Dr Helen Griffiths is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about the development of paediatric psychology – at a service, strategy and policy level. Helen is currently Head of Psychological Services at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Lead for the Faculty of Children, Young People and their Families within the British Psychological Society. Helen has previously held the Chair of the Paediatric Psychology Network role, was a founding member of the European Paediatric Psychology Network and regularly represents the needs of children with physical health conditions at national strategic level.

Title of talk: “People can’t see your values and intentions, but they can see your behaviour”: Leadership in Paediatric Psychology

Laura Simons, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist who evaluates and treats children and adolescents presenting with chronic pain. Her programme of research aims to utilise a pain neuroscience psychology approach to gain a mechanistic understanding of cognitive and affective processes in paediatric pain, perform rigorous patient-oriented research that translates targeted assessment into mechanistically informed treatment approaches for optimal clinical care and leverage the ubiquity of digital health to enhance patient access and reach. Central to these goals are projects targeting youth with chronic pain that encompass defining brain signatures of threat interpretation, evaluating the efficacy of graded exposure, deriving a biosignature of recovery vs. persistence of pain and disability, and evaluating the impact of virtual reality on pain rehabilitation. These studies along with additional work examining the journey of pain care for children with pain and their parents form a research portfolio in the realm of understanding and treating chronic pain in childhood.

Title of talk: When does collaboration become team science?