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Yulia Shenderovich

Dr Yulia Shenderovich

(she/her)

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Yulia Shenderovich

Overview

I am a Reader in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, based in DECIPHer (Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement) and the Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health.

My research focuses on improving child and adolescent mental health, wellbeing and safety. I study how interventions, services, and policies can support young people and families facing adversity.

I lead and contribute to international research on how programmes and services can be successfully adapted, implemented and sustained in real-world settings, particularly in low-resource contexts. Methodologically, I use a range of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, including randomised trials, implementation studies, cohort studies and systematic reviews.

I currently co-lead two Horizon Europe projects: FLOURISH, which focuses on evidence-based family support and adolescent mental health in Moldova and North Macedonia, and SERENA, which examines services across Europe for children who have experienced maltreatment, with a particular focus on Wales, Denmark, and France.

I welcome enquiries from prospective students, researchers, policymakers and practice partners interested in collaboration.

Publication

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Articles

Monographs

Research

My research has been supported by UK, European and international funders and focuses on improving child and adolescent mental health, wellbeing and safety through the development, evaluation, implementation and scale-up of interventions and services. I have co-led international research programmes on family support, violence prevention, implementation science and service systems across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and other global contexts. Current major projects include FLOURISH, a Horizon Europe study of family-focused interventions for adolescent mental health in Moldova and North Macedonia, and SERENA, a Horizon Europe project examining services and response systems for children who have experienced maltreatment across Europe.

Research funding

Wellcome Trust Mental Health Award (Foundation Phase, c. £200,000), co-I. 2026. Cluster-randomised hybrid type 2 effectiveness–implementation trial and economic evaluation of a school-based problem-solving intervention for adolescent depression and anxiety: co-design and trial preparation in Rajasthan, India, PI: Dr Daniel Michelson; co-applicants: Ravindra Agrawal, Parth Sharma, Pattie Gonsalves, Vikram Patel, Yulia Shenderovich, Paul McCrone, Helen Weiss

DECIPHer Centre Sustainability Funding. (2025 – 2030). £2,850,000. Health and Care Research Wales. (Co-I). Moore, G., Evans, R., Hawkins, J., Young, H., Brown, R., Jones, S., Lewis, J., Murphy, S., Morgan, K., Shenderovich, Y., White, J., Segrott, J., Emmerson, C., Gould, A., Long, S, Reed. H., Pemmasani, P., Rolph, M. 

Assessing and improving access to health and social care SErvices for children RENdered vulnerable by Abuse (SERENA). (2025-2029). €6,363,250,976. Horizon Europe. Co-PI (lead for Cardiff University) and workstream lead. Coordinator and lead PI: Prof. Catherine Quantin; co-PIs: Jonathan Cottenet, George Nikolaidis, Peter Fallessen, Donna O’Leary, Diogo Lamela, David Latsch, Troels  Græsholt-Knud, Marcella Broccia, Andreas Jud, Yulia Shenderovich; Sinead Brophy, Eva Anna Mora-Theuer, Lars Brannstrom, Elise Van De Putte, Kevin Lalor, Leona Hakkaart-van Roijen, Cynthia Morgny, Christine Peyron; co-Is: Yann Mikaeloff, Nadia El Hamdi, Johan Besson, Maud Carpentier, Dahila Tsakiropoulos, Kristina Fiedler, Athanasios Ntinapogias, Ulugbek Nurmatov, Natasha Kennedy, Laura Cowley,  Kaspar Kofod, Gabriella Conti, Elena Pizzo, Christian Torp-Pedersen, Chryssa Grylli, Timea Helter, Frederick Thielen, Eddy Winda, Maryse Gadreau, Maylis Sposito, Berenice Lambert, Christine Fiet. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101151854 

 

Shared visions of a Good City: Host and internally displaced persons (IDP) perspectives in Cabo Delgado [Mozambique]. (2024). £17,857. Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Overseas Development Aid. PI: Dr. Yulia Shenderovich, co-investigators: Dr. Edmundo Werna, Prof. Alison Brown, Prof. Inês Raimundo, Dr. Karen Boswall, Jessica Lennon, Dr. Naisa Manafe 

