Meet The Team
Professor Colette Hirsch
Professor Colette Hirsch is a Professor of Cognitive Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. She is also an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT), where she set up and runs the first dedicated generalised anxiety disorder service in the UK. She also co-leads the Cognition in Emotional Disorders and Resilience (CEDAR) group at King’s College London. Professor Hirsch’s research is mainly focused on the thinking habits that foster and maintain anxiety and depression. She has been at the forefront of developing new interventions to reduce anxiety and low mood.
Dr Brittannia Volkmer
Dr Brittannia Volkmer is the Clinical Trial Coordinator for the RELAX study and has been involved in health research trials at King’s College London since 2017. She has a PhD in Health Psychology from City, University of London (2020) and has completed charity work with families raising young children. Brittannia supported parents experiencing stress through the COVID-19 pandemic. For this project, she has taken the lead on creating scenarios to be used in the RELAX intervention, which are tailored to the specific worries and anxieties experienced during pregnancy.
Jo Bennett
Jo Bennett is the Lead Research Midwife for the RELAX study. She joined the RELAX team in October 2022. She has been a practising midwife since 1998 and obtained her Registered Midwife (RM) qualification and BSc (Hons) in Midwifery from King’s College London and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. For many years, Jo has worked in various areas of midwifery at St Thomas’ Hospital in London (Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust). These have included Community, Birth Centre, Antenatal and Postnatal Wards, and the Maternity Assessment Unit (emergency unit). She has also worked within the Lambeth Early Action Partnership as lead midwife on a nutrition and exercise workshop for pregnant women.
Yogini Sawjani
Yogini Sawjani is the Research Assistant for the RELAX study. She has been part of the Cognition in Emotional Disorders and Resilience group at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, since September 2021. She holds a BSc in Psychology from University College London (2020) and an MSc in Mental Health Studies from King’s College London (2021). Yogini has previously worked on a study testing a novel psychological intervention for generalised anxiety disorder as well as a feasibility and acceptability trial of an online training program which aims to boost resilience and reduce emotional distress amongst breast cancer survivors.
Mary Newburn
Mary Newburn is the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Lead for the RELAX study. She has four adult sons and four grandchildren, and has worked in antenatal education, maternity policy, engagement, and research. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Sociology from the London School of Economics (1985), a PGDip in Voluntary Sector Management from City University (2000), and an MSc in Public Health: Health Services Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2009). She has been a service user advisor or co-investigator on studies including the National Sentinel Caesarean Audit (RCOG, London), Birthplace in England (Brocklehurst P et al., NPEU, Oxford), the INFANT randomised controlled trial (Brocklehurst P et al., Birmingham), and Births and their outcomes (Macfarlane, A et al., City, University of London). She is also PPIE Lead for the Maternity and Perinatal Mental Health theme of Applied Research Collaboration – South London (Maternity and Perinatal Mental Health).
Emma James
Emma James is a professional actress who studied at Rose Bruford College. She is the voice behind our study and recorded all the computerised tasks. She is thrilled to be a part of the program.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) advisory group
The RELAX PPIE advisory group is made up of mothers from around the country. Most of the PPIE advisors have experienced worry and anxiety during pregnancy, so they know what it feels like through their own lived experience. They come from a range of different ethnic and social backgrounds, have families of different sizes and children of different ages. Some are part of Maternity Voices Partnerships or run community support networks. We held a community listening event at PACT (Parents and Communities Together) and recruited two of the attendees to the advisory group.
The PPIE advisors provide input on various matters related to the study, including ways to make the research website and training user-friendly and easily accessible, as well as recruitment strategies. Some advisors also completed the RELAX sessions to test the software and overall user experience prior to the study going live. Overall, PPIE advice and suggestions are invaluable in tailoring the RELAX study to service users’ needs.
For more information about our PPIE advisory group, please visit Reducing levels of anxiety in pregnancy and after birth through web-based training | ARC South London (nihr.ac.uk)