Staff Profile

I joined Newcastle University's Population Health Sciences Institute in November 2022 and I am currently working as Research Associate for the WHOLE-SMI project: Wellbeing and Holistic health for people living with severe mental illness. With this project we are working closely with practice and policy partners in the area of health inequalities to improve holistic health in individuals living with severe mental illness. In 2021, I have completed an interdisciplinary PhD in Psychology, Health Sciences and Sport at the University of Stirling on 24h movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep) in healthy older adults living in Scotland and South Africa.

I have research aspirations in health inequalities, in particular focusing on the integration of physical and mental health. I am also really interested in the impact of movement and sleep on mental health conditions and health-related behaviours.  My ambition is to give voice to what matters to people facing health inequalities and challenges in engagement with healthcare.

I am a mixed-method researcher, most of my current research uses qualitative and participatory methods.

Funding

Early Career Researcher Fund - Circadian Mental Health Network (2024). Creating a practical guide on a co-developed 24h audio diary approach to sleep, circadian rhythm, and physical activity in people living with severe mental illness. 

FMS Research Excellence Development Awards - Policy Research (2023). Understanding what matters for people living with severe mental illness – a 24h approach to physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep.

• Articles

  • Bilungula, AM, Orme, MW, Bickton, FM, Kirenga, B, Rylance, J, Pina, I, Singh, SJ. Distinguishing pulmonary rehabilitation from chest physiotherapy in the African context. Journal of the Pan African Thoracic Society 2023.
  • Britten L, Pina I, Nykjaer C, Astill S. Dance on: a mixed-method study into the feasibility and effectiveness of a dance programme to increase physical activity levels and wellbeing in adults and older adults. BMC Geriatrics 2023, 23, 48.
  • Orme, MW, Pina, I, Singh, SJ. The untapped potential of physical activity monitoring for quality assurance of field-based walking tests in clinical respiratory trials. Chronic Respiratory Disease 2024.
  • Pina I, Ndagire P, Katagira W, Latimer L, Zatloukal J, Kirenga B, Singh SJ, Orme MW. Deriving personalised physical activity intensity thresholds by merging accelerometry with field-based walking tests: Implications for pulmonary rehabilitation. Chronic Respiratory Disease 2022, 19.
  • Pina I, Mendham AE, Tomaz SA, Goedecke JH, Micklesfield LK, Brooks NE, Gallagher IJ, Crockett R, Dudchenko P, Hunter AM. Intensity matters for musculoskeletal health: a cross-sectional study on movement behaviors of older adults from high-income Scottish and low-income South African communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4310.