Holly Bear

I am a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. My work focuses on developing, evaluating, and implementing mental health interventions for children and young people, with an emphasis on digital health and and implementation science. I have a strong interest in supporting care-experienced children and young people, and I am committed to equity, co-production, and ensuring that research informs real-world practice and policy.

I welcome enquiries from prospective MSc and PhD students interested in child and adolescent mental health, particularly in the areas of interventions, digital health, and implementation science.

Current Research Interests

My research explores how adolescents’ online environments shape their mental health. The aim of this work is to inform the development of digital safeguarding strategies that foster safer, more supportive online spaces for young people.

I am also interested in the effectiveness and implementation of digital interventions, including mobile apps. I am involved in the clinical and implementation evaluation of generative AI-powered mental health tools designed for young people in low-resource settings.

Additionally, as part the OxWell Student Survey (PI Prof Mina Fazel). I work on translating mental health survey data into actionable insights for schools and health systems, developing frameworks and tools to support evidence-based mental health interventions in educational and clinical settings.

Co-production with young people and stakeholder engagement are central to my work, ensuring that interventions and research outputs are accessible, acceptable, and equitable.

Education and Professional Background

Prior to joining the University of Oxford, I worked as a Research Project Manager at the Anna Freud Centre in London. I completed my PhD in Evidence-Based Child and Adolescent Mental Health at University College London in 2019, where I explored the role of illness belief models in how young people experience and respond to anxiety and depression. I hold an MSc in Health Psychology from King’s College London (2016) and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Glasgow (2013).