Professor Elisabeth Hill

Elisabeth holds responsibility for the academic operation of City St George’s as its chief academic officer. She has responsibility for shaping academic delivery and developments and delivering the City St George’s vision and strategic plan.

Prior to joining City St George's, Elisabeth held various leadership roles at Goldsmiths, University of London including Deputy Warden, ProWarden Academic, Head of the School of Arts & Humanities, and Head of the Department of Psychology.

Elisabeth is Professor of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, completing a BSc (Hons) Psychology at Lancaster University and her PhD at the Medical Research Council’s Applied Psychology Unit (now Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit), graduating from the University of Cambridge. She subsequently worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge and as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.

Elisabeth’s research focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, and particularly developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD, sometimes referred to as dyspraxia) and autism, as well as the relationship between cognitive, social, and motor development in typical and atypical populations, and their broader impacts on mental health, academic and employment outcomes. Understanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these developmental relationships is critical. Elisabeth is a co-investigator on the City St George's based BICYCLE (Born in Covid Year - Core Lockdown Effects) project which looks at whether being born-in-lockdown may have had effects on later talking and thinking skills. This work is funded by the ESRC.

Elisabeth’s work with colleagues on experiences of autism diagnosis has led to changes in the understanding of diagnosis and diagnosis timings, and her work charting the extent of motor difficulties in children has informed developments in multidisciplinary team working for diagnosis and intervention. She has previously provided expert comment to the media on both her research and sector issues to outlets including the BBC, the Guardian and WonkHE.

Her research has been funded through a variety of sources including the British Academy, Economic & Social Research Council, The Leverhulme Trust, the Medical Research Council, The Nuffield Foundation and the Waterloo Foundation. Elisabeth is chair of DCD-UK and a founding member of Movement Matters UK (Movement Matters – committed to making DCD research accessible).