Dr Cassidy leads a research program aiming to better understand, assess and prevent mental health problems and suicide in partnership with autistic people. Her expertise has been called upon by the Inter Agency Autism Coordinating Committee (a US federal advisory committee), leading UK charities, and coroners’. She has received numerous honours for the outstanding quality and impact of her research: National Autistic Society Professional Awards “Most Impactful Researcher”, 2019; Autistica Involvement Award, 2019; International Society for Autism Research (Young Investigator Award, 2015; Slifka-Ritvo Innovation in Autism Award, 2019; INSAR Policy Brief, 2019), University of Nottingham “Rising Star, Public Engagement”, 2019. Her seminal research showing high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviours in autistic people has been debated by policy makers internationally, and led to autistic people being included as a high-risk group for suicide in UK NICE suicide prevention guidance [NG105] and the DHSC suicide prevention strategy 2023-2028. She has successfully acted as PI on funded projects from the ESRC, NIHR, Autistica and INSAR, to develop and evaluate new assessment tools, theoretical frameworks, interventions, and identify the autism community’s priorities for suicide prevention research and policy.
Education
- PhD in Psychology, University of Cambridge (2005-2009)
- BSc in Psychology, University of Oxford (2002-2005)
Research Interests
Keywords:
Autism Suicidality Emotion Processing Intervention Mental Health Social Cognition Eye Tracking Asperger Syndrome
Topics:
Autism Suicidality Emotion Processing Intervention Mental Health Social Cognition Eye Tracking Asperger Syndrome
Professional Links