Dr Gemma Knowles

Biography

As a Research Fellow at the Centre for Society and Mental Health, Gemma works on the programme of research on social transitions and young people's mental health. Her research focuses on social inequalities in adolescent mental health. She is a big advocate of co-producing knowledge with young people, and tries to weave this into all aspects of her work. Gemma also co-leads the Statistics for Mental Health Research module on the Mental Health Studies MSc at King's IoPPN and loves working with data and learning new methods.

Gemma started out at the University of Birmingham, where she studied for a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science before completing a doctorate in Epidemiology. Her primary area of expertise is conducting large, school-based research studies on physical and mental health. Gemma joined King’s in 2015, having previously worked at Imperial College London as coordinator of a school-based study of cognitive development during adolescence. 

Gemma coordinates the Resilience, Ethnicity and AdolesCent mental Health (REACH, www.thereachstudy.com) study, a school-based cohort study of adolescent mental health in inner-city London. REACH is investigating risk and protective factors for mental health among young people from diverse backgrounds. Gemma also coordinates an extensive public engagement programme and advises on several other school-based projects at the Institute.

If you'd like to learn more about REACH and Gemma's work, check out these podcasts or follow her on Twitter (@Gem_K_1):​

• World We Got This: Adolescent mental health in a time of COVID
• Our Sick Society: Social Class, Poverty, and Young People's Mental Health
• Our Sick Society: Covid-19 and Mental Health: What about the teachers?
• ACAMH In-Coversation Podcast Series

Research Interests

• Adolescent mental health  
• Social inequalities in health 
• Links between physical health and mental health 

Teaching

• Statistics for mental health research  
• Epidemiology for mental health research