• Name and job title/educational status
  • My name is Shannon Pagdon, I currently work as a Study Coordinator, and am honored to have been recently elected as IEPA's Vice President of Lived Experience Research. I have a bachelor's degree in Forensic Psychology, but I plan to pursue my master's degree and PhD next Fall.
• What is the International Early Psychosis Association?
  • The International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA) is an international network for those involved in the study and treatment of early mental health challenges. A range of individuals work with the organization including clinicians, researchers, and mental health policy makers.
• What is your experience with the organization?
  • I've admired IEPA since I became involved in conducting research a few years ago. I look forward to partnering with the organization's staff in my upcoming role.
• Why did you run for Vice-President?
  • I ran for Vice President of Lived Experience Research because I'm incredibly passionate about increasing lived experience involvement in research- service users are a very valuable and often underrepresented group in these spaces. As someone living with psychosis myself, I feel I bring a unique intersection of personal and professional experience to the role.
• What will your responsibilities include?
  • I will dedicate myself to this role over a four-year term starting January 2023 and support with coordination of the international conference IEPA holds. I will additionally act as a voice to promote the importance of lived experience involvement in IEPA, and support the board in identifying ways to make IEPA membership more appealing to lived experience researchers.
• Why are you excited about this opportunity?
  • I am eager to amplify the importance of lived experience involvement in research and create more opportunities for roles to be built into the organization. As I said above, this role is an intersection of two of my interests and experience that I look forward to connecting!