Frances Maratos is Associate Professor and Reader in Emotion Science at the University of Derby. Her research is centred on understanding psychological, neurological, cognitive and physiological correlates of emotional well-being, with a specific focus on understanding threat-processing and the use of compassion for emotion-regulation. She has worked with some of the world experts in understanding anxiety and how one can apply this knowledge to improve general well-being, improve pain coping, increase our understanding of disordered eating and increase our understanding of childhood behaviours. She has published over circa 40 papers in these specific areas, as well as a number of book chapters. In recent years she has also become a key individual within the compassion in schools movement, helping initiate and progress associated international research programmes, and leading on the UK arm of this research. She is also currently serving as: i) a consultant on UK ‘Mindfulness Initiative Education Strategy’ policy; and ii) an external expert on a 5-year US National Institute of Health research grant concerned with the ‘Neural Mechanisms Underlying Self-Critical Rumination and Self-Reassurance and Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior in Youth’.
Outside of work, she has two football mad children in the UK educational system (one girl secondary; one boy primary) and variously spends her weekends cheering them on from the side-lines come rain, shine or snow.