Fiona S. McEwen

Fiona S. McEwen is a researcher at King's College London, where she serves as Survey and Interventions Director for the XCEPT project, a programme examining drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in fragile and conflict-affected states through longitudinal cohort studies conducted in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and South Sudan. McEwen completed a BSc in Neuroscience and a BVM&S in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, before training as an MRC-funded doctoral student at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, where McEwen received a PhD in Psychology in 2009 focused on imitation and social development in young twins with and without autism spectrum disorder. Following postdoctoral fellowships at King's College London examining diagnostic protocols and imitative behaviour in autism, and coordination of the TS 2000 Study, a prospective longitudinal study of behavioural and cognitive outcomes in tuberous sclerosis complex, McEwen moved to Queen Mary University of London, where McEwen led research on mental health and resilience in Syrian refugee children, including the BIOPATH cohort study and a clinical trial of telephone-delivered psychological therapy. McEwen has also investigated the association between childhood cruelty to animals and family violence, work supported by the RSPCA and undertaken in part through a placement at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.