Dr Preethi Premkumar

I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology. I am also the School Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, the Chair for the EquiNet staff race equality network and the School Chair of the Athena SWAN self-assessment team. I was a lecturer and senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University from 2010-2020. I obtained my PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience of King's College London in 2011. Earlier, I conducted systematic reviews for the national clinical guidelines for the treatment of mental disorders at the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

My expertise lies in the neuroscience of family relationships. I study how criticism and rejection are perceived in family relationships and their impact on mental health. Designing novel experiments on family communication has allowed me to collect data using functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, and discover how sensitivity to criticism and praise in families can link to schizotypy, depression, aggression and substance misuse. My PhD was titled, ‘Neural, clinical and neuropsychological predictors of responsiveness to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Schizophrenia’.
My current research involves designing virtual-reality therapy for hearing voices and virtual-reality exposure therapy for social anxiety. We have applied biofeedback in the virtual-reality exposure therapy for social anxiety. I recently conducted two systematic reviews on disability and social support and disability and relationships/loneliness for the Cabinet Office.

I am supervising four PhD students. One PhD student is studying parental perceptions of play in education among Nigerian parents in Nigeria and the U.K. Another PhD student is examining the consumer behaviour towards plant-based material in food packaging. Another PhD student is examining the imposter syndrome in students who are racially minoritised and disabled. I am also supervising a PhD student externally on the role of perceived criticism and praise and sleep in schizotypal personality traits. I am keen to supervise on topics related to family relationships, mental health and equality, diversity and inclusion.
As the Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Applied Sciences, I am leading a project investigating the impact of the COVID pandemic on the career progress of disabled researchers and those minoritized by race, gender and caring responsibilities. This role also enables me to address staff and student experiences on protected characteristics, including race, gender and disability. Chairing the EquiNet staff network on racial equality gives staff a platform to impact changes in the work experiences of staff from an ethnic minority.

Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, School of Applied Sciences
Chair of EquiNet
Chair of the School application for the Athena Swan Bronze Award
Member of the self-assessment team for the University-wide application for the Athena Swan Bronze Award
Chair of the Student Working Group of the application for Race Equality Charter