Ann John

John's parents arrived in London from Kerala in 1966.[2] She was born and grew up in London. She was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls[3] and then Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School[4] where she qualified as a doctor.[5] During her medical degree she intercalated to study sociology, which began an interest in inequality.[2] She earned a Medical Doctorate at Swansea University in 2011, where she established a Suicide and Self-Harm research group.[6][7]

She moved to Swansea as a junior doctor, where she worked in accident and emergency at Morriston Hospital.[2] John has been a general practitioner, a medical advisor to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and a Clinical Assistant in Psychiatry.[2] She is now an academic researcher and has contributed considerably to research into children and young people's mental health and suicide and self-harm prevention.[8]

Her expertise lie in epidemiology, suicide and mental disorders.[9] She is a Principal Investigator with the National Centre for Mental Health, where she leads the informatics group.[7] She is a Farr Institute Investigator where uses big data to understand mental health in young people.[10] In 2017, after looking at data on psychotropic prescribing from over 300,000 patients aged between 6 and 18 years old, guidance was issued on managing depression and antidepressant prescribing to children and young people (in particular citalopram) and access to talking therapies.[11][12]

John's Adolescent Data Platform, funded by MQ, is the biggest of its kind for young people's mental health.[13][14] It brings together scientists from several universities, aiming to make it easier for young people to access quality mental health services.[14] She received an Arts Council of Wales grant to partner with an artist and help young people express what they are thinking.[15] She worked with Self-Harm Research UK (SHARE) to better understand and support people who self-harm.[16]

She developed the Wales strategy for suicide and self-harm.[2][17] She is particularly concerned about cyberbullying and the impacts it has on young people.[18][19] In 2018 she found victims of cyberbullying are more than twice as likely to enact suicidal behaviour.[20][21]