THE SANDERSON LAB
psychology + behavioural science + data science
We combine psychology, behavioural science and data science to understand how people think, feel, act and experience themselves and the world around them — and use that understanding to improve health and healthcare.
mental health · behavioural health · wellbeing · genomics · healthcare
ABOUT OUR RESEARCH
Our research is cross-disciplinary and human-centred, drawing on diverse methods to deepen understanding of people and translate that understanding into better health, wellbeing and healthcare.
A core part of our work is understanding human experience — and ensuring that the experiences and perspectives of people with relevant lived experience, patients, the public and communities help shape the questions we ask and the research we conduct.
RESEARCH METHODS
We use qualitative, quantitative and data science approaches to understand people's thoughts, feelings, experiences and behaviours — and translate them into meaningful evidence and insights.
Qualitative research
We use interviews, focus groups, observations and other qualitative approaches to understand people's thoughts, feelings, perspectives and experiences in depth.
Quantitative research
We use surveys, experiments and other quantitative approaches to measure psychological and behavioural processes and outcomes.
Data science & AI
We use large-scale health data and emerging AI-supported approaches to explore and analyse complex health, healthcare and human experience data rigorously and responsibly.
Human experience insights
We bring together different forms of evidence to understand human experience and generate meaningful insights that can inform research, policy and practice.
RESEARCH PROGRAMMES & PROJECTS
Our research spans genomics, behavioural health, and mental health, building on work conducted with collaborators across the UK and internationally. You can read about some of our research projects below.
GENOMICS
Psychology Applied to Genomics
This programme builds on more than two decades of research led and conducted by Saskia Sanderson with collaborators in the US and UK. It examines how people understand, experience and respond to genomic information, and how genomics can be implemented responsibly and effectively in healthcare.
The work spans research on personal genome sequencing through the eMERGE Network and HealthSeq project in the US, through to research on participant and patient experiences within the 100,000 Genomes Project and NHS Genomic Medicine Service, with collaborators in the UK. Our 2025 publication with Mike Inouye in Nature Human Behaviour brings together psychological and behavioural evidence to consider the responsible integration of polygenic risk scores into clinical practice.
HealthSeq
Personal genome sequencing
Featured publication →
100,000 Genomes Project
Participant experiences of genomic sequencing
Featured publication →
NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS)
Patient experiences of genomic medicine in healthcare
Featured publication →
BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH
The CMEBE Model of Behaviour
The Conscious Mind, Embodied Brain, Body and Environment (CMEBE) Model provides a transdisciplinary framework for understanding behaviour and behaviour change. It considers behaviour as arising from interactions between conscious processes, embodied brain processes, the body and the environment, bringing together perspectives across behavioural science and related disciplines.
MENTAL HEALTH
From Listening to Impact
Our emerging mental health research brings together human experience, collaboration and large-scale health data. We are interested in what becomes possible when these different ways of understanding mental health are connected rather than treated separately.
A particular focus is working with people with relevant lived experience as research partners, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration and responsible use of national-scale health data. By bringing these together, we aim to ask better research questions, generate more meaningful evidence and increase the potential for research to improve mental health and healthcare.
This programme builds on Saskia Sanderson's national work in mental health data science and involvement and engagement, and was articulated in her 2026 IoPPN Research Festival talk, “From listening to impact: connecting lived experience, collaboration and national data in mental health research.”
ABOUT THE SANDERSON LAB
The Sanderson Lab is an emerging cross-disciplinary research group led by Dr Saskia Sanderson at King’s College London. Saskia is based in the Department of Biostatistics & Health Informatics within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and is a member of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Maudsley.
Saskia is a psychologist and behavioural scientist with 25 years of experience conducting research in psychology applied to genomics. She now works across psychology, behavioural science, human experience research and data science, with particular interests in genomics, behaviour change and mental health.
The Sanderson Lab brings these strands together in an emerging programme of cross-disciplinary research. We work collaboratively across disciplines and organisations, with researchers, healthcare professionals, people with relevant lived experience, patients, the public and communities in the UK and internationally.
