Beth Cooper – Research Assistant

Beth Cooper joined the team in 2025 as an Assistant Clinical Research Practitioner, supporting recruitment and liaison across the RAPID, Talking with Voices and Feeling Safer trials within mental health research at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). Since Summer 2025, Beth has also been working as a research assistant on the Feeling Safer trial, recruiting service users and conducting research assessments as part of clinical research delivery.

Prior to joining PRU, Beth worked as a research assistant at the Anxiety Depression and Psychological Therapies (ADePT) research unit at GMMH. In this role, Beth worked across a number of research projects linked to mental health, psychological therapies, and long-term health conditions. These included the PATHWAY trial, a study focused on improving access to psychological therapy for people with heart conditions; Life On and Off the Ward, a qualitative study of staff experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Youth Metacognitive Therapy (YoMeta) project, assessing Group Metacognitive Therapy for young people within CAMHS; and the CardioActive trial, looking at cardiac rehabilitation for young people with heart conditions.

Beth earned her BSc in Psychology from Bangor University, followed by an MSc in Clinical Neurology from The University of Sheffield. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in research examining the influence of exercise on cognitive functioning and mental health in university students. In her postgraduate research, she focused on measuring specific cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease using electroencephalography (EEG), alongside exploring the impact of the disease on mental health outcomes.

In addition to her research work, Beth has gained valuable clinical experience working with children who have acquired brain injuries and inherited neurological disorders. She has also worked supporting hydrotherapy for adults with life-limiting and neurological conditions. This combination of clinical experience and research expertise supports her work in mental health research, service user engagement, and clinical research practice.