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Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie
Name:
Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie
Job Title:
Lecturer in Psychology
Place of work / study:
The University of Edinburgh
Area of Research:
Psychology / Cognitive Ageing / Cognitive Assessment
How is your research funded:
N/A
Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m a psychologist by training, with an MA in Psychology, an MSc in Human Cognitive Neuropsychology, and a PhD in Psychology, all from the University of Edinburgh. While completing my PhD, I worked as a psychometric officer at the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology and the Dementias Platform UK. Both these roles involved developing cognitive assessments for large-scale ageing studies.
Following my PhD, I worked a Postdoc on the Generation Scotland study—a large family-health cohort—where I led the design and implementation of their online questionnaires. I am currently a Psychology lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, where my teaching covers cognitive ageing, psychometrics, and related topics. My research investigates the bidirectional relationship between cognitive function and health across the lifespan. I study why some people experience faster cognitive decline than others, how this decline affects the ability to manage health and disease in older adulthood, and how it impacts everyday tasks, such as managing finances.
I am particularly interested in how chronic pain and the long-term use of pain medications and other centrally acting drugs may influence cognitive trajectories. I also have expertise in longitudinal cohort study design, and particularly the design and evaluation of cognitive and other psychological assessments. With the growing use of online and remote cognitive assessments, a key focus of my current work involves understanding how cognitive test scores may be influenced by mode of administration.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
When I was a child, I wanted to be a motorbiker with pink hair and an Egyptologist! So far, I have achieved neither, but I guess there’s still time!
Why did you choose to work in dementia research?
I first became interested in dementia research during my undergrad, driven by a desire to understand why some people are able to maintain sharp cognitive capabilities into very old age, while others experience early and rapid cognitive decline. More recently, a close family member of mine was diagnosed with young-onset dementia, suddenly making my work feel deeply personal. This has certainly increased my motivation to keep working in dementia research…
What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?
Find (and cherish) great mentors! I’ve been lucky to have several wonderful mentors supporting me at every stage of my career so far, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without their support. Some have even become close friends. And be sure to pay it forward – mentoring others is incredibly rewarding and is one of the best parts of my job 🙂
What book are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
I’ve just started Extinctions by Michael J Benton — it’s about the five mass extinction events in Earth’s history. Too early to say if I’d recommend it, but it’s certainly an interesting topic! A book I do recommend is Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. It’s a thoroughly researched and well-written account of the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma (the company behind the prescription opioid OxyContin), and their role fueling the US opioid crisis.
Favourite ways to unplug and unwind?
Music and running are my two biggest hobbies. Few things clear my head like going for a run with my wee dog, Bonny. Even better if it’s a trail run in the middle of nowhere. I’m attempting to learn piano – but I’m pretty terrible at it. Thankfully, there are many musicians out there who are much more talented than me. I love going to gigs and I spend literally hours and hours each day listening to music. Nothing brings me more joy than discovering a new band or artist I really like, especially if they have a massive back catalogue to binge-listen to!
Favourite film of all time?
Jurassic Park! Also a big fan of Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows.
Can we find you on Social Media?
Follow Chloe Fawns-Ritchie on LinkedIn
Would you like to share your playlist?
Well, this was hard! I mostly went with songs I’ve had on repeat lately, plus a couple of long-time favourites.
