Meet the team
Dr Jenny Murphy
Principal Investigator
I completed my PhD at King’s College London in December 2019 under the supervision of Professor Geoff Bird and Dr Caroline Catmur. Here I investigated the measurement of interoception, it’s developmental trajectory and the relationship between interoception, health and higher order cognition. In April 2020 I took up a lectureship (assistant professor) position at Royal Holloway University of London. In March 2024 I took up a senior lectureship (associate professor) position at the University of Surrey. I am particularly interested in sex differences in interoceptive abilities, including how these emerge across development and whether they relate to sex differences in mental and physical health. To find out more about me, please see my CV.
Doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers
Ren Palmer
Ren is a PhD student in the lab investigating interoception. Previously, Ren completed her undergrad at the University of Oxford, where she worked with the lab on a project exploring face recognition and memory.
Ria Spooner
Ria is a current PhD student in the lab investigating projects relating interoception to mental health. Ria’s work is funded by an ESRC 1+3 studentship. Previously, Ria volunteered in the lab as a summer research assistant researching projects investigating dissociations between self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention.
Keen to join the lab? Get in touch!
Dr Rosie Donaghy
Rosie is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the lab working on a project examining interoception across the menstrual cycle. Rosie has been completing her PhD at Royal Holloway University of London, investigating the development of interoception across infancy and early toddlerhood.
Former and current Research Assistants
Paulina Ibek
Kiah Vekaria
Lauren Palmer
Parneet Kaur
Laura Mackenzie
Alumni
Freya Prentice
Freya has been volunteering in the lab since May 2020 working on projects investigating sex differences in interoceptive accuracy and sex differences in the labelling of internal states. Freya is now completing a PhD at UCL.
Charlotte Peart
Charlotte has been volunteering in the lab since July 2020 working on projects investigating interoception in pregnancy and the relationship between anxiety and interoception. Charlotte now works at MQ Mental Health.
Alex Edwards
Alex has been volunteering in the lab since November 2020 working on projects investigating the relationship between anxiety and interoception. Alex is now completing an MSc at City University.
Dr Joanne Cheung
Joanne completed her DClinPsy thesis project in the lab, entitled: Unique vs. General predictors of the course of mental health during lockdowns associated with the UK covid-19 pandemic. Joanne now works in the NHS.
Dr Nerea Irigoras Izagirre
Nerea is a former DClinPsy student who completed her thesis project in the lab, entitled: The relationship between interoception and stress. Nerea is currently travelling before she takes up a position in the NHS.
Dr Sarina Afzali Shamsabad
Sarina completed her DClinPsy thesis project in the lab, entitled: sex differences in interoception and emotional processing: Bias in the interpretation of ambiguous states in others? Sarina now works in the NHS.
Elisa Fernandez Fueyo
Elisa is a former rotation student in the lab. Elisa investigated the processes indexed by the heartbeat evoked potential. Elisa’s work was funded by an BBSRC LIDo studentship, and she is now completing a PhD at Royal Holloway.
Dr Rhea Clemente
Rhea is a current DClinPsy student completing her thesis project in the lab, entitled: Sex differences in interoceptive attention and its relationship with anxiety disorders.
Eleonora Gabriele
Ele volunteered in the lab as a summer research assistant researching projects investigating dissociations between self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention. Read Ele’s paper on interoceptive accuracy and attention here.
Project students 2020/2021
BSc
Ria Spooner, Jessica Laniado, Rosie Whitfield, Emily Devereaux and Maddie Pantaney.
Title: Sex differences in labelling of internal states in the self and others.
MSc
Ana Salguerio, Jordan Clark and Georgi Terzza (Clinical MSc)
Title: Developing an objective measure of attention to interoceptive signals
Project students 2021/2022
MSci
Abigail Agyemang & Melie Crochemore
Title: Self-reported interoception and mental health
MSc
Zeynep Ulu & Mallika Gupta (Clinical MSc)
Title: Autism, Prosopagnosia and social anxiety
Project students 2022/2023
BSc
Gemma Budworth, Dorina Cocirla, Eleanor Dunckley, Lydia Mills, Rose Tothill
Title: Empathy and interoception
MSc
Natasha Dackombe, Nicole Saldanha and Syderita Vaka (Clinical MSc)
Title: Empathy and Burn out
Collaborators
We collaborate closely with the Insulab Team at Royal Holloway, Geoff Bird’s lab at the University of Oxford and Biobeats. Check out their websites below.