Kirsty Cordwell

Kirsty is a PhD student in the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe), funded by GW4 BioMed MRC DTP. Her PhD is exploring the association between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and substance Use/abuse, with a focus on the UK. 

She graduated in 2024 with a BSc (Hons) in Medical Sciences with a Professional Training Year (PTY). Her PTY was supervised by Dr Abby Russell within the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe) at the University of Exeter Medical School. During her year, she worked primarily on the Tools for Schools project, creating digital health resources and conducting qualitative interviews with children with ADHD. Alongside this, she conducted an epidemiological research project investigating the association between ADHD and Substance use in the Millennium cohort (a UK-based birth cohort). 

Kirsty has previously worked as a clinical coder within the NHS, where she was responsible for reviewing patients’ medical records and systematically translating clinical information into standardised coding systems (ICD‑10 and OPCS), ensuring accuracy, consistency, and completeness of large scale health data.