Dr Sam Cockle

I am a PhD Researcher in the School of Psychology and working towards the Stage 2 qualification in Health Psychology.  I graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University in 2010 with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Psychology and then spent some time working in the private sector for an international fragrance and cosmetics company.  Although outwardly unrelated to health psychology and completing a PhD, I gained invaluable transferable skills and experience.

In 2013 I was awarded an ESRC 1+4 studentship and started my MSc in Health Psychology.  For my dissertation I interviewed parents who had taken their children to America to have brain tumours treated with proton beam therapy, a new cancer radiation treatment that is currently not available in the UK.  October 2014 marked the start of the PhD element of my studentship.

My ESRC studentship is multidisciplinary and linked to the University of Surrey's Ion Beam Centre.

Research Interests

I am interested in a range of health psychology research but in particular, my PhD will explore patients' expectations of cancer treatment and the relationship this has with treatment experiences.  This has evolved from my interest in placebo effects and response expectancies research.

Publications

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (2016). The ‘radiation vacation’: Parents’ experiences of travelling to have their children’s brain tumours treated with proton beam therapy. Health Psychology Open, 3(1), 1-11, doi: 10.1177/2055102916649767

Teaching

I have worked as a demonstrator on the masters Quantitative Research Methods module and delivered lectures on ‘Cancer’ and ‘Placebo Effects’ on the MSc Health Psychology course.  I have undertaken marking of qualitative assignments at undergraduate level.  I have completed the Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching at Surrey, and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Office hours

I split my time between working in the office (22AD04) and working from home. You are welcome to drop in and see if I am in the office but email contact first may be more advisable.

Conference Presentations

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (April 2017). Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment: A qualitative study. Oral presentation at the University of Surrey Psychology Postgraduate Research Conference 2017, Guildford, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (March 2017). Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment: A qualitative study. Oral presentation at the British Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Conference 2017, Oxford, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (August 2016). Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment: A qualitative study. Interactive poster presentation at the European Health Psychology Society and British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Conference 2016, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (June 2016). Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment: A qualitative study. Poster presentation at the University of Surrey Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Festival of Research 2016, Guildford, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (April 2016). Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment: A qualitative study. Oral presentation at the University of Surrey Psychology Postgraduate Research Conference 2016, Guildford, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (March 2016). The ‘radiation vacation’: Parents’ experiences of travelling to have their children’s brain tumours treated with proton beam therapy. Oral presentation at the British Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Conference 2016, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (September 2015). The ‘radiation vacation’: Parents’ experiences of travelling to have their children’s brain tumours treated with proton beam therapy. Oral presentation at the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2015, London, United Kingdom

Cockle, S.G., & Ogden, J. (April 2015). The ‘radiation vacation’: Parents’ experiences of travelling to have their children’s brain tumours treated with proton beam therapy. Poster presentation at the University of Surrey Postgraduate Research Conference 2015, Guildford, United Kingdom