A Brief Overview of My Research
My research focuses on improving mental health outcomes for children and young people with epilepsy. Mental health disorders are up to five times more common in children with neurological conditions, yet access to treatment remains limited. These difficulties can affect every aspect of life, from school experiences to family wellbeing, making integrated care essential. My work aims to understand these challenges and develop evidence-based interventions that address mental health needs in a way that is integrated with epilepsy care.
You were awarded an Epilepsy Research Institute Endeavour Project Grant. Can you tell us a little bit about your project — what it set out to explore and the impact it has had?
Through the Endeavor Project Grant, I extended the work of the Mental Health in Epilepsy (MICE) trial, a large-scale, multi-site study funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The MICE trial tested whether a remotely delivered modular cognitive-behavioural intervention could improve mental health outcomes for children with epilepsy compared to usual care. This was a landmark trial because it demonstrated that psychological support can be successfully integrated into epilepsy services without requiring specialist mental health professionals to deliver all of the treatment. The trial outcomes were published in The Lancet in 2024, and NHS England funded pilot sites across the country to deliver the MICE treatment as part of an initiative to integrate mental health care within epilepsy services.
The Endeavour Project grant has allowed us to go further by asking: What are the wider impacts of treating mental health in children with epilepsy? Specifically, we are investigating whether improvements in mental health also lead to better school attainment, improved parental mental health, and longer-term physical health outcomes, such as reduced hospital admissions. To do this, we are linking high-quality trial data with national education and health datasets. This gives us a unique opportunity to understand outcomes that matter deeply to families.
How have you been able to continuing the work and its impact?
This work is ongoing, but we have already found one important result: treating child mental health is associated with improvements in the parents’ mental health. This reinforces the idea that supporting children can have positive effects on the whole family. The wider analyses, looking at school attainment and longer-term health outcomes, are still in progress. Dr. Millie Wagstaff, the PhD student funded by this project, completed her doctorate and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge.
What are your hopes for the Future?
Looking ahead, I hope research continues to break down silos between neurology and psychology. My vision is for every child with epilepsy to have access to mental health support as part of standard care. I also see huge potential in using linked data to understand long-term outcomes and in developing scalable interventions, including digital tools, to reach families wherever they are. Ultimately, treating seizures alone is not enough; we need to care for the whole child and their family.
