Dr Best has published several journal articles in the field of digital mental health and serves on the editorial board of Frontiers in Digital Health. He also Principal investigator on multiple digital mental health projects in Northern Ireland. In recognition of this work, Dr Best was appointed by the Department of Health for Northern Ireland (NI) as assignment co-lead for the Digital Mental Health Action Plan as part of the wider Mental Health Strategy (2021-31).    

His work is predominantly practice-oriented and multidisciplinary: he educates students and clinicians on the use of technology, facilitates organizations with the integration and implementation of technologies within their services, and advices policy makers on how to accommodate healthcare systems to accommodate these innovations. Alongside these positions, he is also a research fellow at KU Leuven and the convenor of the Project Group on eHealth of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandaeletom/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomVanDaele Personal website: www.epsychology.be 

Devon has been involved in several technology-based research projects, including the use of virtual reality to reduce social anxiety in autistic individuals, the use of telehealth to provide parent training, technology-based instruction for autistic learners, and the use of high-tech communication devices.

He has been involved in a number of projects which have focused on the use of technology to facilitate mental health interventions and education. His main education responsibility at Queen’s is for the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Law Post-Graduate Diploma course which prepares social workers for their statutory duties under those legal frameworks. Gavin is also involved in the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, and the Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 for Northern Ireland which includes a positive focus on the use of technology. 

Across those years, Sultan became increasingly more resolute in her work to innovate ways to provide opportunities for immigrant children to demonstrate their linguistic and cultural resources in mainstream classrooms. Since joining QUB, Sultan chaired the 2022 British Association of Applied Linguistics conference at QUB Belfast and recently has been appointed as the NI convenor of the teacher education SIG for BERA. Central to Sultan’s work is a strong commitment and dedication to social justice by accompanying immigrant children and their teachers in their sociocultural journeys in and out of schooling environments. 

She was co-designer of the “VR Classroom”, made to teach fractions to autistic teenagers and is working with colleagues on a programme for trainee classroom assistants using VR and 360 video to identify low level behaviours in a classroom environment and how best to address these.

This experience provides him with an in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of social work practice and training issues, affording him a high level of professional credibility which both students and employers value immensely. Since 2017 Paul has worked in the university sector and currently works as a senior lecturer in Queen’s University Belfast and up until September 2023 was the Programme Director for Social Work. Paul now works as the Director for Undergraduate Education in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast. Paul’s primary research examines children’s rights with a particular focus on the participation, protection, and inclusion rights of children in child welfare. Paul is lead convenor of a large European wide Special Interest Group – Children’s Rights in Practice - within the European Social Work Research Association. Paul is also interested in examining areas related to risk, assessment, and decision-making in child welfare social work. Additionally, Paul has an interest in evidence-based/informed practice as well as knowledge acquisition and utilisation in social work. Paul also has a broad interest in general areas of social work education, training, and practice learning.

He has a wealth of experience supporting adults, young people and parents with a variety of mental health issues and educational support. Greg is currently completing his PhD in a Behavioural Activation intervention to support People with Parkinsons using an adapted evidence-based BA protocol which is enhanced with the use of a Virtual Reality exercise programme.

Her expertise is in motivational learning design, which is based on the premise, that adults who are motivated to learn will demonstrate greater commitment, creativity and optimal performance. Under the mentorship of the creator of the ARCS-V Design Model (Keller 2010), Janine’s first experience of using this approach was her Doctoral study which she completed in 2007 (funded by the Research and Development Office NI). Since then, she has continued to apply her expertise in motivational learning in multiple studies and contexts including designing digital solutions for women-centred choice following a previous C Section, creating a culture of undergraduate simulated learning within midwifery education and virtual reality for interdisciplinary learning related to perinatal mental health. Further information about Janine’s interests, awards and publications is available at: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/janine-stockdale 

His PhD research explored issues around understanding quality care in children’s homes, and the identity formation of young people who grow up in group care. Gerry is interested in the use of virtual reality immersive experiences as a teaching tool for social work training with both University and front line settings.

Matt’s research interests are: third space professionalism, educational technology, post-digital education, immersive technology-based learning (POV, VR, AR, XR), instructional design, video-based e-learning, gamification, multimedia development, and blended learning design.

She was awarded an International prize (HUSITA www.husita.org ) for the development of three ‘Child Development’ Apps, which have been downloaded on over 350,000 occasions worldwide as confirmed by google analytics. This work was subsequently published in two peer reviewed journals. Currently, she is working across several digitally orientated projects including the feasibility of ‘Wearables’ technology to detect initial signs of overdose in opioid users.

Jessica volunteers in a local mental health charity and is a keen advocate for using digital tools for the treatment of mental health conditions.

Her interests include exploring the impact of living with a life-limiting condition, assessing the needs of bereaved individuals and identifying the most effective interventions for prolonged grief disorder. She has conducted research with social work students, palliative care patients and bereaved carers in relation to changes in anxiety, depression and quality of life over time.