Nick SHARRATT

Name: Nick SHARRATT
Country: United Kingdom
Degrees: LLB (Hons); PG Dip (Legal Practice); Dip Psych; MSc Health Psychology
Current job title: Research Fellow, Centre for Appearance Research
Institution: The University of the West of England
Short autobiography:

I am a research fellow in the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR), a World leading research centre focussing on the role of appearance and body image in people's lives which conducts high quality, applied psychological research. Having previously qualified and worked as a solicitor I completed a post-graduate conversion Diploma in Psychology with the Open University before undertaking an MSc in Health Psychology at the University of Bath. In 2014 I then joined CAR to begin working on a PhD. I am currently in the process of finalising and writing up my PhD which explores the intersection of appearance altering or disfiguring conditions ('visible difference') and romantic relationships. In conducting this work I employed a mixed-methods design in order to first understand the perceived impact and then measure this via the development of the Centre for Appearance Research Romantic Relationships and Intimacy Scale (CARRIS). In January 2018 I joined the Vocational Training Charitable Trust Foundation research programme at CAR and will be working on projects linked to visible difference and romantic relationships. I will be doing this with the aim of furthering our understanding of issues related to this topic and developing effective interventions to help alleviate concern. I am also a member of, and the Short Term Scientific Mission Officer (STSM) for, this EU COST Action 'European Cleft and Craniofacial Initiative for Equality in Care.' Please contact me if you wish to participate in or have an idea for an STSM within this action.

Reason for joining: Interest in all matters associated with appearance, with health inequalities, and learning from international collaboration
Current research interest in relation to the COST Action: Visible difference Intimate / romantic relationships Interventions Health psychology
COST Actions Outcomes:
E-mail: nick.sharratt@uwe.ac.uk
Link to institution: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/hls/research/appearanceresearch https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/NickSharratt