Lalitha Iyadurai

My research focuses on psychological trauma, and the development of low-intensity, mechanistically-driven behavioural interventions to reduce intrusive memories after trauma exposure.  Intrusive memories of traumatic events can be distressing and disruptive, and are a core symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They also have transdiagnostic relevance across other disorders such as depression and complicated grief. I am particularly interested in targeting intrusive memories within preventive and early interventions that can be offered to people soon after a traumatic event.

My current work aims to develop a brief behavioural intervention to reduce intrusive memories of work-related traumatic events in frontline NHS staff, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This builds on my DPhil (PhD) at the Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, which was funded by a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship. I tested the behavioural intervention involving computer game-play in a hospital emergency department with road traffic accident patients, using a randomised controlled trial design (SCARTA trial).

Concurrently, I am examining the relationship between sleep and intrusive memories immediately post-trauma, and their relation to later psychopathology (Sleep and Wellbeing Study). This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Oxford.

I work with Professor Kate Saunders and Professor Guy Goodwin in the Department of Psychiatry, Oxford and Professor Emily Holmes in Uppsala University, Sweden.

Previously I worked as a Senior Clinical Psychologist in Neuropsychology (Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire). I obtained my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester.