Contact

• workApplied Health Research Building
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work07817139077
• [email protected]

Biography

Dr Sophie Hall completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Lincoln in 2011. Since then she has worked on a diverse range of projects with a focus on children and young people's mental health and education and workplace wellbeing.

In her current role, Sophie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit working on methodology research projects which develop guidance to support the design and delivery of rigorously conducted, inclusive, clinical trials. She is particularly passionate about supporting the clinical research workforce, and received the prestigious International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (ICTMC) Award (2024) for her work in developing guidance to support clinical research staff cope with their job demands. Sophie has received in total over £500,000 in NIHR funding to support her research activities as Principal Investigator/co-Lead.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-8269

Recent study webpages:

RAFT: Reporting Factorial Trials

FACTS: Flourishing As Clinical Trial Staff

AD-ASTRA: Adjunctive dog-assisted interventions to improve mental health:a research development programme

INTEND: ImproviNg Tic Services in EnglaND (INTEND) study

PROMISE: Principles of Engagement: Developing Methods to Increase Representation of Black Mothers in Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare Research

Expertise Summary

Mental health and wellbeing

Randomised Control Trials

Methodology research

Workplace wellbeing

Human-animal interactions

Teaching Summary

Previous experience supervising Masters and PhD students.

Research Summary

Peer-reviewed Papers: n=46 (May 2025) See full list: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-8269

Principal/Co-Principal Investigator on:

PROMISE - developing guidance to support healthcare professionals recruit Black women into maternal and neonatal healthcare research studies (NIHR RfpB).

AD ASTRA - developing research guidance (SPIRIT and CONSORT extensions) to improve the reporting of dog-assisted intervention research (NIHR PDG).

FACTS - developing wellbeing guidance to support CTUs create a flourishing environment and improve the wellbeing of research staff (NIHR CTU Support Funding)

UNITE - developing guidance to support collaborations between industry and academic partners in the mental health industry (TMRP)

NIHR DSE Awarded Fellowship (2025-2026) - Supporting collaborative mental health and technology research

Co-applicant:

INTEND: Improving tics services for children and young people in the UK (NIHR RFpB)

Recent Publications

• HALL, SOPHIE S., KOWALSKI, REBECCA, PATERSON, KEVIN B., BASRAN, JASKARAN, FILIK, RUTH and MALTBY, JOHN, 2015. Local text cohesion, reading ability and individual science aspirations: key factors influencing comprehension in science classes BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL. 41(1), 122-142
• HALL, SOPHIE, BASRAN, JASKARAN, PATERSON, KEVIN B., KOWALSKI, REBECCA, FILIK, RUTH and MALTBY, JOHN, 2014. Individual differences in the effectiveness of text cohesion for science text comprehension LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. 29, 74-80
• Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs
• Exploitation of natural geometrical regularities facilitates target detection

• View all publications

• HALL, SOPHIE S., KOWALSKI, REBECCA, PATERSON, KEVIN B., BASRAN, JASKARAN, FILIK, RUTH and MALTBY, JOHN, 2015. Local text cohesion, reading ability and individual science aspirations: key factors influencing comprehension in science classes BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL. 41(1), 122-142
• HALL, SOPHIE, BASRAN, JASKARAN, PATERSON, KEVIN B., KOWALSKI, REBECCA, FILIK, RUTH and MALTBY, JOHN, 2014. Individual differences in the effectiveness of text cohesion for science text comprehension LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. 29, 74-80
• Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs
• Exploitation of natural geometrical regularities facilitates target detection
• Event-related potential correlates of the interaction between attention and spatiotemporal context regularity in vision
• ERP evidence for human early visual sensitivity to co-linearity compared to co-circularity
• Key skills for science learning: the importance of text cohesion and reading ability
• Animal-assisted interventions: making better use of the human animal bond.
• Low level constraints on dynamic contour path integration.
• Facial expression training optimises viewing strategy in children and adults.
• Refining trait resilience: Identifying adaptive, impervious, and recovery facets from extant measures of resilience.
• Additional evidence is needed to recommend acquiring a fog to families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A response to Crossman and Kazdin
• Acquiring a pet dog significantly reduces stress of primary carers for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A prospective case control study
• Pet dogs improve family functioning and reduce anxiety in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• What factors are associated with positive effects of dog ownership in families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder? The development of the Lincoln Autism Pet Dog Impact Scale
• Children reading with dogs: A systematic review of the literature.
• Effects of pet dogs for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families: expectations versus reality
• The long-term benefits of dog ownership in families with children with autism
• Perceptions of dogs in the workplace: The Pros and the Cons
• The impact of owning an assistance dog on quality of life for individuals with physical and hearing disability: A case control pilot study
• Attachment style is related to quality of life for assistance dog owners
• Parent perceptions of the quality of life of pet dogs living with neuro-typically developing and neuro-atypically developing children: An exploratory study
• The measurement and role of ecological resilience systems theory across domain-specific outcomes: The domain-specific resilient systems scales
• Self-disclosure with dogs: Dog owners and non-dog owners willingness to disclose emotional topics
• Evaluation of the relationship between cats and dogs living in the same home
• A systematic scoping review: What is the risk from child-dog interactions to dog quality of life?
• Taking dogs into the office: A novel strategy for promoting work engagement, commitment and quality of life
• Developing and assessing the validity of a scale to assess pet dog quality of life: Lincoln P-QoL.
• ). A framework for understanding how activities associated with dog ownership relate to human well-being
• The implementation of telehealth to assess, monitor and treat neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review