Project Team - MyFirst1000Days

MEET OUR TEAM

Jason is stood smiling against an orange brick background. He is wearing dark framed glasses and a light blue spotty shirt. Jason has very short brown hair.

Professor Jason Halford

Principal Investigator

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.

Linda is sat smiling in her office. She has blonde hair which is styled in a short bob. She is wearing a green and white polka dot top.

Professor Linda McGowan

Deputy Principal Investigator

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.

Shirley is smiling wearing a black top stood against a light background. She has long blonde hair and is wearing large hoop earrings. She also has dark eyeliner and dark red lipstick on.

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 is smiling against a grey background. They are wearing a black and white plaid collared shirt, a black bandana covering their dark brown hair and dark red framed glasses. Rachel has multiple ear piercings and two nose studs.

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.

Amy is stood smiling against a white background. She has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing neutral coloured makeup. She is wearing a blush and white floral top and a silver heart shaped necklace.

Dr Amy Creaser

Research Fellow

Amy is a Research Fellow on the MyFirst1000Days Project. Amy works as part of the core project team, and within the Physical Activity and Food & Nutrition workstreams. Amy has expertise in intervention development and evaluation, with a particular focus on child, and family, health behaviours. Amy takes a whole-systems perspective to health.

Alice is stood smiling in front of bright green trees. She has long brown hair, is wearing a colourful floral top and a silver necklace which has a small round pendant.

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.

Marlies is smiling wearing a dark blue floral top and blue cardigan. She has short dark brown curly hair. She is against a red background

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.

Symone is smiling against a white background. Her blonde hair is worn in a messy up-do. She is wearing a blush dress and hanging jewelled earrings.

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.

Amanda is stood smiling against a white background. Her long dark brown hair is down and wavy. She is wearing a dark green jumper.

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.

Camilla is stood in front of a blurred tree background. She is wearing a dark green collared top and a small gold necklace. Her hair is light blonde and shoulder length, it is blowing around her face slightly.

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.

Karen is smiling stood against a blurred outdoors background. She is wearing a black and magenta jumper. She has shoulder length blonde hair with a fringe.

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.

Marion is stood smiling against a light office background. She is wearing a black top and small rectangular shaped glasses. She has short red brown hair in a pixie style cut.

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.

Janet is smiling against a blurred light office background. She is wearing a bright blue top, gold necklace and red framed round glasses. She has shoulder length platinum blonde wavy hair.

Professor Janet Cade

Food and nutrition workstream co-lead

Janet is a nutritional epidemiologist, studying how diet affects disease. We will explore what mums and babies eat in My First 1000 Days. She leads a WHO Collaborating Centre and has run the UK Women’s Cohort Study for >20 years. She is the director of spin out Dietary Assessment, supporting the dietary assessment tool myfood24. Janet has published >500 papers and generated >£6 million in research income, and is Honorary Secretary for the Association for Nutrition.

Angharad is smiling against a mid-pink background. She is wearing a light pink top, red bead necklace and pearlescent earrings. She has shoulder length light brown and blonde hair, and is wearing natural looking makeup.

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’.