Jean Stafford

ACRC Fellow

Biography

Background

My research is focused on cognitive ageing and the mental and social health of older people. I am a Fellow in the Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC), and I currently hold an Alzheimer’s Society Fellowship. My fellowship research investigates the roles of mental health and the social environment in the health of older people, with a focus on cognitive functioning, dementia risk and multimorbidity. My research career began with a Psychology degree at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a MRC-funded PhD and a BRC bridging fellowship at UCL. My PhD and bridging fellowship examined the epidemiology of late-life psychosis and its association with dementia using Swedish register data, in collaboration with researchers at the Karolinska Institute. Following this, I moved to the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, where I investigated the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and examined links between social relationships, cognition and dementia as part of a large international consortium. I am an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL, and I am affiliated with the Karolinska Institute.

Qualifications

Four-year MRC funded PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology (awarded without corrections) - Division of Psychiatry, UCL (2015 - 2020)

MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (with distinction) - Institute of Child Health, UCL (2014 - 2015)

MA (Hons) Psychology (First Class) - University of Edinburgh (2010 - 2014) - Awarded Drever Prize

McGill University, Montreal - third year international exchange (2012-2013)

Undergraduate teaching

I am module lead for the Research and Evidence Based Medicine Module (Year 1, Semester 2) for the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB).

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I am currently second supervisor for a PhD student at UCL and have supervised ten MSc dissertation projects to completion.

Research summary

My research is focused on dementia and the mental and social health of older people. In my current fellowship, I am investigating the mechanisms linking psychiatric disorders with subsequent cognitive decline and dementia by applying epidemiological and causal inference methods to multiple longitudinal datasets. In my previous postdoctoral position, I examined the longitudinal relationships between social health, cognition and dementia across multiple cohort studies as part of the Social Health and Reserve in the Dementia Patient Journey (SHARED) international consortium. In my PhD and postdoctoral bridging fellowship, I investigated the incidence of very late-onset psychotic disorders in Swedish population register data, and the relationship between psychotic disorders and subsequent dementia risk.  I have also contributed to an international consortium focused on links between neurodevelopmental disorders and subsequent neurodegeneration and an interdisciplinary project focused on missing incidents in dementia.

Current research interests

Dementia prevention; mental health of older people; cognitive ageing; social relationships and health; physical-mental multimorbidity; late-life psychosis; social determinants of health; missing episodes in dementia; links between neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration

Affiliated research centres

Current project grants

• Advanced Care Research Centre Fellowship. University of Edinburgh (2025 - present).
• Alzheimer’s Society Postdoctoral Fellowship (four years). Investigating the mechanisms linking psychiatric disorders with subsequent cognitive decline and dementia: a triangulation approach using causal inference methods, UCL (2024 - 2028).
• NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre Postdoctoral Bridging Fellowship, UCL (2019 - 2021) .
• MRC-funded PhD in Mental Health (four years including rotations), UCL (2015 - 2020).

Past project grants

• UCL Global Engagement Fund - ‘Missing with dementia: The development of a Global Observatory to improve future research and care’, Vasiliki Orgeta, Jean Stafford, Phuong Leung, Chris Xiaoxuan Lu (2024).
• UCL's Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing Pump priming 2024-25 funding call - ‘Improving support for older suRvivors of domestic abuse: A national network to increase research capacity, challenge stIgma, and develop pathwayS to care: the IRIS project’, Vasiliki Orgeta & Jean Stafford (2024).
• Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing Network and Community Building Call - ‘The PROMOTE network: imPROving access to effective Mental health care fOr older adult Trauma survivors with and without cognitivE impairment’, Vasiliki Orgeta & Jean Stafford (2024).
• Social Science Plus - UCL 'Missing with dementia: Building the evidence base to better understand and reduce missing incidents involving people with dementia’, Vasiliki Orgeta, Jean Stafford & Aiden Sidebottom (2023).
• Grand Challenges and UCL doctoral school grant - ‘Interdisciplinary approach to research on social relationships and health across the lifespan (seminar series)’, Jean Stafford & Aleksandra Blokland (2017-2018).

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