Fiona S. McEwen

Fiona S. McEwen is Survey and Interventions Director for the XCEPT project at King's College London, where the research examines drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour in fragile and conflict-affected states, drawing on 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, followed by an MSc and PhD in Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, where doctoral work used the Twins Early Development Study to investigate imitation and social development in children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Subsequent postdoctoral positions at King's College London and Queen Mary University of London involved research on autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, tuberous sclerosis complex, and, most extensively, the mental health and resilience of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon through the BIOPATH longitudinal cohort study, including evaluation of a telephone-delivered psychological intervention. McEwen has also investigated the relationship between childhood cruelty to animals and family violence, producing a briefing document for parliamentarians as an MRC Parliamentary Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.