DrSaphsa Codling

Dr Saphsa Codling is a behavioural and public-health researcher in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, where her work examines how people make sense of illness and come to seek help. She is Principal Investigator of Your Cancer Journey (YCJ), a qualitative study which retrospectively explores the coping and self-care pathway from first symptom to cancer diagnosis. YCJ complements the Cancer Loyalty Card Study (CLOCS-2), which objectively examines purchases of over-the-counter medications and remedies using loyalty card purchase data.

Beyond YCJ, she leads a programme of engagement and co-design across the CLOCS studies. She works with patient and public involvement groups and two community partners to ensure the research is informed by those with lived experience and that any resulting intervention does not increase health inequalities. She was lead applicant on an NIHR Mental Health Research Incubator Seed Fund award, convening a workshop on wellbeing support for people facing financial difficulty after a cancer diagnosis. Collectively, this work helped inform an exhibit at the 2026 Great Exhibition Road Festival titled 'Checkout Your Symptoms' which explored response and help-seeking for cancer-related symptoms.

Her research draws on more than a decade across behavioural science, clinical trials and applied health research. Prior to her PhD, she spent six years as a research assistant at the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge. During this time, she also completed an MA in Psychosocial Studies at the University of East London. She completed her PhD in Health Studies at the Institute for Clinical and Applied Health Research at the University of Hull. Her thesis examined the relationship between physical activity, alcohol-related harm and psychosocial health in adolescents. While at Hull, she also worked as an Associate Researcher at the Adoption, Fostering and Kinship Alliance (AFKA) and a Clinical Trials Manager at the UKCRC-registered Hull Health Trials Unit.