Our team
Principal Investigator
Dr Lowri Griffiths
BSc, MSc, PhD
(she/her)
Dr Lowri Griffiths is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham (UoB). She was PI for Phase 1 of Co-STARS and now co-leads Phase 2 (feasibility evaluation) with Prof. Chandan. Dr Griffiths is passionate about health equity and is a strong advocate for co-production to empower young people with lived experience to inform research and drive meaningful change. Dr Griffiths has attracted funding from NIHR, UKRI, ESRC, EU Horizon, as PI, deputy PI, and Co-I, totalling around £11 million in grant income. Dr Griffiths has received a Justice, Access, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Award from UoB in recognition of her commitment to improving mental health inequalities for marginalised groups.
Co-principal Investigator
Professor Joht Chandan
BSc, MBBS, MFPH, FIE, FHEA, PhD
(he/him)
Prof Chandan is a Public Health Consultant with extensive expertise of delivering interdisciplinary funded cluster randomised trials for underserved populations and development and evaluation of a health literacy agenda. He is co-lead for the Co-STARS project.
Co-Investigator
Professor Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay
BSc, MSc, PhD
(he/him)
Professor Bandyopadhyay is an internationally recognised economist in the field of political economy and public policy. Professor Bandyopadhyay has extensive experience of applying a range of methodologies to perform economic efficiency analyses to health interventions and will lead the economic evaluation in WP4.
Peer Researcher
Eliza Cherrington
(she/her)
Eliza is a lived experience practitioner and a mental health advocate. Eliza was born and raised in Birmingham and is diagnosed with Autism, and is a young carer for her mother who has mental health difficulties. Eliza is involved in advocacy work at a local and national level, campaigning to reduce inequalities for marginalised groups, and has a consultancy role with a grassroots organisation supporting the mental health needs of Black Caribbean and Black African communities across Birmingham. Eliza is a trained peer support worker and is highly experienced in research co-production and group facilitation with young people.
Co-Investigator
Dr Francesca Crowe
BSc, PhD
(she/her)
Dr Francesca Crowe is an epidemiologist and health informatician with an interest in using health data to understand modifiable risk factors for common health conditions. She is a cluster trial specialist and has extensive experience of trial impact evaluations in public health. Francesca also specialises in data science and novel epidemiological analyses and she will co-lead the evaluations in Work Packages 1, 2 & 3.
Co-Investigator
Dr Luke Brown
BSc, MRes, PhD, ClinPsyD
(he/him)
Dr Luke Brown is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology and a Principal Clinical Psychologist in the National Health Service (NHS). Both his clinical work and research interests are concentrated in the area of youth mental health; with a specific focus on supporting those recovering from psychosis and preventing the development of psychotic disorders in individuals at Ultra-High Risk (UHR). Dr Brown will have oversight of the clinical implementation of the e-learning within mental health services.
Co-Investigator & PPIE Lead
Niyah Campbell
BSc, MSc
(he/him)
Niyah Campbell is the Senior Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Lead for the School of Psychology, University of Birmingham. Since 2018, he has worked to support the meaningful involvement of young experts by experience in the design and delivery of mental health research at the Institute for Mental Health
Co-Investigator
Dr Gerald Jordan
BA, MA, PhD
(he/him)
Dr. Gerald Jordan’s work examines how young people transform their lives and communities following a serious mental health challenge; and how such transformations are shaped by personal, social and community-level determinants of health and resilience that are, due to issues of intergenerational injustice, increasingly becoming difficult to access. He uses knowledge synthesis and participatory mixed methods in his work. Dr Jordan will oversee the qualitative work.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Balachandran Kumarendran
(he/him)
Dr Kumarendran is a dedicated public health researcher with extensive expertise in clinical trials, Real World Data studies, bio-bank research, and mixed-methods investigations. He says that “as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the dynamic Co-STARS research team, I have a unique opportunity to contribute significantly to enhancing mental health literacy within the community and fostering cultural competency among NHS staff. I am confident that our research will play a pivotal role in improving access to mental health services for Black youth.”
Research Associate
Megan Pope
BA, MSc
(she/her)
Megan Pope has over 15 years of mental health research experience, primarily in the fields of early intervention in psychosis and youth and global mental health. Her work has been largely focused on conducting and coordinating research projects sharing the overarching aims of enhancing the design and delivery of mental health services, improving outcomes among youth with serious mental illnesses, and eliminating unjust disparities in mental health, particularly those caused or perpetuated by the social determinants of mental health.
Research Associate
Milan Antonovic
BA, MSc
(he/him)
Milan Antonovic is a part-time Research Associate on the Co-STARS project. Since earning his master’s degree in clinical psychology in 2022, he has been working part-time in NHS services and at the University of Birmingham on multiple projects. His nearly two years of experience at the University of Birmingham have encompassed various roles, including co-creating a Scoping Review with the Lived Experience Advisory Panel and recruiting participants from NHS services. With an international background, Milan is committed to making care accessible to everyone.
Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Matthew Taylor
BMedSc (Hons) MBChB
(he/him)
Dr Matthew Taylor is an NHS doctor and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow training in General Psychiatry. He has been responsible for helping to design resources for the Co-STARS project, including the Co-STARS website.
Project Partners
Academic Collaborators
Dr Katarzyna Machaczek, Sheffield Hallam University.
Dr Machaczek’s expertise is in the field of physical activity & mental ill health, with over 15 years’ experience in the development and evaluation of complex health interventions. Dr Machaczek will provide expertise on the Co-STARS process evaluation using realist principles in addition to the system mapping in WP3.
Dr Valencia Kabeya, University of Birmingham.
Dr Valencia Kabeya, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy within the institute for Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire in February 2023. Her PhD aimed to develop and assess the feasibility, acceptability, fidelity and effectiveness of a Health Party intervention seeking to increase the knowledge, awareness and uptake of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer amongst Black African women in Luton. Her main research interests are in women's health and health inequalities in cancer screening and genetic testing.
Dr Sumaiyah Al-Aidarous, Walsall Health Care NHS Trust.
Dr Al-Aidarous is a junior doctor passionate about EDI in medical education and is supporting the Co-STARS process evaluation and implementation.
Forward Thinking Birmingham
PI: Julie Kane.
Other collaborators: Anne Crawford Docherty, Rohesia Cole, Sarah-Jayne Alleyne, Matthew Williams.
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Laura Barney
Catalyst4Change
Sandra Griffiths
Student Collaborators
We are always open to working with interested student collaborators. If you are a student who is interested in contributing to the Co-STARS project, please get in touch either via the form on the website or by contacting the Co-STARS inbox, co-stars@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Jenna Wardle
Youth Advisory Group
Throughout the project, we have worked closely with our Co-STARS Youth Advisory Group (YAG). The YAG comprises seven young people who engaged in four workshops which shaped the Co-STARS mental health literacy training package. Three of our YAG members will go on to join the Co-STARS Train the Trainer programme, ultimately delivering mental health literacy training within local communities.