Profile

Hi ! My name is Farah. I’m a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Warwick, which is in Coventry. I’m born and raised in London. However, I’ve lived and worked all over the country since I turned 18 (London, Stoke-On-Trent, Sheffield and now Coventry). So I think I’ve experienced a lot of England. I know some might be thinking, what is better? The North or South? Well….I’m not going to answer that question here 🙂

In my free time, I love to watch movies (all types of movies – anything popular on Netflix!) , do volunteer work (I volunteer as a mentor at the University of Warwick, to support students who’ve moved away from home for the first time), love to swim (I have been swimming since I was 5 years old), and am an avid traveller (I’ve been to 12 countries so far).

My PhD specifically is looking at developing virtual reality (VR) treatments to improve the social functioning deficits in those with psychosis.

This is important to do because psychosis is one of the most challenging disorders worldwide. Individuals with psychosis struggle with their social functioning (socialising with others), which can have a detrimental impact in their ability to attend face-to-face treatment. Technological developments mean that there are more accessible methods of providing treatments.

In the first VR treatment, a therapy has been implemented into an online VR platform called Second Life®. Whilst at home, people with psychosis will use a computer to log into Second Life® and attend group therapy in a virtual environment as avatars (a virtual representation of oneself). A virtual therapist will provide immediate support in a safe, controlled and private environment. This study looks at the effectiveness of utilising VR technologies in treating social functioning deficits in psychosis.

Below is a picture of the virtual reality environment, where participants complete their psychological treatment. The avatars are actual patients:

I am also in the process of developing another VR treatment as well, to target these social functioning deficits in those with psychosis.

There’s no such thing as a typical day in research. However a typical day can be divided between me conducting some research, planning presentations/attending conferences and lecturing as well. However below is an example of a what a typical day could look like:

09:00: I get into the office on campus. Fortunately I live on campus, so its a pleasant 20 minute walk to get to my office. Here I’ll start by doing some administration tasks i.e. answering some emails, putting together some documents.

11:00: I’ll then continue to do some research. So may involve collecting information from the participants taking part in the virtual reality studies I’ve developed. So I may have to travel to their homes, so they can complete the questionnaires and answer some questions. This is important information which will help my PhD.

14:00: I will then return to the office and may have a teaching session, with my medical students. Here my medical students come together in small groups of 7-9 people. They are given a mock clinical case and have to work through it, like as if they are doctors in hospital. So they have to understand the patient, diagnose them with an illness and develop a treatment plan. My job is to make sure they are sticking to task and have fulfilled the learning objectives of each case.

17:00 End of the day (for some!). For me I like to write in the evenings, so I may continue to do some PhD thesis writing.

When working in universities, you are encouraged to present your research at conferences. Below is a picture of me presenting at the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) at the University of Warwick last year, where I won! I was also entered into the UK National Semi Finals:

I also just recently won the award for best presentation in my Department at University on my research:

Safe to say I really enjoy presenting my research 🙂