Dr Ellen Poliakoff

Biography

I completed my BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Manchester in June 1998. I carried out my PhD (‘Tactile Spatial Attention and Parkinson’s Disease’) at the University of Manchester , which I completed in 2002. I then worked for 18 months as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Professor Graham Barnes at UMIST, before taking up a lectureship at the School of Psychological Sciences in September 2003. I became a senior lecturer in 2010.

Social responsibility

I am Director of Social Responsibility for the Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology. I take the lead on organising Widening Participation activities for school children, as well as activities for the wider public. I have recently devised Science-Art workshops in partnership with the Whitworth Art Gallery. I am currently a committee member of the British Science Association Psychology Section.

I use patient and public involvement (PPI) in my own research and teaching and have recently co-authored a paper with two people with Parkinson’s disease. I am also a member of the Parkinson’s UK Involvement Strategy Group, working to facilitate PPI for researchers across the UK.