Alice Garrood

Alice is a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, working within the Child Health Theme of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West (ARCSW), within the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe) . She is an applied mental health researcher with a background in clinical practice, NHS research delivery and leadership, and the development, evaluation and implementation of evidence-based interventions.

Alice's research focuses on improving health and wellbeing through personalised, accessible and evidence-informed approaches. Her interests span children and young people's mental health, autism, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), eating disorders and disordered eating, and support for parent carers and families. She is particularly interested in implementation science, health inequalities and improving access to appropriate support for groups whose needs may not be adequately met by existing services.

Current Work

Alice currently leads the implementation work package for the ATTEND study, evaluating the implementation of Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC), an intervention for adolescents experiencing depression and their carers. Her work explores how evidence-based interventions can be implemented in practice to support meaningful improvements in mental health and wellbeing.

Research Focus

Alice has an interest in the intersection between eating disorders and disordered eating in autistic individuals. Following an award of NIHR Pre-Application Support Funding (PASF), she led work looking at available intervention, examining the available evidence and identifying gaps to inform future research. Alice is Chair of the South West & South Wales Eating Disorder Research Network (SWEDNET), an interdisciplinary network bringing together researchers and clinical academics across the GW4 partnership and the wider region. 

Alice has contributed to wider efforts to develop eating disorder research at the University of Exeter, including collaborative discussions and knowledge exchange through the Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Mental Health Theme. 

Previous Academic Work

Previously, Alice led the EMBRACE project, which explored the need for personalised treatments within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She also led a work package within the Support for Parent Carers in England (SPaCE) study, examining access to mental health support for parent carers of children with SEND.

Her previous work includes leading the implementation of the Healthy Parent Carer Programme, an evidence-based intervention supporting parent carers' health and wellbeing, and managing the DECODE feasibility trial, which investigated a digital decision-support system using predictive modelling to estimate the probability of dementia.

Clinical, NIHR and NHS Work

Before moving into academia, Alice held clinical, research delivery and leadership roles within the NHS, including working as a Research Delivery Manager for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). She oversaw a portfolio of more than 200 studies across three mental health trusts, covering mental health, dementia, ageing and neurodegeneration. Her experience spans clinical research delivery, stakeholder engagement, research governance and collaboration with NHS organisations, voluntary sector partners, researchers and industry.

Alice worked as a Clinical Lead for the Devon Partnership NHS trust, facilitating the successful delivery of a wide portfolio of studies within dementia and mental health. Alice has also worked in several clinical roles, within acute and primary care settings with people experiencing both mild to moderate and acute mental health problems.

She has clinical training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT), and is an experienced clinical rater in several psychometric and cognitive assessments.

Qualifications

Diploma - Psychology (Conversion for Postgraduates), The Open University

PG Cert - Primary Care Mental Health, University of Plymouth

BA Hons - Fine Art (Contextual Practice), University of Plymouth