Emily Widnall is a Senior Research Associate in Public Health with particular interests in young people's mental health and wellbeing and school-based mental health interventions.

Her current research focuses on two public health practice evaluations, one evaluating the Mental Health Foundation's Peer Education Project in secondary schools and the second evaluating a new IAPT service that links NHS talking therapies to wider community support. Emily also recently received funding to research the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people's mental health as part of the SPHR development fund for early career researchers.

Previously Emily worked at Kings College London co-designing a digital platform to routinely monitor student mental health and prior to this worked as a clinical trial manager at the University of Exeter evaluating a novel wellbeing focused talking therapy for depression (ADepT).

Emily completed a BA in Psychology & Education at Cardiff University and an MSc in Clinical Psychology at the University of Reading.