James Myers, Research Associate, Department of Health Sciences
I am currently working as a research associate in the Mental Health and Addictions Research Group within the Health Sciences department at the University of York.
My PhD (University of Sheffield) is in modelling the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the cognitive trajectories of Alzheimer’s and related diseases patients, utilising retrospective data from electronic healthcare records.
Email: james.myers@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with James:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I am currently working on a project revolving around the Born in Bradford: Age of Wonder Cohort. The cohort prospectively explores mental health factors in teenagers. My role is to help develop a curated dataset, based on a cross-section of data from the Age of Wonder, which can be used for research purposes by taught post-graduates within the university and at other institutions.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
Working with data that can be used to help people gain more insight into teenage mental health and wellbeing.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Working with an ongoing prospective cohort, without having input on data collection.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
Creating a curated dataset for postgraduates to use as part of their own research can not only raise awareness of mental health outcomes, but also hopefully provide students with a rich and inspiring postgraduate experience that could motivate them to conduct further research in the future.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
I try to keep things in perspective and not get too consumed by potentially overwhelming things.