Jess is a Research Fellow in Statistics/Epidemiology in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health and a member of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. Broadly, Jess' research focusses on the social determinants of mental health, and she is particularly interested in adolescent mental health. She is currently working on the EpiArts project, which aims to investigate the association between arts and cultural engagement and behavioural and health outcomes at the population level in the US. Her work involves epidemiological analyses of data from large cohort studies. Jess also works on the UCL Covid-19 Social Study, the UK’s largest study into the psychological and social impact of coronavirus.

During her PhD, Jess was based in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL. Her PhD investigated an explanation for the emergence of the gender difference in depression during adolescence. Before her PhD, Jess studied Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and completed an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at UCL Division of Psychiatry.

Jess also has experience working on clinical trials, including developing a social prescribing intervention that aimed to reduce loneliness for adults with complex depression and anxiety in the Community Navigators Study. She has received awards from the ESRC, the British Association for Psychopharmacology, PsyPAG, Flux Congress, UCL Division of Psychiatry, and New College (University of Oxford).