Research Themes

The research centre has emerging themes in line with current trends and the interest of the LSST community. The research theme for 2023 is ‘Bridging the gap: Embracing Diversity in HE teaching and learning’. 

Principal
Professor Paul McDermott

Professor Paul McDermott is currently the Principal at LSST with responsibility for all aspects of the organisations academic endeavours. Prior to this he was Chief Academic Officer/Lead academic at 5 different institutions between 2012 and 2025. These institutions ranged from specialist HE providers through to large scale multi-national HE organisations He has also worked at an executive level for numerous Universities including Northampton, Anglia Ruskin and  London Metropolitan.  Having begun is academic journey at the Universities of Leicester (his first substantive lecturing role) and the Open University (where he served in various capacities as an employee and consultant for over 27 years). Paul has also worked on significant government funded projects including the establishment of a new University project in Peterborough with HEFCE. His specialisms include governance, learning and teaching, e-learning, quality and standards, regulation and curriculum development.

His academic background is as Geographer, but has taught and led research in Learning and Teaching, Globalisation, Leadership, Research Methodologies (Qualitative and Quantitative) and Curriculum Design and Development, for example through the connected curricula,  digital/hybrid learning and development, integrated assessment and supporting students from disadvantaged/poorly represented backgrounds/communities.

He has significant experience of creating and running academic governance/working with governing bodies; leading successful TDAP/RDAP/FDAP/NDAP applications. Paul has a long pedigree of acting as an Assessor/Reviewer for numerous regulators and quality bodies across numerous review methodologies including in the UK OfS and the QAA. He has also led successfully more than 100 reviews for various organisation. Paul has also supported accreditation processes in the USA via several US Consortia, regulatory processes in Europe with QQI and HAVO and in Australia with TEQSA.

Email: paul.mcdermott@lsst.ac

Interim Team Lead/ Research Centre Coordinator
Dr Maryam Idris-Usman
PhD, MSc, BSc

Dr Maryam Idris-Usman is a Senior Lecturer with a demonstrated background of working in the higher education. Prior to this she has several years of experience in the field of Pharmacology. She has completed a MSc in drug design and has a PhD in natural product medicine for malaria.

She has published several articles on malaria, pain and other diseases. Her research background was with the University of Salford and also with the Bayero University Medical School, Nigeria. She has worked within a Pharmaceutical Research Institute where her work for natural product medicine was established.

More recently, she had a career steer, venturing into Health and Social Science which she is very passionate about. Her recent research interest merges the world of pharmacology and social sciences and her research interest is social pharmacology with particular interest on menopause with particular interest on the BAME community.

She is currently the Interim Team Lead for the Department of Health at the London School of Science and Technology and also serving as the Coordinator for the Research Centre. She has led the module, Ageing through the life course which she improved vastly by updating the content.

She has attended various conferences and workshops and is a member of British Society for Parasitology and British Pharmacological Society.

Email: maryam.usman@lsst.ac

Course Coordinator/ Chair Publication and Peer Review Council
Maria Bastos, PhD
PhD, MA, BSc

Maria Bastos, PhD (University of Westminster) is a Lecturer in Health and Social Care at the London School of Sciences and Technology. She is also Course Coordinator for BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care with Foundation (Buckinghamshire New University) taught at LSST.

She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the School of Governance and Society, University of Management and Technology (Lahore, Pakistan).
Maria currently serves as chair of the Peer Review Committed at LSST Research Centre.

Maria’s specialisms include Foreign Policy with a focus in South Asia, and feminist and postcolonial approaches to politics and social sciences. Maria is also interested in militarism and militarisation, and issues linked to Global Health.

She is the author of several publications and regularly participates in national and international conferences.

Email: maria.bastos@lsst.ac

Chair Publication LSST Research Services Council
Dr Chinedu Uwabuike
PhD, MSc, BSc

Dr Chinedu (Ned) Uwabuike Chair, LSST Research Services Council Dr Chinedu (Ned) Uwabuike holds a MSc degree from Sheffield Hallam University and PhD in Organisational Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London. Dr Ned, before joining LSST, worked with the Employment Relations and Organisational Behaviour (EROB) group, London School of Economics (LSE) as well as the Department of Organisational Psychology, Birkbeck University of London. Dr Ned currently leads on the Developing Leadership and Management Skills module and lectures on Organisational Behaviour and Dissertation modules at LSST/BNU. Dr Ned adopts the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method and his research interests include Psychology of leadership, Inter-group relations, Cultural intelligence, Wellbeing at work and Psychological contracts at work.

Email: Chinedu.Uwabuike@lsst.ac

Telephone: +44 (0)1216436774 Ext: 209

Forms

Research Proposal form

Ethics form

LSST ethics framework

Grant application