Dr Amy Perry

Research

Amy was a long-standing member of the Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN), a collaboration between the Universities of Worcester and Cardiff investigating genetic and non-genetic factors that contribute to bipolar disorder. BDRN recruited more than 7,500 participants, forming one the world’s largest individual research sample of individuals with bipolar disorder.

Through this work, Amy developed a particular interest in perinatal psychiatry and has interviewed many women with bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis about their experiences of psychiatric illness following childbirth. She was the lead Research Associate for the BDRN Prospective Pregnancy Study, the UK’s first longitudinal study to examine a wide range of risk factors for postpartum psychosis and postnatal depression in women with bipolar disorder. Participants were assessed during pregnancy and again after delivery, enabling rich and detailed investigation of factors including sleep loss, obstetric factors, medication, psychiatric history and stressful life events.

Amy continues to research perinatal mental health using data from the wider BDRN programme and the BDRN Prospective Pregnancy Study. Selected publications arising from this work can be viewed under the Publications tab.

Teaching

Amy has over 15 years’ experience of contributing to teaching within higher education. Strongly informed by her research experience, her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with a particular focus on mental illness, biological and cognitive psychology, research methods, and the application of psychological research to clinical and healthcare settings.

Amy currently teaches on the British Psychological Society-accredited MSc Psychology online conversion course, where she develops and delivers teaching in Biological Psychology and is Module Lead for Cognitive Psychology. She also contributes to the development and delivery of teaching across a range of healthcare and professional programmes, including MSc Healthcare Management and Leadership, Advanced Clinical Practice, Midwifery, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy.

She is also involved in postgraduate dissertation supervision and contributes to the Doctoral Researcher Development Programme. Amy is currently completing a PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and is an Associate Fellow of Advance HE (AFHEA).

Memberships

Associate Fellow of Advance HE

International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health

Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN)

British Psychological Society

Publications

Selected publications

Total to date 41; h-index 29 (September 2026)

Link to Google Scholar profile page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=wtxUoGcAAAAJ

2025

Brooks, R., Marsden, J., Mahoney, B., Perry, A., Jones, I., Gordon-Smith, K. and Jones, L. (2025). Perinatal mood episodes in fathers with bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, [online] 390, p.119856.

2024

Gordon-Smith, K., Hampshire, C., Mahoney, B., Perry, A., Lewis, K. J. S., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2024). Opportunities to engage in positive activities during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of individuals with mood disorders. Journal of affective disorders, 345, 186–191.

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Lewis, K. J. S., Di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2024). Perinatal sleep disruption and postpartum psychosis in bipolar disorder: Findings from the UK BDRN Pregnancy Study. Journal of affective disorders, 346, 21–27.

2023

Casanova Dias, M., Kelson, M., Gordon-Smith, K., Perry, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., Di Florio, A., & Jones, I. (2023). Borderline personality traits are differently associated with postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression episodes in women with bipolar disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 328, 81–86.

2021

Gordon-Smith, K., Ridley, P., Perry, A., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2021). Migraine associated with early onset postpartum depression in women with major depressive disorder. Archives of women's mental health, 24(6), 949–955.Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2021).

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L. and Jones, I. (2021). Mood episodes in pregnancy and risk of postpartum recurrence in bipolar disorder: The bipolar disorder research network pregnancy study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 294, pp.714–722.

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2021). Phenomenology, Epidemiology and Aetiology of Postpartum Psychosis: A Review. Brain sciences, 11(1), E47.

The Bipolar Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. (2021) Genome-wide association study of over 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides new insights into the underlying biology. Nature Genetics, 53(6), 817–829

2020

Perry A, Gordon-Smith K, Di Florio A, Fraser C, Craddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Adverse childhood experiences and postpartum depression in bipolar disorder. (2020) Journal of Affective Disorders, 263: 661-666

Gordon-Smith K, Perry A, Di Florio A, Forty L, Fraser C, Casanova-Dias M, Warne N, MacDonald T, Craddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Symptom profile of postpartum and non-postpartum manic episodes in bipolar I disorder: a within-subjects study (2020). Psychiatry Research, 284

2019

The Bipolar Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Genome-wide association study identifies 30 loci associated with bipolar disorder. (2019) Nature Genetics, 51: 793-803

Perry A, Gordon-Smith K, Webb I, Fone E, Di Florio A, Craddock N, Jones I and Jones L. (2019) Postpartum psychosis in bipolar disorder: no evidence of association with personality traits, cognitive style or affective temperaments. BMC Psychiatry, 19 (1): 395

2018

Di Florio A, Gordon-Smith K, Forty L, Kosorok MR, Fraser C, Perry A, Bethell A, Carddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Stratification of the risk of bipolar disorder recurrences in pregnancy and postpartum. (2018) British Journal of Psychiatry, 213(3): 542-547

Lewis KJS, Di Florio A, Forty L, Gordon-Smith K, Perry A, Cradock N, Jones L and Jones I. Mania triggered by sleep loss and risk of postpartum psychosis in women with bipolar disorder (2018) Journal of Affective Disorders, 225: 624-629

2017

Perry A, Gordon-Smith K, Jones L and Jones I. A visual timeline tool for tracking mood and medication perinatally in affective disorders (2017) Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 20(5): 709-710

2016

Perry A, Gordon-Smith K, Di Florio A, Forty L, Craddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Adverse Childhood Life Events and Postpartum Psychosis in Bipolar Disorder (2016). Journal of Affective Disorders, 205: 69-72

Additional Responsibilities

Amy has presented her research at national and international conferences. She regularly presents research findings and updates at research meetings to healthcare professionals and patient support groups.

She acts as a peer reviewer for academic journals including the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Frontiers, The Archives of Women's Mental Health and the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Amy also regularly acts as peer reviewer for The School of Health and Wellbeing Research Ethics Committee