Staff Profile

#MyNameIs: An

Pronouns: She/Her

Normal working days are Monday - Friday.

Current role

Ann is the Communications Manager for NIHR PHIRST (Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams). An initiative funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The PHIRST remit is to work with local government organisations across the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland) to evaluate ongoing public health interventions. Find out more on the NIHR PHIRST website.

Ann's role is to support internal and external communications to facilitate and promote the work of PHIRST. This covers a number of operations. Supporting creation of reports and outputs for individual evaluations. Monitoring and creating content for the PHIRST website and social media channels. Producing reports and presenting at various meetings. Looking for opportunities to promote PHIRST with external agencies, attending events to raise the PHIRST profile.

Bio

Ann completed a Psychology and Neuroscience degree (Liverpool) and went straight to a Biosciences PhD (Nottingham). She worked as a post-doctoral researcher at both Durham and Newcastle universities in the basic science environment. Ann became more interested in how science is communicated to non-expert audiences - anyone who isn't a scientist. She switched to a non-research role in 2013 and has since supported a range of internal and external communications, outreach and engagement activities.

Previous Positions

2019 - 2023 Events and External Liaison, Data and Communications Community, Faculty of Medical Science, Newcastle University

2013 - 2019 Events and engagement officer, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University

2009 - 2013 Research associate, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University

2006 - 2009 Research associate, Durham University 

Qualifications 

PhD Nottingham University

BSc (Hons) Psychology and Neuroscience, Liverpool University  

• Articles

  • Savy CS, Fitchett AE, Blain PG, Morris CM, Judge SJ. Gene expression analysis reveals chronic low level exposure to the pesticide diazinon affects Psychological Disorders gene sets in the adult rat. Toxicology 2018, 393, 90-101.
  • Drummond J, Williamson SM, Fitchett AE, Wright GA, Judge SJ. Spontaneous honeybee behaviour is altered by persistent organic pollutants. Ecotoxicology 2017, 26(1), 141-150.
  • Savy CY, Fitchett AE, McQuade R, Gartside SE, Morris CM, Blain PG, Judge SJ. Low-level repeated exposure to diazinon and chlorpyrifos decrease anxiety-like behaviour in adult male rats as assessed by marble burying behaviour. Neurotoxicology 2015, 50, 149-156.
  • Fitchett AE, Judge SJ, Morris CM. Using olive oil to orally dose laboratory rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 2012, 10(1), 39-41.
  • Easton A, Fitchett AE, Eacott MJ, Baxter MG. Medial septal cholinergic neurons are necessary for context-place memory but not episodic-like memory. Hippocampus 2011, 21(9), 1021-1027.
  • Cassaday HJ, Fitchett AE. How social housing affects learning in mice. Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW: Animal Science 2011, 48, 51-57.
  • Fitchett AE, Barnard CJ, Cassaday HJ. Corticosterone differences rather than social housing predict performance of T-maze alternation in male CD-1 mice. Animal Welfare 2009, 18, 21-31.
  • Fitchett AE, Barnard CJ, Cassaday HJ. There's no place like home: Cage odours and place preference in subordinate CD-1 male mice. Physiology & Behavior 2006, 87(5), 955-962.
  • Fitchett AE, Collins SA, Mason H, Barnard CJ, Cassaday HJ. Urinary corticosterone measures: Effects of strain and social rank in BKW and CD-1 mice. Behavioural Processes 2005, 70(2), 168-176.
  • Fitchett AE, Collins SA, Barnard CJ, Cassaday HJ. Subordinate male mice show long-lasting differences in spatial learning that persist when housed alone. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2005, 84(3), 247-251.