Dr Anna Adlam

About me:

Professor Anna Adlam is a HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist (D.Clin.Psy.) and academic Neuropsychologist (Ph.D.), who specialises in working with children & young people who have survived an acquired brain injury. Anna gained her Ph.D., investigating dissociations in memory in chilren & young people with developmental amnesia, at the Institute of Child Health, UCL (1999-2003). Following this, Anna worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (2003-2006), investigating the neural correlates of semantic memory. Anna went on to complete her doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at the University of East Anglia (UEA, 2006-2009) before joining the UEA as a Clinical Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. Anna also worked as a clinical psychologist for the Cambridge Centre of Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (2009-2012). Anna joined the University of Exeter as a Senior Lecturer in 2012, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, & promoted to full Professor in 2025. Anna completed a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2015-17), which focused on adapting an online problem-solving intervention for children aged 9 -12 years old who had survived a brain injury (in collaboration with Professor Shari Wade & Dr Jenny Limond), & has continued to adapt, evaluate, & implement problem-solving interventions with research funding from the National Institute of Health Research, Epilepsy Research UK, & philanthropic donations. Anna was the Deputy Director of Postgraduate Research for Cedar/DClinPsy (2012-2015), co-Director of Postgraduate Research for Cedar/DClinPsy (2017-2019), & then co-Director of Postgraduate Research for Psychology (2019-2024). Anna is currently the Director for Research & Evaluation for Cedar & Create & the co-Lead for the Exeter Children & Young People's Wellbeing Research Network. Anna is also the Research Lead for the Child & Adolescent Neuropsychology group and co-ordinates the Paediatric Neurocognitive Interventions Research Group, an international research network conducting studies in the UK/Europe, USA, and Australia.

Anna is interested in supervising MbyRes/MPhil/PhD students researching the following topics: developing & evaluating neuropsychological & psychological interventions for children & young people with neurological or neurodivergent conditions; understanding the relationship between neurocognitive function & mood in children & young people. Please email Anna if you wish to discuss further.

Key words: 

children & young people, brain, mood, memory, executive function, interventions, neuropsychology

Interests:

The main focus of Anna's research is to develop & evaluate interventions for children & young people who experience neuropsychological challenges (e.g., following an acquired brain injury). Research themes include:

• memory & executive processes
• mood disorders

• social function

Anna is particularly interested in how these processes interact & influence each other. Research techniques include:

• experimental neuropsychology
• neuroimaging
• single case experimental designs
• randomised controlled designs

Qualifications:

Certificate in Higher Education Practice, University of East Anglia, 2011

D.Clin.Psy., University of East Anglia, 2009

Ph.D. (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience), University College London, 2003

B.Sc. (Psychology, First Class Honours), University of Bristol, 1998