Rona Moss-Morris

Biography

Academic career

Growing up in South Africa, Rona studied occupational therapy at the University of Cape Town, where she was awarded a BSc. She worked clinically in mental health in South Africa as an occupational therapist before immigrating in 1988 to New Zealand.

At the University of Auckland she studied for a Masters and PhD in health psychology. Her doctoral thesis was titled Cognitive factors in the maintenance of chronic fatigue syndrome. She worked at the University of Auckland as a lecturer and whilst on the faculty helped to set up a Masters course in Health Psychology.

In 2006, Rona moved again, this time to the University of Southampton in the UK and was made Professor of Health Psychology in 2007. Here she researched, amongst other topics, the links between chronic illness and personality factors (for example the link between IBS and perfectionism).

She is currently a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry in South London, where she joined the Department of Psychology in 2011.

Research

Rona has dedicated her academic career to investigating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and post-concussion syndrome. This work has included attempts to model and treat the disorders as well as understanding psychological factors involved in reactions to chronic illness as well as how the patient and their family adjust to the symptoms. She has spoken at public engagement events on the relationship between stress and illness. She has developed a web-based version of a CBT Package called MSInvigor8.