Meet Our team
Professor Jason Halford
Principal Investigator & Food and Nutrition workstream Co-Lead
Jason is the Head of the School of Psychology, with a background in Appetite and Obesity (and current chair of the European Association for the Study of Obesity).
He has led international projects such as SATIN and SWEET, and the SWITCH intervention trial, and has interests in childhood obesity, commercial determinants of health and mental health issues associated with these.
He also co-leads on the Food and Nutrition workstream.
Professor Angela Graves
Deputy Principal Investigator
Angela is a Professor of Maternal Health & Professional Education and is the Head of the School of Healthcare. Angela’s research and education interests include health professional education with a focus on simulation, obstetric emergencies, critical events and enhanced maternal care.
Angela is the lead for simulation-based learning and teaching and a visiting Associate Professor at UNISA Yogyakarta, Indonesia (since 2019). She has recently re-developed the BSc (Hons) Midwifery blended degree programme with successful funding from Health Education England.
Dr Shirley-Anne Paul
Senior project manager
Shirley is the Senior Project Manager for MyFirst1000Days. She has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and expertise in the design, delivery, and evaluation of education and health interventions, particularly those using Randomised Controlled Trial methodology. Shirley is passionate about working on initiatives aimed at reducing inequalities in health and education.
Rachel Heaton
Project Support Officer
Rachel has a BSc in Biomedical Science and has worked within the education system spanning early years to higher education, specialising in disability support and administration.
Rachel is passionate about projects aimed at improving accessibility and initiatives which aim for equity within healthcare and education.
Dr Kinga Patterson
Research Fellow
Kinga’s main research experience and interests lie in interdisciplinary studies that explore the language and psychological outcomes of hard-to-reach populations. She recently completed her PhD at Northumbria University, using eye-tracking to examine language processing speed and accuracy in adults with low literacy levels.
For the past three years, she has been the Managing Editor of Language and Cognition, a journal by Cambridge University Press.
Alongside research, Kinga teaches Psychology at the Open University on Mondays and Tuesdays, focusing on dissertation and research methods modules for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Dr Rumana Hossain
Research Fellow
Rumana’s background is in Language Teaching-Learning and Education. She is passionate about reducing inequalities in health and education.
This led her to work and publish extensively on applied health and education research projects with the NHS and academia.
Her expertise lies in qualitative research methods, education and health intervention design, development and evaluation.
Dr Neve McLean
Research Assistant
Neve holds a PhD in Infant Nutrition from the University of Otago, New Zealand, where she contributed to a multidisciplinary study of infant nutrition and health. The findings from her work are actively shaping infant feeding guidelines and food policy in New Zealand.
Neve is passionate about enhancing our understanding of infant nutrition and health and supporting healthy development in children.
Dr Alice Kininmonth
Research Fellow
Alice is a Research Fellow, with expertise in child eating behaviours, feeding practices and childhood obesity research. She has a particular interest in psychosocial, environmental and socioeconomic determinants of food choice and health. Alice works as part of the core project team and within the Food & Nutrition workstream.
She is also a core member of the Gemini birth cohort, a large population based cohort of 2402 twins born in the UK in 2007.
Dr Marlies Rijnders
Consultant on Centering group care
Marlies worked as an independent midwife in the Netherlands for 10 years & is now a research-midwife at TNO Leiden. She introduced group antenatal care & group well-baby clinics in the Netherlands, conducted several studies on group care in the Netherlands and is scientific project leader of an EU granted implementation study of Group Care during the first 1000 days in 7 countries.
She is board member of Group Care Global & advisor of CenteringZorg, the Dutch Organization for ante- and post-natal Group Care.
Dr Symone Detmar
Tno Project partner
Symone is program manager of the programme “Youth, growing up healthy, safely and with equal chances” at TNO, where she is responsible for the strategic course involving 50 professional researchers. Within this program preventive interventions have been developed for children aged – 10 months to 23 years, with specific attention towards strengthening the first 1000 days of life.
Workstream Leads
Professor Cat Davies
Language & cognitive Development Workstream co-lead
Cat is a Professor of Language Development and the Dean for Research Culture at the University of Leeds, where she also leads the Leeds Child Development Unit.
