Aja Murray

Lecturer

  • Psychology
  • School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Contact details

Address

Street

Room F16, Psychology Building

City
7 George Square, Edinburgh
Post code
EH8 9JZ

Biography

Background

I joined the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Psychology with Quantitative Focus in 2018. My research focuses on developmental aspects of mental health, especially ADHD, internalising problems, externalising problems, and their co-occurrence. A second area of focus is on quantitative methodology, especially longitudinal methodology and psychometrics. I currently lead projects on student mental health, domestic violence during pregnancy, and survey methodology and am the deputy director of the Evidence for Better Lives Study. 

Prior to joining the department, I was a Research Fellow at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge where I researched  developmental trajectories of mental health issues and their co-occurrence. I also previously worked as a Research Associate in the Violence Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. There I worked on developmental trajectories of ADHD symptoms and conduct problems in the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) and later on the Evidence for Better Lives Study.  

 

 

Qualifications

B.Sc. Psychology - University of Edinburgh (2011)

M.Sc. Psychology - University of Edinburgh (2012)

Ph.D. Psychology - University of Edinburgh (2016)

Postgraduate teaching

I am the course organiser and teach the latent variable modeling section of Multivariate Statistics and Methodology with R

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I am interested in supervising PhD projects in any of my above-mentioned primary research areas, as well as in developmental psychology, mental health, and violence topics more broadly. Please feel free to get in touch to discuss. 

Current PhD students supervised

Abby Pooley (co-supervisor)

Anna Hall (co-supervisor)

Lydia Speyer (co-supervisor)

Zhuoni Xiao (primary supervisor)

Janell Kwok (co-supervisor)

Past PhD students supervised

Aimee Neaverson (University of Cambridge; co-supervisor)

Yulia Shenderovich (University of Cambridge; PhD advisor)

Research summary

My primary research interests relate to developmental  aspects of mental health phenotypes and their comorbidity.  I have a particular interest in ADHD, autism, and conduct problems.  I also research quantitative methodolody, especially psychometrics and longitudinal methods.  Current projects include the Evidence for Better Lives Study: https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/EBLS and collaborations with the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood: https://www.jacobscenter.uzh.ch/en/research/zproso/aboutus.html

 

Current project grants

- Identifying risk and protective factors to help support student mental health (PI; SMaRteN Research Grant)
- Addressing the adverse impacts of domestic violence during pregnancy (PI; Wolfson British Academy Fellowship)
- Dynamic predictors of and corrections for attrition in Understanding Society (PI; Understanding Society Survey Fellowship)

Past project grants

- A Delphi survey to define research priorities for a birth cohort study in eight low- and middle- income countries (PI; SFA ODA Global Challenges)
- Evidence for Better Lives- Impact (co-I; ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant)
- Violence against pregnant women: A dataset review (PI; Cambridge Humanities Research Grant)
- Identifying reliable change using cognitive tests in ageing and dementias research (co-I; Dementias Platform UK Discovery Award)
- Enhancing early child development in low- and middle- income countries (PI; British Academy Small Research Grant)
- Evidence for Better Lives- Data Innovation (co-I; Botnar Foundation Grant)
- Effects of prenatal maternal infections on developmental outcomes in children with typical development, autism spectrum disorders and
learning disability (co-I; Bailey Thomas Grant)

View all 164 publications on Research Explorer

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