Meet the team

Principal Investigator

  • Professor Jonathan Green is leading the study. He is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and has substantial experience and knowledge of attachment disorder and autism from his work in both research (the Pre-School Autism Communication Trial (PACT), the Care and Placement Evaluation) and clinical practice.

Research Associates

  • Dr Catherine Kay is a Research Associate within the Social Development Research Group. Dr Kay has extensive experience of conducting psychological assessments and interviews with looked-after children and adolescents, carers and professionals.  She has worked on the national evaluation of Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care within the Psychiatry Research Group since April 2006 whilst completing her doctoral thesis on social cognition, attachment disorder and psychopathology in maltreated looked-after children and adolescents. Dr Kay is responsible for overseeing the recruitment of participants to SOCiAL, data collection and management.
  • Dr Kathy Leadbitter is a Research Associate within the Social Development Research Group.
  • Professor Anita Thapar is a leading Psychiatric Geneticist at the University of Cardiff within the MRC centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics and substantial experience in such research. Prof Thapar is providing expert guidance in the genetic aspect of SOCiAL.

Research Assistants

  • Ami Brooks is a Research Assistant within the Social Development Research Group.
  • Amy Burns is a Research Assistant within the Social Development Research Group. 
  • Yasmin Ahmadzadeh is an undergraduate student studying a BSc in Neuroscience and is working on placement as a Research Assistant on the SOCiAl study. She is involved in data collection and processing for the research. She has had extensive experience working with children and adolescents at Kids Company, the children's charity Forest School Camps and as a mentor for disadvantaged primary school children in Manchester.