Meet the Team
Aja Murray
Principal Investigator
Aja is a Reader in Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Mental Health in the Moment project. Her research is focused on understanding what impacts mental health at different stages of life, including for neurodivergent young people such as those with ADHD. She came up with the idea of the MHIM project as a way to try and better understand how things that adolescents experience on a day-to-day basis, like friendships, sleep, stressors and emotional experiences might impact and also be impacted by their mental health over the longer term.
Luke Power
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Luke is a postdoctoral research fellow on the Mental health in the Moment project. His work reflects a social justice orientation which has led to a specific interest into the mental health of vulnerable communities, specifically those who have been in care. This has also led to a focus on co-production, whereby the voices of those with lived-experience are seen as central to research. This has been driven by his experiences in both research and while working in mental health/learning disability services.
Dejla Hoxha
Research Assistant
Dejla has a background in developmental psychology. Her work and research both in the field and in academia are guided by her interest in mental health, emotional development and neurodiversity. Dejla is passionate about working with children and adolescents in various settings and has been engaged in youth and child-focused projects in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Albania. Dejla is currently working on the MHIM project as well as its sister project MHIM-ADHD.
Lorna Caddick
Research Assistant
Lorna is a research assistant on the Mental Health in the Moment project, with a special interest in the links between sleep and mental health in adolescents. She also works on the Ambient-Teens Sleep Study. Lorna is eager to meaningfully engage the younger generation in research, using her background in sports science and coaching to make co-production sessions with young people fun and interactive.
Tong Xie
Research Assistant
Tong is a research assistant on the Mental Health in the Moment project, with a particular research focus on emotion regulation and its relationship with mental health in adolescents. With experience in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), she has facilitated group sessions for adolescents managing anxiety. Based in China, she brings cross-cultural perspectives to her work, striving to engage young people and promote better mental health outcomes across various cultural contexts.
Alexandra Crocker
PhD Candidate
Alex is a PhD student working on the Mental Health in the Moment project, focusing on stress biomarkers and their relationship to mental health. Her research adopts a biopsychosocial approach, exploring how genetics, hormonal fluctuations, brain injury, life experiences, and overall stress impact mental health and well-being. Alex aims to enhance understanding of mental health development in order to create intervention, treatment and rehabilitation methods for adults and adolescents.