Katie Pybus, Lecturer in Mental Health, Hull York Medical School
Katie Pybus is a Lecturer in Mental Health at Hull York Medical School and the Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc Mental Health Research at York.
She is a registered mental health nurse with a background in psychology and interdisciplinary mental health research. She has worked in clinical mental health settings across London and Yorkshire, as well as spending time as an analyst in the Government Social Research service.
Katie joined the University of York as a researcher in 2019 after completing her PhD in the Health Sciences department and has since worked on projects focusing on the socioeconomic drivers of mental health and illness.
email: katie.pybus@hyms.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Katie:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I teach across our undergraduate medicine programme, and at postgraduate level on the MSc Mental Health Research. My research has focused on the relationship between socioeconomic inequalities and mental health - I’m interested in how policies designed to reduce poverty have applications in improving population mental health.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
As a healthcare professional myself, I find it really rewarding to support the learning of clinicians and researchers in training. Our knowledge and understanding of mental health is constantly evolving, and it is an exciting time for research in this field.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Creating a dialogue between researchers, people with lived experience, policymakers and practitioners is key to embedding the best evidence into mental health policy and practice but this can sometimes be challenging, and there are still significant gaps to address.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
Through our MSc Mental Health Research, I hope to be able to build new research capacity to meet current and future challenges in mental health. I hope that my research will contribute to reducing some of the entrenched social inequalities still faced by people experiencing mental health problems.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
Find a community of people with similar interests to you so that you can take time out and switch off from work or study. I’m a York City Football Club season ticket holder and I really enjoy spending time doing something totally different…apart from when they lose, that is!