Her research focuses on children’s early language, literacy, and education; most recently investigating the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on children’s cognitive development. Cat co-leads the Language and Cognitive Development workstream.
Professor Amanda Waterman
Language & cognitive Development Workstream co-lead
Amanda Waterman is Professor of Cognitive Development.
She is Academic Lead for Cognitive Research in the Born in Bradford longitudinal study, Co-Lead for the University of Leeds within the N8 Child of the North project, and part of the leadership group for the Centre for Applied Education Research.
Amanda co-leads the Language and Cognitive Development Workstream.
Dr Camilla Nykjaer
Physical Activity Workstream Co-Lead
Camilla is a Lecturer in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health with the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds.
Her research is focussed on lifestyle behaviours during pregnancy and beyond, with an ambition to improve women’s health through a healthy lifestyle. Camilla co-leads the physical activity stream for MyFirst1000Days.
Professor Karen Birch
Physical Activity Workstream Co-Lead
Karen is Executive Dean and Professor of Exercise Science at the University of Leeds.
Her research interests include using exercise and physical activity to enhance fertility and to ameliorate the impact of reproductive ageing upon cardiovascular disease in women. Karen co-leads the physical activity stream for MyFirst1000Days.
Professor Marion Hetherington
Food and nutrition workstream co-lead
Marion is Professor Emerita at University of Leeds and Affiliate Professor of Nutrition at Penn State University. Her role in this project is to promote healthy eating during milk feeding and weaning as well as responsive feeding to give babies in Leeds the best start in life.
She has developed a Veg Led Weaning strategy which has been tested in the UK and in New Zealand; and the aim of the research into practice for MyFirst1000Days is to introduce a step-by-step approach to greater vegetable intake during the first 1000 days of life so that preference for vegetables is established and intake is increased.
Professor Angharad Beckett
Disability inclusive group care lead
Angharad is Professor of Political Sociology & Social Inclusion. Her research focuses on human rights, inclusion & wellbeing of disabled children & young people.
She is committed to the principles of inclusive research. She advises national and international government bodies and collaborates with disabled people’s organisations during policy-negotiations.
She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Disability & Social Justice and co-Editor of the ‘Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights and Disability’.
Professor Linda McGowan
Lead project advisor
Linda is a Professor of Applied Health Research with an academic background in health psychology and a clinical background in nursing and midwifery.
Linda’s research is focused on women’s health, with an emphasis on maternal and neonatal wellbeing and addresses mental health and cultural contexts.
She is a core member of the Maternity Population Board which focuses on the quality of service delivery across Leeds.
Family Wellbeing Workers
Marcus Uhuru
Senior Family Wellbeing Worker
Claire Parkin
Family Wellbeing Worker
Marcus is our senior wellbeing worker, he has over 20 years’ experience working with families and communities across health and social care and the criminal justice system. He designed and delivered programmes to prevent youth crime, raise knife crime awareness, and promote healthy relationships.
He is the creator of The Journey Project, a healthy relationship programme for culturally diverse parents, and is a trained facilitator of “Caring Dads“, an internationally recognised parenting programme that uses therapeutic models to help fathers break cycles of abusive behaviour.
In his free time he enjoys Sports and Music.
Claire has a background in child development and has worked in different children’s services organisations for the past 30 years.
She is passionate about supporting families to improve outcomes and ensure children have the best start in life.
In her free time she enjoys walking, visiting new places and spending time with family and friends.
Sophie Gross
Family Wellbeing Worker
Sophie has spent 12 years working with children and families across the city of Leeds. She has experience in fostering, adoption, and parent support.
Her passion lies in helping care-experienced parents thrive.
She is a Winston Churchill Fellow after conducting research in the USA on family support services for parents.
She has also taught Early Years and Health & Social Care, sharing her knowledge of child development and family support with students.
Hattie Spanton
Family Wellbeing Worker
Hattie is one of the Family Wellbeing Workers. She has a background in social work, art therapy, and child development.
Harriet has worked with diverse communities, including families, children, and survivors of domestic violence. These experiences have allowed her to develop a deep understanding of the challenges individuals face and the tailored support they need to overcome them.
Harriet has a commitment to empowering others, helping them build stability and achieve personal growth.
