Dr Maria Goodwin

MA, MSc, PhD, AFHEA

Pronouns: She/her
  • Research Associate - Co-Manage Project

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Maria Goodwin

Maria graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2017 with a First Class (Hons) in Psychology. After this, Maria went on to complete an MSc in Health Psychology (Distinction) at University College London in 2018, including a placement working at the St Mark’s National Bowel Hospital. She then began her PhD at Loughborough University in 2019 exploring the associations between hearing loss and chronic health conditions, and the interaction these associations have with physical (in)activity. During this time Maria worked as a Research Assistant on a Football Association (FA) funded grant, as well as teaching across several of the BSc Psychology modules.

Maria began working as a Research Associate at Loughborough University in 2022 on an industry funded (Sonova AG) project. In 2023 she moved to Aston University to work in the Psychology department as a Research Associate on an ERC funded grant aiming to maximise public support for health policies. As part of this role, she worked in a World Health Organisation collaborating centre, focussing on building a resource database of measurement tools.

Maria returned to Loughborough in May 2026 to work as a Research Associate on an NIHR funded trial with Dr David Maidment and Professor Fehmidah Munir to explore the feasibility of a digital self-management toolkit for employees with long-term conditions and/or disabilities.

Maria’s research has broadly focused on using health psychology theory to understand and improve the wellbeing and lives of individuals with long-term health conditions and disabilities. Her core research interests centre on the impact hearing loss has on health and lifestyle from a health psychology perspective. After her PhD, which looked at the associations between hearing and health, Maria chose to focus on exploring the specific impact of hearing loss on physical activity, identifying potential points of intervention for older adults. This led to several industry funded projects that branched into exploring hearing healthcare more widely. Her work has been nationally recognised, having been awarded the ‘Early Career Clinical Researcher’ of the year by the British Academy of Audiology and the Early Career Scientist’ of the year by the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine.

Alongside this work, Maria has also engaged with research in the fields of dementia prevention, help-seeking behaviours, and health-related stigma. Maria is experienced in a wide range of both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches and enjoys exploring new techniques. Her work at Aston University moved her research into the field of Public Health and addressed the importance of language and precision in measurement tools, which has been used to develop resources for the World Health Organisation.

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