缅北禁地

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Staff Profile

Dr Susanna Mills

NUAcT Clinical Fellow and Consultant in Public Health

  • Email: susanna.mills@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 8124
  • Personal Website:
  • Address: Population Health Sciences Institute
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    缅北禁地
    Baddiley-Clark Building,
    Richardson Road,
    缅北禁地 upon Tyne,
    NE2 4AX
Background

Susanna is a 缅北禁地 Academic Track (NUAcT) Clinical Fellow, and Consultant in Public Health at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust. She uses mixed-methods in her research, and focusses on diet, nutrition and obesity, particularly in the context of people experiencing mental health conditions and other vulnerable groups. Susanna has held National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) career development awards since 2012, and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.

Roles and responsibilities

  • NUAcT (缅北禁地 Academic Track) Clinical Fellow, 2024-present
  • Consultant in Public Health at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust, 2024-present
  • NIHR Public Health Research Prioritisation Committee and Funding Committee member, 2023-present
  • NIHR Pre-doctoral Award - Local Authority, Public Health and Social Care Funding Committee member, 2026-present
  • Lancet Commission on Obesity Fellow 2016-2018

Funding

  • National Institute for Health and Care Research: Three School Prevention Career Development Award, 2026-27, £27,775. Prevention of obesity and related physical health conditions amongst young people living with severe mental illness. Role: Lead recipient
  • 缅北禁地, 2024-25, £9,999. Returners’ Support Programme. Role: Lead recipient of funding to catalyse return to the workplace following parental leave
  • Novo Nordisk Foundation, 2024-25, £36,000. Weight management in secure mental health services. Role: Chief Investigator
  • Alzheimer’s Research UK, 2023-24, £4,416. Understanding the barriers and facilitators towards diet and dementia prevention among South Asian communities living in the UK. Role: Co-Investigator
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research: Programme Grants for Applied Research, 2022-25, £2,605,905. DIAMONDS: Diabetes and mental illness, improving outcomes and self-management. Role: Sub-Investigator at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research: Research for Patient Benefit Programme, 2021-23, £178,657. A mixed methods study using co-production to explore food insecurity in adults with severe mental illness living in northern England. Role: Principal Investigator at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust
  • Academy of Medical Sciences Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers, 2021-23, £29,995. Mixed-methods study to generate evidence to inform weight management interventions in adult secure care mental health inpatient settings. Role: Chief Investigator
  • British Council Researcher Links Climate Challenge Grant 2021-22, £7,000. Healthy and sustainable cooking practices among school kitchen staff - A pilot project in Campinas, SP, Brazil. Role: Co-Investigator
  • Global Food Security 2018 Food Systems Resilience Development 3rd Call, 2019-2021, £525,456. T-GRAINS: Transforming and Growing Relationships within regional food systems for Improved Nutrition and Sustainability. Role: Co-Investigator
  • National Institute for Health & Care Research Clinical Lectureship CL-2017-01-003, 2018-24, approx. £320,000 salary. Role: Lead recipient
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research Doctoral Research Fellowship DRF-2014-07-020, 2014-17, £269,000. A mixed methods programme of study on the determinants and health outcomes of home food preparation. Role: Chief Investigator
  • National Institute for Health & Care Research Academic Clinical Fellowship ACF-2012-01-005, 2012-14, approx. £75,000 salary. Role: Lead recipient

Areas of expertise

  • Public health nutrition
  • Overweight and obesity
  • Mental health
  • Health inequalities
  • Environmental sustainability   

Google Scholar:

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Research

Susanna's research focusses on diet, nutrition, obesity and the intersection with vulnerable groups and planetary health. She works closely with people with lived experience, and collaborates widely across the NHS, academia, local government and third sector organisations.

Areas of interest include:

  • Overweight and obesity
  • Mental health
  • Health inequalities
  • Cooking and home food preparation
  • Food insecurity
  • Environmental sustainability
Teaching

Susanna welcomes opportunities to supervise students with interest in her field of research.

Teaching experience

  • Postgraduate students: Masters in Public Health; Masters in Dietetics
  • Undergraduate students: Biomedical Sciences; Food and Human Nutrition
  • Medical doctors in training: Public Health; Paediatrics; Psychiatry
  • National CPD sessions for Medical Consultants and other NHS healthcare professionals

Supervision

  • Lead supervisor for PhD student: Ella Bradley - 'Understanding Risk Factors to Prevent Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in People with Severe Mental Illness'
  • Co-supervisor for PhD student undertaking viva corrections: Hannah Jones - 'Nutrition Education, Diet and Health in British Overseas Territories: A Tailored Approach to Public Health'
  • Lead supervisor for one Research Assistant
  • Lead mentor for pharmacist awarded Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Trust Non-medical Researcher Development Internship
  • Co-supervisor for undergraduate and postgraduate research projects
  • Previously co-supervised two undergraduate BSc research students in Food and Human Nutrition

