Meet the research team
The Bipolar UK research team is a small but growing team of passionate and dedicated experts in bipolar research with a broad range of skills, from epidemiology to ethics and law.
We believe that high quality research with a focus on community engagement is the key to improving the lives of people living with bipolar and their loved ones.
Coproduction and lived experience is at the heart of everything we do.
Meet the research team
Denis Duagi
Research Manager
In September 2025, Dr Denis Duagi joined Bipolar UK as a postdoctoral Research Manager. A mental health researcher specialising in …
Denis Duagi
Research Manager
In September 2025, Dr Denis Duagi joined Bipolar UK as a postdoctoral Research Manager.
A mental health researcher specialising in lived experience–led approaches to policy and service development, Denis completed a PhD in Public Mental Health at King’s College London, where she designed and led a mixed-methods evaluation of school-based mental health interventions, focusing on long-term impact and policy translation.
Alongside her academic expertise, Denis brings lived experience of bipolar, which has shaped her commitment to inclusive and impactful research.
Professor Tania Gergel
Director of Research
In February 2023, Professor Tania Gergel joined Bipolar UK as our first ever Director of Research. Her work focuses on …
Professor Tania Gergel
Director of Research
In February 2023, Professor Tania Gergel joined Bipolar UK as our first ever Director of Research. Her work focuses on putting the lived experience of mental illness at the centre of mental health research and policy.
Alongside a team at King’s College London and colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care, Tania’s research has been used to help deliver Advance Choice Documents as a central element of the new Mental Health Bill.
Tania provides an influential advisory role with the aim of getting more coproduction and engagement into research projects, and she has an ongoing focus on understanding suicide and diagnosis in bipolar.
Professor Tania Gergel holds professorships at Cardiff University and University College London.
