Dr Lydia Poole
Senior Lecturer
MSc, PhD, CPsychol, FHEA
Academic and research departments
Social justice and inequalities in mental health, School of Psychology.Biography
Lydia holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bath, an MSc in Health Psychology from King's College London, and a PhD in Psychobiology (supervised by Professor Andrew Steptoe) from UCL.
Lydia joined the School of Psychology at the University of Surrey as a Senior Lecturer in 2022. Prior to joining she worked at UCL on a variety of research projects, with funders including the British Heart Foundation, ESRC, and NIHR. In 2016 she was awarded a fellowship by the ESRC under the Future Leader's scheme to investigate the biosocial mechanisms linking depression with long term conditions such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis. This fellowship enabled Lydia to develop expertise in mixed methods research, including epidemiological methods and qualitative interview studies. More recently she has been involved in an NIHR funded project (Principal Investigator: Professor Amitava Banerjee) to examine ethnic inequalities in digital healthcare, particularly among the South Asian diaspora.
Her research interests include the intersection between mental and physical health, psychobiology, health inequalities, and mixed methods research.
She holds an honorary research fellow position with UCL's Institute of Health Informatics.
In the media
My publications
Highlights
Poole, L., Ramasawmy, M., Banerjee, A. (2021). ‘Digital first’ during the COVID-19 pandemic: does ethnicity matter? The Lancet Public Health, 6(9), e628-e630. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00186-9/fulltext
Publications
Ramasawmy, M., Poole, L., Banerjee, A. (2021). Learning our lesson: Using past policies to improve digital and ethnic inequalities beyond the pandemic.
Panagi, L., Hackett, R., Steptoe, A. Poole, L. (2021). Enjoyment of Life Predicts Type 2 Diabetes Incidence over 12 years follow-up: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Singh-Solorzano, C., Leigh, E., Steptoe, A., Ronaldson, A., Kidd, T., Jahangiri, M., Poole, L. (2021). The impact of caregiving burden on mental well-being in coronary artery bypass graft surgery caregivers: the mediatory role of perceived social support.
Bawa, H., Poole, L., Cooke, D., Panagi, L., Steptoe, A., Hackett, R. (2020). Diabetes-related distress and daily cortisol output in people with Type 2 diabetes.
Poole, L., Hackett, R., Panagi, L., Steptoe, A. (2020). Subjective wellbeing as a determinant of glycated haemoglobin in older adults: Longitudinal findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Poole, L., Steptoe, A. (2020). The combined association of depression symptoms and C-reactive protein for incident disease risk in older adults. Findings from the English Longitudinal of Ageing (ELSA).
Frank, P., Kaushal, A., Poole, L., Lawes, S., Chalder, T., Cadar, D. (2019). Systemic low-grade inflammation and subsequent depressive symptoms: is there a mediating role of physical activity?
Hackett, R., Poole, L., Panagi, L., Steptoe, A. (2019). Loneliness and biological responses to acute stress in people with type 2 diabetes.
Panagi, L., Poole, L., Hackett, R., Steptoe, A. (2019). Happiness and Inflammatory Responses to Acute Stress in People with Type 2 Diabetes.
Panagi, L., Poole, L., Hackett, R., Steptoe, A. (2019). Sex differences in interleukin-6 stress responses in people with type 2 diabetes.
Poole, L., Jackowska, M. (2019). The association of depression and sleep symptoms for predicting incident disease onset after 6-year follow-up: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Singh-Solorzano, C., Steptoe, A., Leigh, E., Kidd, T., Jahangiri, M., Poole, L. (2019). Pre-surgical caregiver burden and anxiety predict post-surgery cortisol over the day in partners of coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients.
Poole, L., Steptoe, A. (2018). Depressive symptoms predict incident chronic disease burden 10 years later. Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Poole, L., Jackowska, M. (2018). The epidemiology of depression symptoms and poor sleep. Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Jackowska, M., Poole, L. (2017). Sleep problems, short sleep and a combination of both increase the risk of depressive symptoms in older people: a 6-year follow-up investigation from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Poole, L., Kidd, T., Ronaldson, A., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2017). Pre-surgical depression and anxiety symptoms and recovery 12 months after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Kidd, T., Poole, L., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2016). Attachment anxiety predicts short and long-term depression and anxiety following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Kidd, T., Poole, L., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2016). Health-related personal control predicts depression symptoms, quality of life, but not health behaviour following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Poole, L., Kidd, T., Ronaldson, A., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2016). Depression 12-months after coronary artery bypass graft is predicted by cortisol slope over the day.
Poole, L., Ronaldson, A., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2016). Pre-operative cognitive functioning and inflammatory and neuroendocrine responses to cardiac surgery.
Messerly-Bürgy, N., Molloy, G. J., Poole, L., Wikman, A., Kaski, J. C., Steptoe, A. (2015). Psychological coping and recurrent major adverse cardiac events following acute coronary syndrome.
Poole, L., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2015). Psychological distress and intensive care unit stay after cardiac surgery: the role of illness concern.
Ronaldson, A., Kidd, T., Poole, L., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2015). Diurnal cortisol rhythm is associated with adverse cardiac events and mortality in coronary artery bypass patients
Ronaldson, A., Molloy, G. J., Wikman, A., Poole, L., Kaski, J-C., Steptoe, A. (2015). Optimism and Recovery Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Clinical Cohort Study.
Steptoe, A., Poole, L., Ronaldson, A., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M. (2015). Depression one year after coronary artery bypass surgery is predicted by acute inflammatory responses.
Compare, A., Grossi, E., Bigi, R., Proietti, R., Callus, E., Silva Orrego, P., Poole, L. (2014). Stress-Induced Cardiomyopathy and Psychological Wellbeing 1 Year After an Acute Event
Haraszti, R., Purebl, G., Salavecz, G., Poole, L., Dockray, S., Steptoe, A. (2014). Morningness–eveningness interferes with perceived health, physical activity, diet and stress levels in working women: A cross-sectional study
Kidd, T., Poole, L., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2014). Attachment anxiety predicts IL-6 and length of hospital stay in coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) patients.
Poole, L., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2014). Depression, C-reactive protein and length of post-operative hospital stay in coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients.
Poole, L., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2014). Pre-operative sleep complaints are associated with poor physical recovery in the months following cardiac surgery.
Poole, L., Leigh, E., Kidd, T., Ronaldson, A., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2014). The combined association of depression and socioeconomic status with length of post-operative hospital stay following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Ronaldson, A., Poole, L., Kidd, T., Leigh, E., Jahangiri, M., Steptoe, A. (2014). Optimism measured pre-operatively is associated with reduced pain intensity and physical symptom reporting after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Hamer, M., Poole, L., Messerli-Bürgy, N. (2013). Television viewing, C-reactive protein, and depressive symptoms in older adults.
Poole, L., Dickens, C., Steptoe, A. (2011). The puzzle of depression and acute coronary syndrome: reviewing the role of acute inflammation.
Poole, L., Hamer, M., Wawrzyniak, A. J., Steptoe, A. (2011). The effects of exercise withdrawal on mood and inflammatory cytokine responses in humans
Poole, L., Steptoe, A., Wawrzyniak, A. J., Bostock, S., Mitchell, E. S., Hamer, M. (2011). Associations of objectively measured physical activity with daily mood ratings and psychophysiological stress responses in women.