Staff Profile

Linda directs the Centre for Research in Ageing and Cognitive Health (REACH), which is a joint venture between the University of Exeter's Medical School and Department of Psychology, and PenARC. Linda is also the Theme Lead for the PenARC Dementia theme.

Her research aims to improve the lives of older people and people who are living with dementia or other age-related neurodegenerative conditions by promoting well-being, preventing or reducing age-related disability, and improving rehabilitation and care.

Linda joined the University of Exeter in 2015. She leads both large observational studies and intervention trials, and is particularly known for pioneering the application of cognitive rehabilitation approaches for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Linda gained her PhD while working at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, and her ScD was awarded in recognition of her work on awareness in people with dementia. In 2004 she received the May Davidson award from the British Psychological Society for her contribution to the development of clinical psychology in the UK.

She is a Chartered Psychologist registered as a practitioner with the Health and Care Professions Council, and is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Gerontological Society of America, chairs the British Psychological Society Advisory Group on Dementia, and serves on the Governing Board of the Global Council on Brain Health.