DrAnnemarie Lodder

Dr Annemarie Lodder is a social scientist and research psychologist whose work focuses on family well-being, stigma, and social inequality in the context of early developmental difference and neonatal care. Her research draws on developmental psychology and mixed methods to explore how developmental differences, early life experiences, and social contexts shape identity, mental health, and family well-being over time. She contributes to interdisciplinary research programmes that combine qualitative, quantitative, and participatory approaches, with a particular interest in addressing gaps between clinical outcomes and lived experience.

Annemarie is particularly interested in how developmental differences, such as preterm birth, shape the experiences and well-being of children and families across the life course. She also examines how ethnicity and socioeconomic status influence who is most affected and how families experience and respond to these challenges. Through her research, she aims to contribute to more inclusive, equitable, and socially informed approaches to neonatal and developmental health research.

A key strand of her work examines the experiences and support needs of young people and adults born preterm, an area that has received limited attention despite advances in neonatal survival. Her work with the Young People’s Advisory Group “From Neonatal to Now” won the NIHR Imperial BRC Public Involvement in Health Research Prize.

As the Patient, Public Involvement and Engagement Lead for Imperial’s BRC Pregnancy and Prematurity theme, she develops approaches to incorporate parent- and patient-reported experiences into maternity health research, neonatal trials, and data infrastructures, with a focus on inclusion and equity. Annemarie works closely with local communities to explore how ethnicity and social inequalities shape experiences of healthcare and research participation. She has led research with women and families from underrepresented groups to understand barriers to engagement in health research and to develop more inclusive and culturally responsive approaches to participation.

Background:

She completed her PhD in psychology on stigma and mental health among parents of autistic children, during which she developed and evaluated a mental health support intervention to help parents navigate autism-related stigma and its impact on family well-being. Beyond intervention development, she has extensive experience in intervention evaluation, including evaluating the parenting programme Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities, developed by the Race Equality Foundation to improve parental well-being and child outcomes with a particular focus on families from marginalised communities.