Lina Gega, Professor of Mental Health at Hull York Medical School, Director of the Institute of Mental Health Research at York
Lina is Professor of Mental Health at Hull York Medical School (HYMS) and the Inaugural Director of the Institute of Mental Health Research at York (IMRY).
She is an Honorary Nurse Consultant in Psychological Therapies at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust, a Professorial Fellow with the South East European Research Centre, University of York Europe Campus at City College Thessaloniki Greece, and the Clinical Safety Officer for PCMIS Health Technologies Ltd, a trading company of the University of York.
email: lina.gega@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Lina:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I develop and evaluate psychological interventions for children and adolescents who experience mental health and emotional difficulties, such as depression and phobias. I also use digital media to support the delivery of these interventions.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
Being able to share my knowledge and skills with colleagues - and at the same time learning from them. The ultimate reward is seeing a real change in the life of a young person because of an intervention we delivered.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Colleagues who support children and young people - in the NHS, schools, charities, social care - have so many demands on their time that it often makes it difficult for them to be involved in research. The opposite is also frustrating: researchers who have no connection with or insight into the real world.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
I hope that we can make specialist mental health interventions more accessible, because what is the point of complex systems and evidence-based interventions if we cannot readily and widely use them?
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
Do things that connect you with who and what is important to you in life.