Family-Focused Adolescent & Lifelong Health Promotion (FLOURISH). Horizon Europe & UK Research and Innovation. (2023-2026). €2,999,492. (Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, HORIZON-HLTH-2022-DISEASE-07-03, grant agreements 101095528 & 10050850). PIs: Dr. Yulia Shenderovich – Lead applicant at the bid submission (Cardiff University, UK), Prof. Heather Foran – Consortium Coordinator (Klagenfurt University, Austria), Dr. Galina Lesco (Health for Youth Association, Moldova), Prof. Marija Raleva (ALTERNATIVA, North Macedonia), Dr. Nevena Calovska (Association of Systemic Family Therapists, Serbia), Prof. Nina Heinrichs (University of Bielefeld, Germany), Prof. Judit Simon (Medical University of Vienna, Austria), Prof. Graham Moore, Dr. Rhiannon Evans (Cardiff University, UK), Prof. Maite Alguacil, Dr. Bojan Shimbov (Jaume I University, Spain). https://www.flourish-study.org/about.html 

Wellcome Trust Mental Health Data Prize. (2022-2024). £40,000 (Phase 1) & £100,000 (Phase 2) & £141,155 (Phase 3). Wellcome Trust. Preventing anxiety and depression through increasing school connectedness – identifying the active ingredients of a whole school approach. (Co-investigator; PIs: Dr. Jeremy Segrott, Dr. Hayley Reed, Dr. Nick Page, co-investigators: Dr. Rhys Bevan-Jones, Prof. Simon Murphy, Dr. Olga Eyre, Dr. Yulia Shenderovich, Prof. Frances Rice)

Strengthening social support systems for migrant and refugee adolescents in secondary education (SURE). Multi-component collaborative school-based social inclusion program for refugee and migrant adolescent students in secondary school contexts in the Comunidad De Madrid (Spain). (2022-2025). €60.911,40. Ministry of Science (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento). Co-investigator; PI: Dr. Rocío Herrero Romero, co-investigators: Prof. Cristina del Barrio, Dr. Kevin van der Meulen, Dr. Laura Granizo, Dr Laura Vázquez, Dr. Koldo Kasla, Dr. Ionna Bibou Najou, Dr. Olga Lucía Hoyos de los Ríos, Pablo Puyol, Kappa Grealy, Ruzhen Zhang

The identification and adaptation of an effective mental health and wellbeing intervention for implementation with Welsh secondary school students aged 11-18. (2022-2025). £431,747. Health and Care Research Wales. Co-Investigator, named mentor. Health Research Fellowship Award for Dr. Hayley Read (PI). 

Urban migration for good - From forced displacement to a good city. The case of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. (2022-2024). £199,995. British Academy. Co-Investigator; PI: Prof. Edmundo Werna, co-Is: Dr. Yamuna Kaluarachchi, Prof. Alison Brown, Prof. Ines Raimundo, Dr. Naisa Manafe       

Effect of gender transformative programs on maternal and child health in South Asia: A mixed method investigation - PhD funding for Shruti Shukla at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. (2022-25). €48,600. StudienStiftung (PhD supervisor with Prof. Janina Steinert)

Research uptake: institutional approach and online course curriculum development. (2021-22). £91,078. Sexual Violence Research Initiative (Co-Investigator; PIs: Prof. Robyn Mildon, Dr. Bianca Albers, co-I: Prof. Anita Kothari)        

World Health Organization guideline on parenting programmes: Reviews to inform six questions for the WHO-INTEGRATE framework. (2021). $85,916. World Health Organization (Co-Investigator; PI: Prof. Frances Gardner, co-I: Prof. Jane Barlow)

The GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub - Scale-Up of Parenting Evaluation Research Study. Global Challenges Research Fund, UK Research and Innovation. (2019-2024) (co-PI responsible for implementation research, with co-PIs: Prof Lucie Cluver, Prof Catherine Ward, Dr. Jamie Lachman).

The Furaha Adolescent Implementation Research (FAIR) Study of the Kizazi Kipya Project (2020-21). $199,967. Evaluation Fund (Co-Investigator; PIs: Dr. Jamie Lachman, Dr. Joyce Wamoyi, co-I: Mwita Wambura)             

Triple P Parenting Programme: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. £378,288. (2019-22). Education Endowment Foundation (Co-Investigator; PI: Dr. Alex Sutherland, co-I: Dr. Sashka Dimova)

Primary Science Quality Mark: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. £503,012. (2019-22). Education Endowment Foundation and Wellcome Trust (Co-Investigator; PI: Dr. Alex Sutherland, co-Is: Elena Rosa Brown, Dr. Sashka Dimova)

Violence Free Schools. $23,370. (2017-18). Save the Children International. (Co-Primary Investigator; co-PIs: Dr. Rocio Herrero Romero, Prof. Janina Steinert, Dr. Franziska Meinck)

