supporting the development of the programme theory (including preparing materials and training to support Care Partners and Supervisors in implementing the model) and will be collecting and analysing qualitative data for the process evaluation across the sites.
Cathy McCabe
Plymouth University
Research Assistant
Cathy joined the PARTNERS2 team in January 2016, having completed an MA in Sociology at Simon Fraser University, Canada in September 2015. She is working as a researcher in the South West area. Her MA research focused on online social interactions and subsequently she moved into health research, looking at the role of support groups in helping individuals to live well with chronic illness, before moving into the field of mental health research. She has both first and second hand experience of mental ill-health, and hopes her work can help to improve the lives of those with ongoing mental health needs through research into evidence-based services. Recently, Cathy left the research team but remains involved in writing up study findings.
Charley Hobson-Merrett
Plymouth University
Research Assistant
Charley started working as a researcher with Plymouth University on the PARTNERS2 team in February 2017. She completed her research masters in health and wellbeing in October 2016. In addition, Charley runs Free Your Instinct, a charity that provides parkour classes for those with a mental health diagnosis. Her interest in mental health research, particularly individualised care in the community, comes from her own lived experience and from supporting her friends.
Dr Lynsey Williams
Plymouth University
Research Assistant
Lynsey joined the PARTNERS2 project based at Plymouth University in June 2018. She wrote her PhD on how patients contribute to medical student education. Before she started working in academia, Lynsey used to work in mental health and substance misuse. Since then she has worked on a patient and public involvement project investigating patient perspectives on doctors training and qualifications. Her previous post was working with kidney donors to explore attitudes and beliefs about organ donation. She is really enthusiastic about contributing to a project that seeks improvements in services for this patient group, and looks forward to working on the PARTNERS2 project.