Jackie Sturt – Chief investigator:

Professor Jackie Sturt is a professor of Behavioural Medicine in Nursing at King’s College London and Head of Research Division for Care in Long Term Conditions. Her research aims to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people living with long term physical health conditions like diabetes and mental health conditions like PTSD. Interventions and care pathways are developed, evaluated through clinical trials and implemented through the NHS, through third sector UK organisations such as charities and internationally through work with policy makers. Her work in Africa focusses on health systems strengthening for delivering primary care to people living with long term conditions through mobile phone consultations. She is both a general and a mental health nurse and a behavioural scientist.

Rebecca Rogers – Trial manager:

Rebecca is a Clinical Trial Manager at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London. She has contributed to a wide range of research studies, mainly exploring the psychological and physical challenges faced by people living with long-term health conditions such as diabetes and PTSD.

Rebecca has worked with UK military veterans diagnosed with PTSD in the PETT feasibility trial, as well as with health and social care workers experiencing COVID-related PTSD in the NHS PETT study.

In the FIRST PETT trial, Rebecca oversees the day-to-day running of the study and serves as the main point of contact for team members, collaborators, and potential participants

Claire Ballard:

Claire has worked at King’s College London for the past eight years and has recently joined the FIRST PETT Trial as Assistant Trial Manager. She has a particular interest in promoting patient and public involvement in research, supporting people with lived experience to be engaged in health care research. In her last research post she worked closely with an advisory panel of parents of neurodivergent children, championing their expertise and facilitating their input into a trial for a novel parenting support app. Claire also holds a qualification in psychotherapeutic counselling and works in private practice supporting clients through a range of life challenges and emotional difficulties.

Aldo Conti:

Dr Aldo Conti is a Chartered Psychologist and Cognitive Neuroscientist, currently working as a Research Associate at King’s College London. He is involved in the mechanistic phase of the FIRST PETT study and has worked for three years on a randomized controlled trial investigating the efficacy and mechanisms of external trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) in paediatric Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He received his PhD in Addiction Medicine from the University of St Andrews, where his research focused on the neuroanatomical and cognitive correlates of early-onset tobacco smoking during adolescence.

Neil Greenberg:

Professor Neil Greenberg is a consultant academic, occupational and forensic psychiatrist based at King’s College London. Neil served in the United Kingdom Armed Forces for more than 23 years and has deployed, as a psychiatrist and researcher, to a number of hostile environments including Afghanistan and Iraq. At King’s Neil leads on a number of military mental health projects and is a principal investigator within a nationally funded Health Protection Research unit. He is a past chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) Special Interest Group in Occupational Psychiatry and led the World Psychiatric Association position statement on mental health in the workplace. Neil has published more than 350 scientific papers and book chapters and has been the Secretary of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. In 2023 he was awarded a prestigious honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

Phoebe McKenna-Plumley

Dr Phoebe McKenna-Plumley is a Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast and works as a Research Fellow on the FIRST PETT trial. Her research uses a range of methods to understand loneliness, inclusion, and related topics including physical and mental health. She has previously worked and studied at Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Galway, and the University of Padua.

Vasiliki Tzouvara:

Dr. Vasiliki Tzouvara is an academic and psychologist experienced in mental health and post-traumatic stress disorders, currently working at King’s College London. Vasiliki has been involved in the feasibility study related to this project and she is currently leading the mechanisms phase of the study.