PhD Studentship - Improving attitudes, understanding and management of food allergy in children and adolescents

Dr Rebecca Knibb

This study aims to explore ways in which we can improve attitudes and understanding of food allergy and to see whether such improvement can lead to better allergy management.  Food allergy is an immunologically-mediated reaction to protein in foods such as peanuts, milk, eggs, fish and wheat.  Allergic symptoms include swelling of mouth, lips and tongue, wheezing, rashes and in severe cases anaphylactic shock which can be fatal.  There is no simple cure for food allergy and patients have to be constantly vigilant to ensure they avoid potentially life threatening accidental reactions. 

Food allergies have a great impact on quality of life however there is limited research which examines attitudes and understanding of food allergy in children and adolescents, or ways in which food allergy management can be improved.  This is a particularly important area to study as this age group represents the highest proportion of fatal reactions.  Knowledge of food allergy is quite poor in children and adolescents with food allergy and in healthy children who have no food allergy there is a lack of understanding of what food allergy is and the impact it can have on quality of life.  This project will explore ways in which we can improve attitudes and knowledge of food allergy and its management by children and adolescents.  It proposes a novel approach where peer support will be explored. This project will involve conducting interviews and focus groups with children and adolescents with and without food allergy, scale development and intervention design and piloting.  Applicants will need to demonstrate excellent qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis skills and should have knowledge of the development and validation of psychometric scales.  Experience of working with a clinical population or with children would be desirable.

The high quality of research in Aston’s School of Life and Health Sciences was confirmed in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE): research in Allied Health Professions and Studies ranked 3rd out of 63 UK Higher Education Institutions. Additional information about research in the School can be found at http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lhs/research/

Financial Support:

The studentship comprises of a tax-free stipend of £14,057 p.a. and payment of Home/EU tuition fees only. The studentship is available for three years, subject to satisfactory progress review at the end of the first year with an anticipated Registration date of 1^st April 2016.

Application Requirements:

• Eligible Applicants should hold at least a Bachelor (Hons.) Degree of either First Class/Upper Second Class in Psychology or related discipline and an MSc in Health Psychology or related discipline.  Experience in working with a clinical population or with children would also be desirable.


• EU Applicants will need to demonstrate adequate proficiency in English Language skills, with a minimum overall score of 93 (Internet Based) (with a minimum score in each section of: R: 18, W: 23, L: 19 and S: 19) in TOEFL or IELTS with minimum marks of 6.0 in each section and an overall band of 6.5.


• Informal enquiries should be addressed to the Project Supervisor, Dr Rebecca Knibb (E-mail: r.knibb@aston.ac.uk).

To apply please complete the on-line application form  at http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lhs/research/postgraduate-research/apply/ quoting the Reference: ‘MAARA_Knibb’ on all applications.