Dr Susannah Pick

Dr Pick is an experimental psychologist with research interests spanning the interface of neuroscience, mental and physical health. She is currently an MRC Research Fellow and Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine, conducting research on aetiology, mechanisms, treatment and outcomes in neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly functional neurological disorder (FND). 

Dr Pick is a full member of the British Neuroscience Association and British Neuropsychiatry Association.

She completed her PhD in 2015 at the Department of Psychology, IoPPN, in which she used both experimental and qualitative methods to examine the role of emotional processing and psychosocial risk factors in functional (dissociative / non-epileptic) seizures. She then held a Post-Doctoral Research Associate post in the Section of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry from 2017-2021, where she extended her research experience in FND and related disorders. Projects included a feasibility trial of a neurostimulation for treatment of functional weakness ('TONICS'), development of a new affective neuroscience model of FND, and using experimental methods to investigate mechanisms underlying functional neurological symptoms, including dissociation and interoception.

Dr Pick co-led an international working group (FND-COM) to develop guidelines for outcome measurement in FND and won the British Neuropsychiatry Association Lishman prize for her experimental work during her post-doctoral post. 

Research Interests 

· Functional neurological (‘conversion’) disorder

· Dissociative (non-epileptic) seizures

· Dissociation / dissociative disorders

· Mind-body / cognition-emotion interactions

· Affective neuroscience

· Disorders of consciousness/awareness

· Affective disorders

· Neuropsychiatric disorders

Teaching 

Dr Pick teaches and supervises students on a range of programmes at KCL,including the BSc Psychology, MSc Affective Disorders, MSc Clinical Neuropsychiatry, MSc Neuroscience/Clinical Neuroscience and MSc Psychiatric Research.