Connor is a Research Fellow working under the ‘Psychosis’ theme within the Mental Health Mission. Connor completed his undergraduate degree within the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences – with a dissertation focusing on how changes in inflammation may bring about symptoms of psychosis.

Connor has since completed an interdisciplinary Priestley PhD Scholarship, hosted by the Schools of Sport and Exercise Sciences and Psychology at the University of Birmingham, and the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. This PhD project further explored how inflammation might affect the brain of people who experience psychosis, growing ‘brains in a dish’ to gain a better understanding of mental illness on a cellular level. Further, Connor conducted a regular exercise intervention at the University of Birmingham, to see how a clinical trial using structured physical activity may affect inflammation and symptom profiles in a population of young people experiencing psychosis.

Within the Mental Health Mission, Connor aspires to put lived experience at the forefront and co-design trials with people experiencing mental ill-health, for people experiencing mental ill-health. This will provide initial stepping stones towards improving transdiagnostic mental health outcomes and offering better support to those who need it most.