George The Poet

George the Poet is a London-born spoken word performer of Ugandan heritage. His innovative brand of musical poetry has won him critical acclaim both as a recording artist and a social commentator. George the Poet is a Peabody award-winning, British spoken-word artist, poet, rapper, and podcast host with an interest in social and political issues. He came to prominence as a poet, from which he progressed to spoken word and hip hop.

https://www.georgethepoet.com

https://twitter.com/georgethepoet?lang=en-GB

Alex mechanikool

Alex Mechanikool has been a student of the art of Popping , Boogaloo & Animation for over 20 years. He has one several significant competitions but is more passionate about cultivating communities & inspiring others through teaching and sharing knowledge of the dance. Mechanikool has a background in working in schools as a Learning Mentor and as a youth worker. He has also been exploring his passion for public speaking. He was a resident DJ for South London based community station, Maritime Radio. Mechanikool continues to indulge his curiosity and enthusiasm for finding ways to connect with others. This has manifested through his podcast interviews that he currently hosts, where he encourages his guests to delve deeper into specific topics that are of benefit to his audience.

Lemzi

Independent music artist, innovative creative and lead artist of SPOKE, LEMZI. Expressing his experiences through music and finding ways of improving his psych, spiritual and other needs together. Previously working with Sky, BBC, Sofar Sounds, O2 and much more, he is now a founding member of SPOKE, the revolutionary music and mindfulness app to bring reflection, relaxation, sleep and focus to people in a way not seen before.

http://www.Lemzi.com

http://spoke.world

EMPRESS

My name is Marsha Hutton aka Empress Star Love. I wrote the song that I will be performing to try to give other people hope that no matter what they’ve been through or are going through there is always a way out and things can and do change for the better. I’ve had my own struggles from being a suffer of abuse when I was younger to being admitted to a mental health hospital for 2 and a half years in 2014. I am now an Ambassador For Change for an organisation called Survivors Can Shine, using my experiences to assist children and young people to overcome obstacles they face in everyday life particularly around abuse. I use to be ashamed of my past but now I use is at a tool to help others and now my adversities have become my biggest strength!

https://m.facebook.com/EmpressStarLove.london

Charlie blaire

Charlie Blair is the Founder of The Blair Academy, a social enterprise which combats loneliness in the elderly community, promoting physical and mental health through Hip Hop dance. Reaching over 5,000 people across care homes, day centres and homeless shelters, the Blair Academy strengthens communities and bridges generational gaps by providing mobile and inclusive classes. Taking inspiration from her own experiences as a dancer, a homeless teenager, and a carer, Charlie was drawn to Hip Hop for its characteristic embracing of individuality. 

https://www.theblairacademy.com/about-us

HIP HOP PSYCH

Hip Hop Psych is co-founded by Dr Akeem Sule and Dr Becky Inkster. Hip Hop Psych has been active as veterans in this space for 10 years, demonstrating the role of pop culture in understanding the biopsychosocial determinants of mental health using hip-hop lyrics. They describe the potential use of hip-hop lyrics in psychiatric research settings, which may be especially relevant for patients from underserved communities. They also do public health work in different settings including inside prisons, nightclubs, academic conferences, art festivals etc. Their work has gone viral, from Lancet Psychiatry to XXL, MTV, BBC World Service etc.

https://www.hiphoppsych.co.uk

https://twitter.com/hiphopsych?lang=en

Desmond patton

Dr. Desmond Upton Patton is a Professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and Department of Sociology. He is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Curriculum Innovation at Columbia School of Social Work and is the Associate Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Data Science Institute. Dr. Patton is a Public Interest Technologist who uses qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine the relationship between youth and gang violence and social media; how and why violence, grief, and identity are expressed on social media; and the real world impact these expressions have on wellbeing for low-income youth of color. Dr. Patton is the founding Director of the SAFE lab, a member of the Data Science Institute, a faculty affiliate of the Social Intervention Group (SIG) and holds a courtesy appointment in the department of Sociology.

THOMAS niederkrotenthaler

Thomas Niederkrotenthaler is research group lead for suicide prevention research and associate professor at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

He has published more than 170 articles on suicide prevention and has been first to coin the Papageno effect, which describes suicide-protective potentials of media portrayals of hope and recovery. Thomas is also Vice-President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and co-chairs IASP’s media & suicide Special Interest Group.

ann john

Principal Investigator and Co-Director of DATAMIND, Health Data Research Hub for Mental Health. Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry at Swansea University

Ann John is Co-Director of DATAMIND,  the HDRUK Research Hub for Mental Health. She is a clinical Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry at Swansea University. Her research focuses on suicide and self-harm prevention and children and young people’s mental health and the translation of these findings into policy.   She leads the MQ funded Adolescent Mental Health Data Platform. Ann has led Medical Research Council and Arts Council Wales funded projects across arts and mental health for many years through partnerships with digital artists (virtual reality) and poets.

MARCOS del pozo banos

Marcos del Pozo Banos is Senior Lecturer at Swansea University Medical School. His research interests are the use of machine learning for mental health research, suicide and self-harm prevention and children and young people's mental health.

mark sheppard

My research is both psychoacoustic and neuroscience-based with a focus on the perceptual effects of audible and non-audible sound phenomena in a variety of acoustic spaces. VR applications, particularly in a well-being and mental health context, are also a passion of mine. I'm also a big fan of curiosity-based research. I am a producer, remixer and musician, and have collaborated with many artists including: ViX (Fuzzbox), Robin George (Thin Lizzy/ Robert Plant), JOANovARC, Donna Gardier (Sting/ Westlife/ TInchy Strider), Jacqui Taylor (Asrai/ The Clan Destined), Alisa B (Prince/ George Clinton), Angie Brown (Rolling Stones/ Kate Bush), Martin Walkyier (Sabbat/ Skyclad/ The Clan Destined), Camille Alvey/ LollieVox (LeAnn Rimes), Ella Montclare (Dr Dre), Jo Gabriel, the Medieaval Baebes, Joy Shannon and Izzie Voodoo.

Harley Piers Morgan

Harley Morgan is a Swansea based creative producer who works primarily with video and technology. Since 2016 he has been dedicated to exploring the potential of Virtual Reality as a mechanism of mental expression and as a tool to create a realized and immersive representation of the state of mind. Harley strongly believes that modern technologies can allow people to communicate, confront and resolve their mental state in new and more natural ways than ever before.