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Staff Profile

Ananya Ananthakrishnan

Research Assistant

Background

I am a research assistant at the DEPTH AI Lab within the Translational and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University with a background in psychology and engineering. I am also an associate member of Fuse the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health. I joined Newcastle University in November 2023 and have been working on interventional, implementation science-focused research for the past two years. In June 2025, I received funding to develop a PhD funding application from the NIHR Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration.


I am primarily interested in research focusing on helping people with mental health conditions live well, with a particular interest towards tackling health inequities in an intersectional manner. I am keen on co-producing my research, which means I work with people with lived experience across all stages of my research.


I am also involved in various activities to improve research culture, particularly for research assistants and associates, including participating in the Faculty of Medical Sciences Research Assistants and Associates Committee (FMS RAAC), where I contribute to organising networking and social events and career development sessions for RAs.


Before moving to Newcastle, I was a support worker in residential care in St Albans, Hertfordshire, where I provided emotional and practical support to people with complex mental health conditions and co-created care plans with the service users.


Qualifications


  • MSc Psychology, University of Hertfordshire (Distinction)
  • BA Psychology, Indira Gandhi National Open University, India (2:1 equivalent)
  • BTech Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Pune, India (First Class equivalent)
Research

I am primarily interested in research focusing on people with mental health conditions, with a view to improving the services that support them. I am skilled in evidence synthesis, qualitative data collection and analysis, and co-design methods.


I am also passionate about creating an inclusive research culture, particularly for research assistants and associates.


Grants and Awards


  • Research Excellence Development Award (2026). Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences: Co-designing Metrics to Assess Psychological Safety and Research Culture Experiences in Research Assistants and Associates: A Participatory Approach (Principal Investigator, £4,458)
  • Pre-Application Support Fund (2025-2026). NIHR Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration: Towards developing a competitive doctoral fellowship application in mental health patient safety research (Principal Applicant, £15,030.36
Publications