PJ Annand
Researcher // activist // survivor // introvert // health+social inequalities // gender+sexuality // violence+trauma // co-production // justice
I am a researcher with an academic background in gender and LGBTQIA+ rights, violence, labour, housing and health. Prior to joining 'academia', I worked for 10 years in the third sector on research, campaigns and evaluation with a focus on child rights, sexual and reproductive rights, mental health and social justice. I am also an activist committed to delivering research that will help bring about tangible change.I currently lead the Queering Shelter project and the CANVAS project, and co-lead the 'Beyond Do No Harm' project.I am interested in doing work that explores: participatory and co-design principles for mental health research, particularly in the context of AI/big data and new technologies; how violence against LGBTQ+ and other minoritised and marginalised people operates at direct, cultural and structural levels; work/labour and its impact on wellbeing, especially for trauma survivors; and the role of law and policy in addressing health and social inequalities broadly.My research is interdisciplinary, spanning public health, medical sociology, digital sociology, political economy, social psychology, queer and feminist theory, postcolonial and decolonial theory, media and cultural studies. I work with qualitative and quantitative data, though with an emphasis on the former, often drawing on feminist methodologies, ethnographic methods, grounded theory, framework analysis and Q-methodology. I prioritise participatory and co-produced approaches to research, practice, and evaluation.I am passionate about making sure community-embedded, survivor-led research and evaluation is supported, funded and elevated within academia, policy and practice moving forward. Nothing about us without us.
My Research Roles
Honorary Lecturer
King's College London
2022 – present
- Principal Investigator on COVID-19 special grants research project “The Needs of Domestic Violence+Abuse Services in the Wake of Coronavirus”
- Member of the Service User Research Enterprise (SURE) in the Health Service+Population Research (HSPR) department at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology+Neuroscience (IoPPN).
- BSc 'Survivor Research' module co-developmentLeverhulme Fellow
University of Surrey
2022 – present
- Principal Investigator on ESRC-funded impact project on decolonial and feminist approaches to impact through participatory arts.
- Principal Investigator on Leverhulme-funded study into LGBTQ+ understandings of shelter+(un)safety.
- Member of the Athena Swan Committee
- Member of the Equity, Diversity +Inclusion Committee.
- Lecturer on Sociology undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.Researcher in Social Science+Health
King’s College London
2019 – 2021
- Co-Investigator on a COVID-19 special grants research project "After the lockdown? Experiences of COVID-19 for people who are homeless"
- Researcher on a participatory realist evaluation of a homeless health peer advocacy intervention
- Co-convener iBSc 'Health Inequalities' moduleResearch Consultant
Plan International UK
2020
- Qualitative evaluation+research consultancy for the longitudinal cohort study 'Real Choices, Real Lives' (study of girls' rights+wellbeing globally+programme evaluation)Research Fellow
University of Nottingham
2019
- Consulted for the United Nations (OHCHR) to co-author report evaluating international approaches to tackling child labour+trafficking
- Winner of Newton Fund place on British Council-FAPESP workshop on migration, trafficking, sex work+the law
- Researcher on adult forced marriage study of survivor narrativesDoctoral Researcher
Middlesex University
2014 – 2018
- Principal Investigator on scholarship funded study into pornography consumer ethics+sex workYouth Programme Manager (PAR)
OCD Action
2014 – 2017
- Participatory action research: delivery+evaluation of youth mental health support services (grant-funded: St James’ Place, Big Lottery Fund+Trust for London)Research+Project Manager
OCD Action
2012 – 2014
- Mixed-methods evaluation+delivery of youth mental health awareness initiative in schools (grant-funded: City Bridge Trust)Research+Programmes Coordinator
Gemin-i Human Rights
2009 – 2011
- Researched sexual+reproductive health, HIV/AIDS stigma, addiction, poverty: produced teaching, learning+campaigning resources for dedicated online youth platform
Other Project Work
Committee Member
