Dr Sandhiran Patchay

Dr Sandhiran Patchay BSc, PGCert Teaching Skills HE, PGDip HE, MSc, PhD SFHEA, MInstLM

Associate Professor of Movement and Cognition Research

Key details

Dr Sandhiran Patchay

Associate Professor of Movement and Cognition Research


Dr Sandhiran Patchay is a Principal Lecturer for Psychology in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Greenwich. 

Sandhi obtained his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Marseille in France; his postdoctoral research at the CNRS (Marseille) centred on motor control in normal and pathological gait, with a specific focus on anticipatory postural adjustments during gait initiation. He also conducted postdoctoral research with a Wellcome Trust Fellowship at Royal Holloway University of London, on perception and action focusing on cross-modal interference in reaching and grasping.

Sandhi joined the university in 2003, becoming principal lecturer in 2007 with an interest that mainly includes cognitive psychology, and behavioural and cognitive neuroscience. He was the recipient of a grant from the Teaching Quality Enhancement-Innovation Fund from the University of Greenwich, to promote the use of interactive study tools in Neuroscience.

He has been Programme Leader for the BSc Hons Psychology from 2006 to 2017, and has contributed substantially in the development and quality assurance of the programme.

Sandhi supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects on a broad range of behavioural and cognitive topics and has supervised PhD thesis on memory strategies, ageing and risks of falls in community-dwelling older adults. 

He leads on various departmental matters including quality assurance and timetabling. He has also played key roles in the development and approval of internal and overseas collaborative programmes within the department, and has been on several faculty and external programme validation panels.

Posts held previously:

  • 2002-03, Welcome Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London
  • 2001, Academic Visitor, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London
  • 1998-2001, Postdoctoral researcher, CNRS-University of Provence, Laboratory of Integrative and Adaptive Neurobiology in Marseille, France

Responsibilities within the university

  • Principal Lecturer in Psychology, School of Human Sciences
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Lecturer (cognitive psychology; neuroscience) on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes
  • Module Leader (Cognitive Psychology; Psychology & Neuroscience)
  • Supervisor BSc Hons and MSc research projects in psychology
  • PhD supervisor
  • Quality Assurance Lead, School of Human Sciences
  • Mentor for SFHEA, FHEA and AFHEA
  • Academic mentor for new staff
  • Coach for Early Career Researchers (Personal Best Coaching programme)
  • School Research Ethics Panel
  • Member of Faculty Learning and Quality Sub-Committee
  • Member of Faculty Portfolio Planning Group
  • Member of the University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
  • BAME Attainment Gap project team
  • Chair BAME Staff Network

Awards

2018, Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award

2016, Faculty Most Outstanding Student Experience Award

Recognition

    External Examiner:

    • External Examiner for BSc Hons Psychology, University of Huddersfield

    Professional body/Membership:

    • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education AcademyMember of the Institute of Leadership & Management

    Editorial:

    • Member of the Reviewer Board of the open access journal Sensors

    Reviewer:

    • Applied Sciences
    • BMC Geriatrics
    • Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research
    • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
    • Journal of Clinical Medicine
    • Pain Research and Treatment
    • Sensors

Research / Scholarly interests

Sandhi's main research interest focuses on ground reaction forces and anticipatory postural adjustments during gait initiation in healthy young and older adults; older adults at risk of falls; plantar foot pain; diabetic foot. He has other research interests in working memory strategies during normal and pathological ageing, and in the processing of face emotional expressions.

Sandhi is also actively involved in the supervision of PhD candidates (3 completed), in areas such as gait initiation, psychological concerns and plantar foot structural changes in plantar fasciitis; machine learning, ground reaction forces and prediction of risk of falls; working memory strategies and face recognition in dementia

Sandhi leads the Neuroscience Hub in the Centre for Thinking & Learning within the Institute for Lifecourse Development. He is also a member of the Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing.

Key funded projects

  • Research & Development Funding, School of Health & Social Care: Goal directed gait initiation, 2007
  • Wellcome Trust: Effects of grasping on visuomotor control, 2002-03
  • Foundation Singer-Polignac, Paris: Cross-modal interference in reaching and grasping, 2001
  • Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, délégation Provence, France: Gait initiation in walking disorders, 1997
  • NeuroAvenir-Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Marseille, France: Anticipatory postural adjustments in normal and pathological gait initiation in old age, 1994-95