Accreditation and training

Associate Fellow of Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate School

Publications

  • Articles

    • Clear AK, Mitchell Finnigan S, Sharp RT, Milne AE, Furness E, Meador E, Mills S, Sanderson Bellamy A. . Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’26) 2026. In Press.
    • Mills S, Kaner E, Ramsay S, McKinnon I. . BMJ Open 2024, 14(3), e079406.
    • Mills S, Kaner E, Ramsay S, McKinnon I. . The Journal of Forensic Practice 2024, 26(2), 100-113.
    • Sim YJ, Townsend RF, Mills S, Stocker R, Stevenson E, McEvoy C, Fairley AM. . Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 2024, 37(4), 899-908.
    • Sharp RT, Sanderson Bellamy A, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan S, Furness E, Meador E, Metcalfe H, Mills S, Coleman K, Whitmore AP, Milne AE. . Journal of Cleaner Production 2024, 449, 141375.
    • Bush KJ, Cullen E, Mills S, Chin RFM, Thomas RH, Kingston A, Pickrell WO, Ramsay SE. . The Lancet Public Health 2024, 9(8), e614-e628.
    • Bellamy AS, Furness E, Mills S, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan SM, Meador E, Milne AE, Sharp RT. . Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 2023, 7, 1160627.
    • Brown H, Mills S, Albani V. . BMC Public Health 2022, 22(1), 590.
    • Furness E, Sanderson Bellamy A, Clear A, Mitchell Finnigan S, Meador JE, Mills S, Milne AE, Sharp RT. . Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 2022, 12(1), 63-78.
    • Mills S, Wolfson J, Wrieden W, Brown H, White M, Adams J. . Nutrients 2020, 12(1), 198.
    • Mills S. . Judicial Review 2020, 25(2), 71-79.
    • Swinburn BA, Kraak VI, Allender S, Atkins VJ, Baker PI, Bogard JR, Brinsden H, Calvillo A, De Schutter O, Devarajan R, Ezzati M, Friel S, Goenka S, Hammond RA, Hastings G, Hawkes C, Herrero M, Hovmand PS, Howden M, Jaacks LM, Kapetanaki AB, Kasman M, Kuhnlein HV, Kumanyika SK, Larijani B, Lobstein T, Long MW, Matsudo VKR, Mills SDH, Morgan G, Morshed A, Nece PM, Pan A, Patterson DW, Sacks G, Shekar M, Simmons GL, Smit W, Tootee A, Vandevijvere S, Waterlander WE, Wolfenden L, Dietz WH. . The Lancet 2019, 393(10173), 791-846.
    • Mills S, Adams J, White M, Wrieden W, Brown H. . Public Health Nutrition 2018, 21(12), 2255-2266.
    • Mills S, White M, Wrieden W, Brown H, Stead M, Adams J. . PLoS ONE 2017, 12(8), e0182842.
    • Mills S, White M, Brown H, Wreiden W, Kwansicka D, Halligan J, Robalino S, Adams J. . Appetite 2017, 111, 116-134.
    • Mill SDH, Brown H, Wrieden WL, White M, Adams J. . International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2017, 14, 109.
    • Adams J, Mills SDH. . Evidence-Based Medicine 2017, 22(1), 38.
    • Mills S, White M, Robalino S, Wrieden W, Brown H, Adams J. . Systematic Reviews 2015, 4(5), 35.
    • Mills SD, Tanner LM, Adams J. . Obesity Reviews 2013, 14(4), 303-314.
    • Tanner LM, Moffatt S, Milne E, Mills SDH, White M. . Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2013, 67(12), 1061-1067.
    • Braddick O, Birtles D, Mills S, Warshafsky J, Wattam-Bell J, Atkinson J. Brain responses to global perceptual coherence. Journal of Vision 2006, 6(6), 426a.

  • Book Chapter

    • Hall, SM, Pottinger, L, Blake, M, Mills, S, Reynolds, C, Wrieden, W. Food for thought? Material methods for exploring food and cooking. In: Holmes, H and Hall, SM, ed. Mundane Methods: Innovative ways to research the everyday. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Mills S, Furness E, Clear AK, Mitchell Finnigan S, Meador E, Milne AE, Sharp RT, Sanderson Bellamy A. . In: UK Public Health Sciences. 2022, The Lancet.
    • Mills S, Albani V, Brown H. . In: UK Public Health Sciences. 2022, Elsevier.
    • Mills SDH, Wright T. . In: The Lancet. 2015, The Lancet Publishing Group.