Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Joanna Semlyen is Professor of Psychology and Equality at Norwich Medical School. She is a British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist and a Health Care Professions Council Health Psychologist. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and has full membership of the Division of Health Psychology in the British Psychological Society.
Joanna completed her PhD at City University London where she previously completed her MSc in Health Psychology. Her first degree was a BSc (Hons) Psychology.
Joanna's interdisciplinary research focuses on health inequalities and health disparities in sexual and gender minority populations (LGBTQ+) and ethnic minorities. Joanna additionally studies research culture, workplace reporting processes and is undertaking research on the role of EDI in academic settings. She uses mixed methods, drawing on phenomenological qualitative approaches in addition to epidemiological pooled meta-analytic techniques.
British Psychological Society: Psychology of women and equalities section
She is East of England Lead for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Orcid profile: ORCID: 0000-0001-5372-1344
Researchgate profile: RESEARCHGATE
Google Scholar profile: Google Scholar
Administrative Posts
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Associate Dean
Norwich Medical School Athena SWAN Chair
Academic Lead: Increasing Diversity and Access to inclusion (IDEA)
PI: EDIT
Module Lead: Further Qualitative Research Methods
Key Research Interests
Available for (PhD, MRes) research opportunities for psychology, social work, medicine, allied health in the following:
- Inequalities in health for sexual, gender and ethnic minority groups
- Evidence-based design, implementation and evaluation of equality interventions in higher education settings
- Anti racist interventions
- Active Bystander Intervention Training
- Measurement of sexual orientation and gender identity in national surveys
- Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis/Reflexive Thematic Analysis
Details on Researchgate
Teaching Interests
Qualitative Research Methods
Health Psychology
Health Inequalities
Areas of Expertise
LGBTQI+ Health
EDI Research
EDI in Education
Bystander Intervention Training
Administrative Posts
Athena Swan Lead, Norwich Medical School
Further Qualitative Research Methods, Module Lead, Norwich Medical School
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy
Master of Science
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
External positions
East of England Lead, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Improving Social Recovery in Psychosis (ISRIP): a definitive randomised controlled trial and process evaluation of Social Recovery Therapy compared to treatment as usual for people with psychosis and severe social disability
Hodgekins, J. (Principal Investigator), Oduola, S. (Co-Investigator), Reeve, S. (Co-Investigator), Semlyen, J. (Co-Investigator), Barton, G. (CTU Role), Clark, A. (CTU Role), Hammond, M. (CTU Role) & Pond, M. (CTU Role)
National Institute for Health and Care Research
1/01/26 → 30/04/30
Project: Research
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Creating a culture of inclusion: Increasing Diversity and Equity of Access - Creating a culture of inclusion: Increasing Diversity and Equity of Access - IDEA
Blow, J. (Principal Investigator), Blow, J. (Principal Investigator), Clark, A. (Co-Investigator), Cornish, C. (Co-Investigator), Deane, K. (Co-Investigator), Duvendack, M. (Co-Investigator), Hodgekins, J. (Co-Investigator), Horwood, N. (Co-Investigator), Mondal, A. (Co-Investigator), O'Connell, M. (Co-Investigator), Reid, B. (Co-Investigator) & Semlyen, J. (Academic Lead)
1/09/24 → 31/08/27
Project: Research
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EASE - Evaluating Antidepressants for emotionaliSm after StrokE: A multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to establish the effect(s) of sertraline (50 mg once daily) in people with post -stroke emotionalism
Broomfield, N. (Principal Investigator), Parretti, H. (Co-Investigator), Semlyen, J. (Co-Investigator), Colles, A. (CTU Role), Pond, M. (CTU Role), Shepstone, L. (CTU Role), Swart, A. M. (CTU Role), Turner, D. (CTU Role) & Varley, A. (Researcher)
National Institute for Health and Care Research
1/06/23 → 30/11/27
Project: Research
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Development of a Stratified Updatable Platform Trial – Patient-Orientated, Randomised, and Tailored for Myalgic Encephalitis (D-SUPPORT-ME)
Wilson, A. (Principal Investigator), Pshezhetskiy, D. (Co-Investigator) & Semlyen, J. (Co-Investigator)
National Institute for Health and Care Research
1/01/27 → 31/12/27
Project: Research
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Disability Access in Laboratory Environments (DALE)
Deane, K. (Principal Investigator) & Semlyen, J. (Co-Investigator)
1/06/25 → 31/01/26
Project: Research
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Exploring delay to diagnosis of endometriosis, a healthcare professional perspective
Karavadra, B., Thorpe, G., Morris, E. & Semlyen, J., 18 Nov 2025, In: BMC Health Services Research. 25, 1483.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)3 Downloads (Pure) -
Factors influencing the inclusion of diverse volunteer patients within medical student primary care placements
Malik, M., Tyson, L., Bryant, P., Patel, P., Young, R. & Semlyen, J., May 2025, In: Medical Education. 59, 5, p. 531-539 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile30 Downloads (Pure) -
Tackling discrimination in medicine head on: The impact of Bystander Intervention Training
Tyson, L., Skinner, J., Hariharan, B., Josiah, B., Okongwu, K. & Semlyen, J., 2025, In: Medical Teacher. 47, 1, p. 73-82 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Citations (Scopus)21 Downloads (Pure) -
‘I don’t know what normal has been’: A Grounded Theory exploration of the journey to endometriosis diagnosis
Karavadra, B., Semlyen, J., Morris, E. & Thorpe, G., 4 Jul 2025, In: BMC Women's Health. 25, 319.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)16 Downloads (Pure) -
“Being really confidently wrong”: Qualitative researchers’ experiences of methodologically incongruent peer review feedback
Clarke, V., Braun, V., Adams, J., Callaghan, J. E. M., LaMarre, A. & Semlyen, J., Feb 2025, In: Qualitative Psychology. 12, 1, p. 7–24 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile39 Citations (Scopus)61 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Medical Education Group (External organisation)
Semlyen, J. (Board Member)
27 Apr 2021 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association
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Medical Schools Council EDI Alliance (External organisation)
Semlyen, J. (Board Member)
19 Mar 2021 → …Activity: Membership › Committee
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Royal Society for Public Health (External organisation)
Semlyen, J. (Fellow)
24 Nov 2020 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association
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Behavioural Science and Public Health Network (External organisation)
Semlyen, J. (Member)
7 May 2019 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association
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American Psychological Society: Division 44 (External organisation)
Semlyen, J. (Member)
17 May 2017 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association