Postgraduate researcher receives the ‘Rising Researcher Award’ for her work on suicide prevention
Friday 09 October 2020
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Mirabel Pelton, a PhD candidate in the Centre for Intelligent Healthcare, has been awarded the Rising Researcher Award for her work on suicide prevention in autistic adults.
The ‘Rising Researcher’ award has been issued by PSYPAG, the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group, which represents postgraduates within the British Psychological Society. This particular award recognises exceptional PhD research and celebrates work that makes a significant impact both in the field of psychology and on broader policy in the UK.
Mirabel has adopted an innovative approach to tackle suicidality in the autistic community head on, working in partnership with autistic people with lived experience of the issues to ensure that her research is ethical, robust and likely to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Her research is the first of its kind to develop and test new measures and theory to enable researchers to more accurately assess, understand, and prevent suicidality in autistic people. The research is particularly interested in exploring how autistic people experience social belonging and connections, and how these factors may protect against mental health problems.
Mirabel began her research journey at Coventry University following a career change and adopting three children. She is committed to making a real difference to the lives of individuals and families affected by negative thoughts and loss of life in the autistic community.
I hope through this award we can highlight the urgent need to address high rates of social exclusion, mental health difficulties and suicidality in the autistic community.
Mirabel Pelton, CIH PhD Candidate
Her work has been published in high impact journals and has recently been cited in US policy documents relating to autism spectrum disorder in children and young people. She has also been invited to attend the All-Party Parliamentary Group on autism at the Houses of Parliament.
Watch the Twitter announcement.
You can find out more about Mirabel's work on her website.
Read more about the award on the PSYPAG website.
