Susan Michie

Susan Michie is the daughter of the biologist Dame Anne McLaren and the computer scientist Donald Michie, and sister of the economist Jonathan Michie.

Michie studied experimental psychology at Oxford University, obtaining a BA in 1976, and a DPhil in developmental psychology in 1982. She studied clinical psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London University, obtaining an MPhil in 1978. She is a chartered clinical psychologist and a chartered health psychologist, and a fellow of the British Psychological Society.[1]

Michie worked as a clinical psychologist with children and families at the Royal Free Hospital, London. In 1989, she joined the Royal Free School of Medicine’s Health Psychology Unit as a senior research fellow in clinical health psychology. She developed a psychology service for staff, an organisational consultancy service for managers and taught a variety of professions. Her research focused on the areas of antenatal care and screening, and occupational stress in health care staff and students.

In 1993, Michie moved to the Psychology and Genetics Research Group, King's College London where she conducted research into the process and outcome of genetic counselling, public and professional attitudes towards genetic testing, informed choice and decision making about prenatal screening and genetic testing, and the psychological impact of predictive genetic testing. She continued her clinical work, consultancy and research at the Royal Free Hospital’s Occupational Health and Safety Unit part-time.[2]

In 2002, Michie joined the Psychology Department of University College London (UCL), where she is Professor of Health Psychology. She is director of UCL’s Centre for Behaviour Change and of its Health Psychology Research Group.[3]

Her current research includes developing methodologies for designing and evaluating theory-based interventions to change behaviour, and advancing scientific knowledge about, and applications of, behaviour change interventions. She leads the Human Behaviour-Change Project funded by the Wellcome Trust.[4][5]

Michie has served as president of the European Health Psychology Society and chair of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology and was elected a Fellow of the BPS in 2001. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Social Sciences, the European Health Psychology Society, and the US Society of Behavioral Medicine and Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.[3] In 2019, Michie was named winner of the British Psychological Society Research Board’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her world-leading work creating a coherent language of behaviour change.[4]

In 2020, Michie is a member of the Covid-19 Behavioural Science Advisory Group[6] and the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours, a sub-group of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).[7] She also sits on the Independent SAGE committee, chaired by Sir David King.[8] She frequently contributes to national news media during the Covid-19 pandemic as an expert in behaviour change.[9][10][11][12][13]

Michie was married from 1981 to 1997 to the trade union official Andrew Murray and has three children, including Laura Murray, a former close aide to Jeremy Corbyn who was appointed head of complaints at the Labour Party in April 2019.[14]

Michie has served as a national executive committee member and president of the London Region of the trade union MSF. She is a member of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), but donated to the Labour Party[15] under the Corbyn leadership. In March 2018, Michie, described as a leading member of the CPB, said that the party would no longer stand against Labour in general elections and CPB members should be "working full tilt" for the election of Corbyn as prime minister.[16][17]

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