Assistant Professor in Health Psychology, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Dr Harbinder Sandhu is currently an Assistant Professor, Division of Health Sciences (Warwick Clinical Trials Unit), University of Warwick. She is a Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) Registered Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS). Academic Research: Harbinder has an interest in the application of Health Psychology in developing behavioural interventions to improve management of long term conditions (chronic pain) and understanding and improving motivation to behaviour change adopting a biopsychosoical model among different population groups. She was recently invited as a Scholar to the British Journal of Health Psychology, International Advisory Board Panel. Harbinder was also awarded one of eight Investigator Network Grant Awards (July 2008) (each researcher selected from a different country), awarded by the European Association of Communication in Health Care (EACH). She has developed an expertise in understanding and enhancing clinician-patient communication to improve patient outcomes and is the Recognised Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) UK trainer and manager, Invited and approved by Professor Debra Roter, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA (Awarded November 2007). A worldwide validated tool used to analyse communication in healthcare. Academic Teaching: She is currently the Module Lead for Health Psychology on the MBChB undergraduate medical programme, University of Warwick. Her role on the MBChB also includes offering pastoral support as personal tutor and she has been actively involved in the current Curriculum Review 2013, with mapping learning objectives and outcomes using Tomorrows Doctors. She has also taught on Masters programmes across the Medical School. Harbinder has also supervised Masters Degree’s and is currently supervising two PhD students. Clinical/Applied Psychology: She combines her academic work with her clinical role; Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Her clinical work includes chronic pain management including group and individual interventions using a cognitive behavioural approach. She has also worked in the area of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and has worked with young adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). She is currently working with Mark Wood (Antarctic explorer, Coventry, UK). In 2011-2012 she used psychological skills training to help prepare Mark Wood for his solo expedition to the North and South Pole. She is now working closely with Mark to analyse data collected on his journey to understand the mental challenges faced on his journey and to further our understating of human survival in isolated extreme environmental conditions. London Olympics 2012: She offered psychological training to the Bhutan archer Sherab Zam and her coach Tshering Choden who competed in the London 2012 games and trained at The University of Warwick. Harbinder continues her work in the application of psychology in sport and physical activity.

cultural barriers, diabetes, effective diabetes care delivery, ethnic minority groups, health workers.