MRC Epidemiology UnitVisiting Scientist
Prevention of Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders in High Risk Groups
Left the Unit in 2022
Current work and interests
Rebecca was a Postdoctoral Research Associate specialising in the development of scalable, cost-effective psychological and behavioural interventions for weight loss and weight maintenance, using a personalised approach. She also has a special interest in habit theory applied to weight loss maintenance.
Rebecca led the development and evaluation of the SWiM-COVID study, which is a randomised controlled trial of an online, acceptance-based behavioural intervention to support adults weight overweight and obesity to manage their weight during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rebecca also developed another SWiM programme to support the maintenance of weight loss following completion of a behavioural weight loss programme. This study will launch in March 2021.
Rebecca was concurrently undertaking the qualitative evaluation of the GLoW trial, which evaluated whether a tailored behavioural weight management programme that can be delivered at scale achieves better glucose control and other health outcomes than education alone.
Rebecca left the Unit in December 2022.
Background and experience
Rebecca completed her PhD in January 2018 at the Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University. Her PhD focused on the development and evaluation of a smartphone app intervention to help patients with cancer to meet their information needs. Prior to this, Rebecca completed an MSc in Health Psychology at the University College London. Alongside her PhD, Rebecca completed the doctoral-level Stage 2 Qualification in Health Psychology with the British Psychology Society (2014-2018), granting her Chartered Health Psychologist status. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and practices in adult weight management. In October 2020, Rebecca was elected as a Trustee for the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO), for a three-year term.