Our teams of experts

Website development

A specialist team from the University of East Anglia (UEA) supported the development of this website. They are:

Dr Felix Naughton

Felix is a Health Psychologist and an Associate Professor in Health Psychology within the UEA's School of Health Sciences.

He leads a programme of work focused on the development and evaluation of digital interventions. These promote and support health behaviour change, particularly around stopping smoking.

Felix is currently the President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Europe.

Prof Wendy Hardeman

Wendy is Professor of Behavioural Science at UEA's School of Health Sciences. She is also President-Elect of the European Health Psychology Society.

Her research programme focuses on the development and evaluation of behaviour change interventions. These include:

• Interventions targeting the general public and patients. This includes the promotion of physical activity, healthy eating and taking medication as prescribed.
• Interventions targeting health practitioners to improve the quality of health care delivery.

Her research interests include evidence-based strategies for behaviour change, multiple behaviour change and understanding why interventions work, for whom and when.

Dr Zarnie Khadjesari

Zarnie is an implementation scientist and Associate Professor in Health Sciences at UEA's School of Health Sciences.

Her research explores the implementation of digital interventions that promote behaviour change in healthcare and community settings.

She also has expertise in developing and evaluating digital interventions to support people to reduce their alcohol intake.

Dr Nikki Garner

Nikki Garner (nee Murray) is a Health Psychologist and Chartered Psychologist, in the field of behavioural science. She is a Senior Research Associate at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and a Research Fellow within Norwich Institute of Healthy Ageing (NIHA) at UEA.

Nikki specialises in developing and evaluating behaviour change lifestyle interventions. She has specific interests in promoting physical activity, healthy eating and weight loss behaviours, across all modes of delivery.

Nikki has particular interests in self-regulatory strategies, prevention and management of chronic conditions and maintenance of lifestyle behaviours.

Sylvia Barnes

Sylvia is a Health Psychologist and Senior Research Associate. She has experience working as a health psychologist practitioner as well as in commercial and academic research.

Sylvia specialises in developing digital health interventions to support patients to engage in key health behaviours. This includes chronic disease self-management and treatment adherence.

She has a special interest in mindfulness and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) based interventions.

Other contributors 

We have also carried out the development of this website with the support of:

• Smokefree Norfolk
• Active Norfolk
• Testers from communities around Norfolk

Training provision

Healthy Dialogues provide expert health and well-being training for frontline professionals.

Their team of behaviour change experts are passionate about upskilling and empowering the workforce to engage people in good health and wellbeing habits.

They deliver fun, interactive and thought-provoking courses drawing on the latest developments in psychology and behavioural science.

Dr Puja Patel, Health psychologist

Puja has a keen interest in training development and delivery, particularly around health promotion and behaviour change. To date she has delivered several training programmes such as Motivational Interviewing, Making Every Contact Count, and train the trainer programmes.

Puja has frontline experience of developing and delivering cultural awareness and safety training.

Melanie Bailey, Public Health practitioner and trainer

Melanie has spent the last two years teaching the next generation of healthcare professionals in range of topics including behaviour change, public health and psychology.

Her specialist interest is in addictions and has developed and delivered a successful alcohol reduction service for high-risk drinkers using Motivational Interviewing. Melanie is completing her PhD in Public Health in November 2023.

Helen Ginman, Public Health practitioner

Helen brings a diverse skill set developed within both public and private sector, and across leadership, project management, community psychology and clinical practice roles.

She brings a critical lens and perspective, leaning on evidence-based theory to inform practice and often reflects a creative perspective that draws on existing knowledge, experience, understanding and approaches.

Rebecca Maclean, Assistant health psychologist

Rebecca has a special interest in health and wellbeing interventions. She has a Masters in Health Psychology and has spent her formative career supporting patients in care homes.

She also has experience supporting the health and wellbeing of forensic psychiatric inpatients. Rebecca supports many of our service evaluations, research, and training programmes.

Dr Ashlee Mulimba, Health psychologist

Ashlee is a Public Health Professional with over 15 years' experience in delivering training, research and strategy within the NHS, Local Authorities and Charity Sector.

She has a special interest in evidenced-based interventions underpinned by psychological theory.

Phil Godfrey (MSc), Behaviour Change trainer

Phil has a keen interest in behavioural sciences from a development, implementation, and evaluation perspective. He leads on an innovative behaviour change capacity building programme, See Change, for the South East region and co-chairs the South East Behavioural Science and Public Health Hub.

Phil is a registered Public Health Practitioner and the lead for the Wessex Making Every Contact Count Programme. Phil is one of the first Making Every Contact Count (MECC) Healthy Conversation Skills Super Trainers.