Dr Liz Sillence

Associate Professor

Department: Psychology

Dr Liz Sillence completed her PhD At Birmingham University in 2003 and joined the Department of Psychology at Northumbria University later that year. She is a founding member of the PaCT (Psychology and Communication Technologies) Lab. Liz leads undergraduate modules in eHealth and research placements on the MRes programme and contributes to research supervision of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students. Liz’s current research interest centre on ehealth and she is currently investigating the trust and privacy issues associated with the technological sharing of personal health data. Liz is also a member of the hoarding research group within the department investigating the cybersecurity issues related to digital hoarding.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Liz is an eHealth researcher, examining psychological aspects of users’ online interactions around eHealth information. She works at the intersection of psychology and digital technology and her research has a strong focus on trust and identity. She seeks to understand how people interact with digital information and advice and how they use it to inform their health decision-making and improve their wellbeing. There is a strong practical element to her research, in which she strives to see her findings applied to positive effect in the design and development of online resources for patients.

Understanding the interaction between users and their digital information is at the heart of Liz's research and the application of psychology to risky informational settings has allowed her to examine trust, identity and wellbeing around digital information management in relation to security and the hoarding of digital data.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
A Model of Trust in Online COVID-19 Information and Advice: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study, Sillence, E., Branley-Bell, D., Moss, M., Briggs, P. 13 Feb 2025, In: JMIR Infodemiology
Evaluating mobile apps for sun protection: content analysis and user preferences in a two-part study, Rodrigues, A., Doughty, F., Charlton, C., Woodhouse, S., Sillence, E. 27 Jan 2025, In: Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
Exploring Alternative Socio-Technical Systems for Careful Data Work in Recovery Contexts, Claisse, C., Osborne, A., Sillence, E., Glascott, A., Cameron, A., Durrant, A. 16 Jan 2025, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25), New York, United States, ACM
Menopause apps: personal health tracking, empowerment and epistemic injustice, Sillence, E., Osborne, A., Kemp, E., McKellar, K. 12 Mar 2025, In: Digital Health
Situation Critical: Intensive Cybersecurity Care Needed, Coventry, L., Sillence, E., Brown, R., Branley-Bell, D., Mari, P., Saverio, C., Casaroli, A., Rizzoni, F., Magalini, S. 13 Mar 2025, Socio-Technical Aspects in Security - 12th International Workshop, STAST 2022, Revised Selected Papers, Cham, Switzerland, Springer
AcademAI: Investigating AI Usage, Attitudes, and Literacy in Higher Education and Research, Brown, R., Sillence, E., Branley-Bell, D. 20 Aug 2024
A Model of Trust in Online COVID-19 Information and Advice: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study, Sillence, E., Branley-Bell, D., Moss, M., Briggs, P. 9 Apr 2024
‘Chugging along, plugging in and out of it’:: Understanding a place-based approach for community-based support of mental health recovery, Claisse, C., Durrant, A., Branley-Bell, D., Sillence, E., Glascott, A., Cameron, A. 1 May 2024, In: Social Science & Medicine
Digital accumulation behaviours and information management in the workplace: exploring the tensions between digital data hoarding, organisational culture and policy, McKellar, K., Sillence, E., Neave, N., Briggs, P. 25 Apr 2024, In: Behaviour and Information Technology
Examining Healthcare Professionals’ communication around decision-making with internet-informed patients, Walker, L., Sillence, E. 11 May 2024, In: Health Communication