Professor Dasha Nicholls
Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Imperial College London
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Professor Dasha Nicholls leads the Child and Adolescent Mental Health research team in the Division of Psychiatry, where she is also Deputy Head, and deputy lead for Multimorbidity and Mental Health for the North West London Applied Research Collaboration (ARC). Her research aims to improve understanding and interventions for children and young people (CYP) with feeding and eating disorders and those living at higher weight, as well as a broader focus on CYP mental health through population health research. The team focuses on risk factors and early intervention, and seeks practical and scaleable solutions, from parent training to policy change, that directly influence outcomes. Their ARC applied health and care research responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems for the care of CYP with or at risk of mental disorders.
She is National Speciality Advisor on All Age Eating Disorders to NHS England, developing and disseminating best practice and training for the care of people with eating disorders from prevention through to inpatient care, and also CYP at higher weight, for example through the CYP obesity oversight board.
Until recently, she was a practising Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in CNWL Children and Young People's Eating Disorders Service and prior to that co-led the National Feeding and Eating Disorders service at Great Ormond Street Hospital. She co-led the National Whole Team training for CYP EDS and the training academy for CNWL CAMHS and Eating Disorders services.
She is Clinical and Strategic Director for National Audits and Research in the College Centre for Quality Improvement at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), with current responsibility for delivery on the National Audits of Psychosis, Eating Disorders and Dementia.
She co-founded the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Surveillance System (CAPSS) and is past chair of the RCPsych Eating Disorders Faculty and member of the RCPsych Board of Trustees and the International Advisory Committee. She led development and revision of the guidelines on the management of medical emergencies in eating disorders (MEED).
She is Past President of the Academy of Eating Disorders, the largest international eating disorders professional association, and instigated development of the British Eating Disorders Society.
