ϲ

Skip navigation

Dr Gillian Pepper

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Dr Pepper is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department, within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. She is the Programme Director for the MSc in Health Psychology and the Health & Wellbeing Lead for the Urban Futures Interdisciplinary Research Theme. She is a member of the Healthy Living Lab, the Psychobiology of Stress and Wellbeing Group, the Hoarding Research Group and the Perception Evolution & Behaviour Lab (ʷ).

Before coming to ϲ, Dr Pepper studied as an undergraduate at the University of Liverpool, where she won an Interdisciplinary Bridging Award to support her . She then went on to work in science policy and communication. She undertook work experience with the BBC Specialist Factual Unit (TV), and with . She worked for Newton’s Apple as a Policy and Project Manager, then as their Director, and for many years after that as a member of their board of Trustees. She spent 2 years working as a Communications Manager at the , while she completed her MSc in Evolutionary Psychology at Brunel University. She was awarded a PhD in behavioural sciences from the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University in 2015. She went on to work as a visiting postdoctoral scholar with the Newcastle City Council Public Health Team, then joined the Newcastle , where she worked as a postdoc in the  group with . From 2016-2018, Dr Pepper worked with Ի, in their  lab at Newcastle University.

Gillian Pepper

Dr Pepper's research examines socioeconomic inequalities in health and wellbeing. She investigates how structural inequalities and features of human ecologies affect behaviours which, subsequently, affect health and longevity. As well as working on understanding the effects of exposure to adversity, she is particularly interested in the effects of perceived risk/safety on health behaviour. Much of her work has focussed, in collaboration with colleagues such as ,, on the , and the Double Dividend of Safety. She also supports colleagues in their work on topics such as how adversity affects hoarding behaviour, and the effects of food insecurity on mind and metabolism.

Richard Brown Investigating the Relationship Between Perceptions of Uncontrollable Mortality Risk and Health Behaviours Start Date: 18/01/2021 End Date: 25/10/2024

  • Education PCAP
  • Psychology PhD
  • Psychology (Biology) MSc
  • Zoology BSc (Hons)


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at ϲ we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

+

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

In2Air study flats
Professor Greta Defeyter
a map showing areas of ice melt in Greenland
S2Cool project lead Dr Muhammad Wakil Shahzad
The Converted Flat in 2049, by the Interaction Research Studio, is one of seven period rooms built as part of the Real Rooms project which opened in July at the Museum of the Home in London.
The UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM), based at ϲ, has been awarded over £400,000 by the European Space Agency to investigate tipping points in the Earth’s icy regions with a focus on the Antarctic. Photo by Professor Andrew Shepherd.
More news

Back to top