Luisa Fassi

Welcome to my page!

I am a 4th-year PhD researcher in Medical Sciences based at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. I work as part of the Digital Mental Health Team supervised by Dr Amy Orben and the chARM team supervised by Prof Tamsin Ford.

My academic background spans Cognitive Neuroscience, Molecular Psychiatry, and Psychology. I previously completed an MSc in Psychological Research at the University of Oxford and a BS in Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

In my research, I study the complex and evolving relationship between social media use and youth mental health, with a particular emphasis on young people with pre-existing mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In exploring this field, I adopt mixed-methods approaches, combining the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research.

From a quantitative perspective, I analyse large-scale survey datasets to examine both cross-sectional and longitudinal trends in social media use and their association with mental health. In parallel, my qualitative research involves conducting focus groups with young people to ensure their lived experiences with social media are represented in the research process.

Previous affiliations and supervisors:

• University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology; supervised by Prof Roi Cohen Kadosh
• Erasmus Medical Centre, Department of Molecular Psychiatry; supervised by Prof Steven Kushner
• Erasmus University Rotterdam, School of Social and Behavioural Sciences