Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
- Associate Professor
- IOE - Psychology & Human Development
- UCL Institute of Education
Keri is a developmental psychologist and criminologist, podcast host at the UCL Institute of Education and winner of the 2022 UCL Student Choice Award (university) and UCL Provost Education Award (faculty). Currently she is an Associate Professor in Psychology and co-Director of the UCL Centre for Education in Criminal Justice System (ECJ), a knowledge exchange hub for both academics and practitioners in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining UCL Keri was the Cambridge Betty Behrens Fellow where she researched the causes of antisocial behaviours and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. She received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge where she developed the first dimensional measure of childhood paranoia - Social Mistrust Scale. The SMS is free to use in research, schools and clinics (available in 8 languages). Keri received her BA (Hons.) in Psychology and MA in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Leadership
Keri leads (PI) the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study (GlobalCovidStudy.com), an online survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and social trust, which has informed UK policy discussions. She was co-chair of the IOE Early Career Network (@IOE_EarlyCareer; 2019-21), host of the official IOE podcast Research for the Real World, and sat on the Athena Swan Silver Award Self-Assessment Team. She currently hosts and founded the official IOE podcast for early career academics, Academia et al. (2021).
Consultancy
Keri is available for consultancy, invited talks, and anything where it means she can share her knowledge more widely and have engaging conversations. Just email!
Prospective Masters/PhD students:
Please email.


Keri's research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of crime, schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and improving mental health assessment in young people. She works with children (8-14yo), families, teachers, BAME youths in different cultures. She has led several projects looking at the impact of Covid-19 on health.
Active projects (22/23):
- Empower-Islington - UCL-Islington Council project empowering BAME young people on employability, education & mental health skills.
- Social Mistrust Scale - GEF project validating the SMS in Italian adolescent patients with schizophrenia.
- The Supper Club - Staff-student career engagement series enhancing sense of belonging & career aspirations.
- Education Innovation & Edupreneurship Society - Empowering EdTech student entrepreneurs.
- Grassroots - Youth Endowment study led by Dr Becky Taylor on reducing school bullying.
- Humanizing Hospitals - UCL Grand Challenges project led by Dr Lusi Morhayim on the role of built environment on cancer patient's mental health.
- ARTS Mental Health (20/23) ChangeMakers on destigmatising mental disorders through art.
- CUES Study (21/23) ChangeMakers increasing student-staff engagement in careers development.
Completed as PI:
- COPE-WELL Research England project with JEDelve charity on Covid's impact on BME 12-15-yo's mental health via co-produced life-skill workshops.
- TEACH-WELL Centre for Teachers & Teaching Research project co-producing mental health resources with trainee teachers during covid.
- Vax-Pac UCL-Osaka Strategic Partnership project on vaccine hesitancy & support in UK/Japan families
- BEST-EdCrim Research England seminar series on education in the criminal justice system.
- BE-Well Network NERC project for researchers in built environment & health (Dr Morhayim; CI)
- UCL-Penn Global COVID Study (20/21) Global Engagement project on Covid19's impact on adult's trust, mental & physical health published as 5-peer-reviewed Special Issue with 8 industry expert discussant papers.
Keri leads, lectures and supervises across undergraduate/master's modules:
- Module Leader: Psychological Research, Personality & Individual Differences, Building Resilience and Mental Health, Criminal Journeys.
- Lecturer: Social & Developmental Psychology, Research Methods & Statistics, Brain & Behaviour, Cognitive Psychology, CBT for Psychosis, Applied Social & Developmental Psychology, Atypical & Typical Development, Methods of Enquiry.
- Tutor & Research Dissertation Supervisor: 84 BA Cambridge students (2010-2018), 54 BSc dissertation students (2018-22): 11 (2018-19), 8 (2019-20), 9 (2020-21), 8 (2021-22), 8 (2022-23) and 3 MPhil/MSc students (2018-22).
Current PhD/DClinPsy students:
- Abigail Burgess - PhD (2nd, 2020-2023)
- Abbey Jones - DClinPsy (1st, 2022-25)
- Tammy Hung - DClinPsy (1st, 2021-24)
- Pengjie Yang - PhD (2nd, 2020-24)
- Rhiannon Hurley - DEdPsy (2nd, 2021-2024)
- Tom Milson - PT PhD (1st, 2019-24)
JUL-2022 | Associate Professor in Psychology | Department of Psychology and Human Development | University College London, United Kingdom |
SEP-2018 – JUL-2022 | Assistant Professor in Psychology | Department of Psychology and Human Development | University College London, United Kingdom |
AUG-2015 – SEP-2018 | Betty Behrens Research (JRF) Fellow | Department of Psychology | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom |
FHEA | ATQ03 - Recognised by the HEA as a Fellow | Higher Education Academy | |
SFHEA | ATQ04 - Recognised by the HEA as a Senior Fellow | Higher Education Academy | |
2014 | PhD | Doctor of Philosophy | University of Cambridge |
2010 | BA Hons | Bachelor of Arts (Honours) | University of Pennsylvania |
2010 | MA | Master of Arts | University of Pennsylvania |