British Psychological Society, Psychology of Women+Equalities Section (POWES)
2023 –Chair
Stefania Memorial Project (Women’s Homelessness)
2019 – 2020Board Member+Inclusion Research Consultant
ESSDA (LGBTQIA+ Dancesport)
2016 – 2020Sexual+Reproductive Health+Rights Trainer
Sexpression UK
2017 – 2019Digital+Communications
Liberty (National Council for Civil Liberties)
2018 – 2019Digital Fundraising
Amnesty International UK
2017Website+Publications Editor
Plan International UK
2012 – 2013Partnerships Development Manager
Gemin-i Human Rights
2011 – 2012
Awards & Funded Projects
Research Grant – Principal Investigator
'Beyond Do No Harm: Applying Feminist & Decolonial Approaches to Research Impact through Participatory Arts Practice'
ESRC, Impact Acceleration Fund
Received 2022 (£10,897)ESRC, Violence Abuse+Mental Health Network ECR Bursary
'Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls' Westminster Insight symposium participant
Received 2022 (£500)Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship – Principal Investigator
'Queering Shelter: Understandings of shelter+(un)safety among LGBTQ+ people with lived experience in England+Wales'
Received 2022 (£118,000)Research Grant – Principal Investigator
'COVID-19 and the Needs of the Domestic Violence and Abuse Sector in England and Wales (CANVAS)'
Wellcome Trust, King’s Together Fund
Received 2020 (£9,902)Research Grant – Co-Investigator
'After the lockdown? Experiences of COVID-19 for people who are homeless'
Wellcome Trust, King’s Together Fund
Received 2020 (£10,000)Fully-funded place on British Council-FAPESP Researcher Links workshop in Brazil
Newton Fund
Received 2019 (c. £3000)International conference travel grants
Middlesex University
Various 2014 – 2018 (c. £2000)PhD Scholarship – Principal Investigator
Middlesex University
Received 2014 (£69,200)Project Grant – Project Lead
OCD Youth (Participatory Action Research)
Trust for London, St James’ Place+Big Lottery Fund
Received 2014 (c. £93,000)
Education
PhD Digital Sociology+Social Psychology
Middlesex University
2018
- Scholarship recipient
- Research in social psychology at intersection of sociology, consumer ethics, political economy, gender/sexuality+media/cultural studies.
- Thesis title: 'Conscionable Consumption: A Feminist Grounded Theory of Porn Consumer Ethics'
- Supervisors: Prof. Feona Attwood, Dr. Lucy Neville, Dr. Theresa Cronin+Prof. Helen Hester
- Co-organised +/or supported conferences on gender, identity+sexual rights, including:
Winner of best poster at Work in Progress conference – Middlesex University
Paper on online research methods presented at the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR) conference – Humboldt University Berlin
Paper on (a/)sexual identities given at the International Non-Monogamies+Contemporary Intimacies conference – New University of Lisbon
Paper on creative research methodologies presented at the Sex+Sexualities conference – University of Brighton
- Funded by doctoral school to deliver conference papers, including:
#NotAskingForIt: Rape, Discourse+Media (Co-Organiser) – Middlesex University
Talking Bodies conference (Social Media Volunteer) – University of Chester
Recognising Diversity: Gender & Sexual Equalities in Principle+Practice (Conference Volunteer) – University of Leeds
MA Gender
SOAS, University of London
2014
- Modules including Gender Theory (distinction); Queer Politics (distinction), Gender in the Middle East (distinction)
- Dissertation on sexual violence perpetrated by US soldiers in Iraq during the so-called ‘war on terror’BA Hons. Combined Social Sciences+Modern Languages
Durham University
2008
- Distinctions in Arabic, French, German
- Only Durham student to win one-year funded place at Institut Français du Proche-Orient (IFPO) Damascus, SyriaDipHE Law
The Open University
2022
- Modules in Tort+Contract Law (distinction); Public+Constitutional Law (distinction), Criminal Law (distinction), Law and Society (distinction), EU Law.
Other Qualifications
HEA Associate Fellow Accreditation
King’s College London
2021Certificate: Introduction to Statistics
King’s College London
2020Certificate: Quantitative Research Methods
University of Nottingham
2020Certificate: Safeguarding Young People+Vulnerable Adults
NSPCC
2016Certificate: Public Engagement+Influencing
Sheila McKechnie Foundation
2016Certificate: Gender+Sexual Diversity for Psychologists
City CBT Coaching
2015Certificate: Monitoring+Evaluating Impact
Better Impact Inc.
2014Level 2 Award: Understanding HIV/AIDS
City+Guilds/Terrence Higgins Trust
2011