Dr Jennifer Allen, is a Reader and the lead for the Pathline research network, which aims to better understand pathways to mental health for children and young people (www.pathwaystochildmentalhealth.com). This network aims to take advantage of the opportunities provided by longitudinal cohort study datasets and data linkage in the UK and overseas to achieve this goal. She is currently a Leverhulme Research Fellow, researching the origins of positive childhood experiences for children. Her research has also been funded by the GW4 Alliance, ESRC and Guys and St Thomas' Charity. Dr Allen is also the Director of the SHINE research lab (www.shineresearchlab.com), dedicated to understanding the role of environmental factors in shaping risk pathways to child psychopathology, and the translation of models of risk and resilience into school and family-based interventions. Our work is also designed to inform practitioners how to best support adults who children most rely on for their social and emotional well-being: their parents and teachers. 

Dr Allen is also a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (BPS), specialising in child emotional and behavioural disorders. She has a strong commitment to the training and dissemination of evidence-based treatment, which led to the publication of a practitioner textbook: Family-based Intervention for Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Core Competencies Approach (2021) by Cambridge University Press. 

Recent awards:

2025    Excellence in Doctoral Supervision Nominee (Finalist)

2025    Springer Nature Author Service Award 

2025    Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award 

2024    Recognising Excellence Award, University of Bath

2023    ACAMH David Cottrell Education of Child and

            Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Professionals Award

2021    Voted winner, I’m a Scientist, Get me Out of Here! 

            Public engagement award. 

PhD, MRes and DClinPsy Supervision

Jennifer Allen is available to supervise the following themes in relation to child and adolescent mental health:

• Teacher-child relationships/interaction
• Parental intimate partner violence (IPV) and school outcomes
• Child and adolescent antisocial behaviour and physical health outcomes
• Testing different models of child temperament and later psychopathology
• Positive childhood experiences (PCEs)
• Parental knowledge and monitoring 
• Assessment - of mental health symptoms or specific constructs, measurement invariance across gender, cultural group, time or informant / multi-informant issues.

MRes and PhD applicants with an interest in secondary data analysis of Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) data are particularly encouraged to get in contact. The MCS is a British longitudinal cohort study, which began in 2000 and has followed children up to 23 years currently. For more information, see: https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/millennium-cohort-study/