Joanne is the Public Engagement Coordinator at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging. Supporting over 120 researchers and clinicians, Joanneʼs focus is to develop and deliver meaningful engagement practice. With a strong background in communicating science in accessible and engaging ways, she specialises in providing support and building agency within both the researchers and the patients groups that she works with.

Tobias Hauser is interested in the neurocomputational processes underlying learning and decision making, and how these go awry in developmental psychiatric disorders. Tobias investigates how cognitive biases in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can help us better understand the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying this disorder. His primary focus in on the influence of neurocognitive development on the emergence of psychiatric disorders during adolescence.

Rachel Bower is an award-winning writer and creative facilitator, with twenty years of experience delivering workshops. She is the author of two poetry collections and a non-fiction book on literary letters. Her poems and stories have been widely published and she has won many awards, including The London Magazine Short Story Prize and the Writers & Artists Short Story Competition. Rachel is passionate about the power of creative writing and storytelling, particularly in relation to health, and she has worked as a creative facilitator on several large projects, using creative methods to share stories and explore health conditions and treatments.

With over ten years’ experience in public engagement in research, Cassandra is the Public Engagement Manager at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging. She oversees a broad programme of engagement initiatives focused on embedding public engagement into the research process. The Centreʼs engagement programme aims to empower people with neurological and psychiatric disorders to contribute to and influence neurological research and rehabilitation.

Tricia is a post-doc at the DevComPsy lab. She is interested in understanding the role of decision making and metacognition in mental health. Currently, her research focuses on uncovering mechanisms underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and its psychotherapy towards predicting and improving treatment outcomes for the individual.

Alisa is a final-year PhD student at the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry & Ageing Research. In her PhD, she investigates the neurocomputational mechanisms underpinning obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She is using tools modern cognitive neuroscience and computational modelling methods to understand the computations the brain performs and how they might be altered in OCD.

Sian is the Communications and Engagement Officer at the UCL Department of  Neuroimaging. Sian supports the Public Engagement team with their many engagement initiatives as well as being responsible for managing the departments website and social media channels.

Leigh has nearly 20 years’ experience in the voluntary and statutory sectors. She has held a number of senior leadership roles in national mental health charities and is proud to lead OCD Action’s team of staff and volunteers. She is passionate about increasing awareness of OCD as she believes there is a long way to travel before OCD is properly understood and everyone impacted by OCD has access to the right treatment at the right time.  

As well as managing communications, campaigns and engagement work, Cara also leads OCD Action’s Youth Service, including an e-Helpline support service for 14–25-year-olds struggling with OCD and related conditions. Cara is passionate about shifting the public perception of OCD and challenging misconceptions, believing that this is key to ensuring that everybody gets the treatment and support they need, when they need it.

As the Program Director, Stephanie develops new programs for the entire IOCDF community, maintains the quality of the IOCDF’s current programming, and oversees all educational content on our various websites and print materials. Stephanie has worked for the IOCDF since 2013 and is passionate about public mental health. She has a Masters of Public Health (MPH) and a Masters of Social Work (MSW), and is a member of the American Public Health Association’s Mental Health and Public Health Social Work sections.

Boris is responsible for assistance with the IOCDF Research Grant Program and other research-related projects, including writing and editing content for the OCD Newsletter. He is a recent MA Clinical Psychology graduate from Teachers College, Columbia University, and has been involved in research for a variety of psychology laboratories and projects over the past five years.

Liz is the primary liaison between the IOCDF and their partners and internally between the program and communication departments assisting in various projects. With extensive partner management, communication, and business development experience, she focuses on increasing awareness and resources for those suffering from OCD and their families.