Researcher wins Mental Health Research award for underserved areas
18 May 2022
A researcher from the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health and DECIPHer has won an award from Mental Health Research Incubator.
Dr Rebecca Anthony from Cardiff University won the Mental Health Research (MHR) Incubator prize for Building Research in Underserved Areas.
The award was considered for researchers who focus attention on the experiences of people whose particular circumstances and needs are less well captured in the mainstream of mental health research.
The neglected yet important areas of research includes mental health in adoptive families, people with severe intellectual impairments, experiences in racialised groups.
Dr Anthony said: “I’m thrilled to win this award. The standard of colleagues across the field is so high and I’m really pleased to one of the recipients of this year’s awards from MHR Incubator.
“My research has focused on the experiences of adopted children and their families and the prevalence of mental health problems among children in adoptive families. I’m also focused on ensuring evidence based mental health interventions support those who need them most.
I’d like to thank MHR for this award and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the Wolfson Centre and DECIPHer to ensure our work improves the lives of young people, particularly those most vulnerable.
The MHR Incubator Awards went to early career researchers whose work is already influencing clinical practice, projects that reflect outstanding collaboration with patients and public, and to innovative studies in areas of mental health not typically well served by research.
Overall, the judges received a total of 133 nominations and the four separate award categories were judged by separate panels comprising academics and patient and public members with interests in the area.
The judging panel recognised Dr Anthony’s extraordinary commitment to her work and noted that thanks to her ongoing efforts, the needs of adoptive families have been highlighted in government settings, at local practitioner level, and at international conferences.
