Esme Elsden

I am currently finishing a PhD at University College London (UCL), jointly funded by BBSRC-ESRC, investigating biosocial research in epidemiology and public Health. My thesis has focused on mental health phenotypes and inequalities using British birth cohort data while implementing genetic and longitudinal designs.

I recently worked as a CO-ORDINATE Fellow at the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna, and I have held research assistantships across King’s College London, University College London and the University of Alicante, Spain. Some of my recent Research Associate work between KCL and Harvard University looked at historical trends in regional economic inequality and its greater impact on low growth in the UK from 1979 – which complements my current focus on mental health inequalities in the UK since 1958. I previously completed an MSc in Health Psychology and a BASc in Arts & Sciences from UCL.

I will join the LEAP group in Spring 2025 as a Research Fellow in Psychiatric Genomics. I will continue pursuing interests in longitudinal and genetic methods, focusing on psychiatric phenotypes