Additional Insights International Research Fellowship. $5,500 (2016-17). Global TIES for Children, Institute of Human Development and Social Change, NYU Steinhardt. (Primary Investigator)

Biography

Education and qualifications

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK
  • PhD, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge
  • MPhil (with distinction), Evidence-Based Social Intervention, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford
  • BA in Political Science and International Relations & Journalism and Mass Communication, American University in Bulgaria

Professional memberships

  • 2022-2023: Member, Technical Advisory Group for UNICEF Adolescent Mental Health Tools
  • 2021-present: Associate Member, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 
  • 2020-present: Board of Directors, Global Implementation Society
  • 2020-present: Member of the Catalyst Network, Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences
  • 2020-2021: Member of the Technical Working Group on Adolescent Health and Well-Being hosted by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health and the World Health Organization

Academic positions

  • 2024-present: Reader, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
  • 2021-2024: Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
  • 2019-2021: Postdoctoral Research Officer, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • 2018-2019: Analyst, Education Research Group (Home Affairs and Social Policy), RAND Europe, Cambridge, UK
  • 2016: Coordinator, Violence Research Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 
  • 2015-2016: Project Manager, Parenting for Lifelong Health for Parents and Teens Randomized Controlled Trial, King William’s Town, South Africa

Committees and reviewing

  • 2021-present: Medical Research Council Career Development Awards – Peer Reviewer
  • 2020-2021: Research Ethics Committee reviewer at the Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford
  • 2021-present: Peer Reviewer, Education Endowment Foundation
  • 2020-2021: Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)-Oxford University Peer Review College member

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

  • family- and school-focused approaches to supporting youth mental health
  • epidemiology and prevention of violence against children
  • implementation and scale-up of complex interventions in low-resource settings

I am especially interested in supervising research projects in Eastern Europe.

Current PhD students:

  • Dr. Olanrewaju Edun, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London. “Determinants and consequences of HIV treatment amongst adolescents and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa" (co-supervisor with Dr. Jeff Eaton and Dr. Lucy Okell)
  • Shruti Shukla, School of Governance, Technical University of Munich, Germany. “Effect of gender transformative programs on maternal and child health in South Asia: A mixed method investigation” (co-supervisor with Prof. Janina Steinert)
  • Roselinde Janowski, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford. “ParentApp for Teen optimisation study: An app-based intervention to promote playful parenting and prevent violence against adolescents in Tanzania” (co-supervisor with Prof. Lucie Cluver)
  • Bethan Pell, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. “Theorising inter-generational violence between children and parents: A qualitative study in Wales” (co-supervisor with Dr. Rhiannon Evans and Dr. Honor Young)

News articles

A new €6.3 million initiative will bring together researchers from 12 countries to address critical gaps in identifying and supporting cases of children who have experienced abuse.

Major new Horizon Europe grant to advance research on child maltreatment services

21 May 2025

A new €6.3 million initiative will bring together researchers from 12 countries to address critical gaps in identifying and supporting cases of children who have experienced abuse.

Wolfson Centre researcher Yulia Shenderovich has been involved in conducting a series of literature reviews to inform World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Wolfson Centre Researcher involved in new WHO guidelines to prevent children maltreatment

20 April 2023

Wolfson Centre researcher Yulia Shenderovich has been involved in conducting a series of literature reviews to inform World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

A team of researchers have been granted 3m euros to advance family interventions in low-resource areas in Eastern Europe.

3m euro grant for Cardiff University research team and collaborators to develop well-being programme for families in Eastern Europe

23 February 2023

A team of researchers have been granted 3m euros to advance family interventions in low-resource areas in Eastern Europe.

The Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health’s new public lecture series has been well received in its first term.

Successful first term for new public lecture series

11 July 2022

The Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health’s new public lecture series has been well received in its first term.

A senior lecturer from the Wolfson Centre has worked with Oxford University to create parenting advice resources for families in humanitarian crises.

Academic and community collaboration creates resources for families affected by war

12 April 2022

A senior lecturer from the Wolfson Centre has worked with Oxford University to create parenting advice resources for families in humanitarian crises.

Phoenix secures Centre Status for Girls Education

Partnership to empower Namibian women

27 July 2021

Phoenix secures Centre Status for Girls Education

Contact Details

Email [email protected]
Telephone +44 29208 70695
Campuses sbarc|spark, Room 03.14, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