Alfonso Pezzella is Director of Programmes - Mental Health (post-reg and CPD) and Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at Middlesex University. Alfonso joined Middlesex University in 2012 and currently works in Department of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine within the School of Health and Education.
Within the Department of Mental Health and Social Work, Alfonso holds the role of Learning and Quality Lead. He is also Programme Lead for the MSc Mental Health Studies, Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Practice, and MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health).
Alfonso teaches on a variety of topics including research methods, SPSS, mental health, LGBT+ issues and transcultural issues in health.
Alfonso is currently leading on a European project (IENE 9). The aims of the project are to develop teaching and learning tools to be used by health and social care educators/trainers in order to improve their own knowledge and confidence in teaching LGBT+ issues, to develop the knowledge of health and social care professionals on how to support LGBT+ patients and meet their healthcare needs and to produce best practice guides on how to develop an LGBT+ inclusive curriculum.
You can find out more about the project, visit http://www.iene-lgbt.com.
Alfonso is chair of Sexuality and the Social Work International Interest Group. The group encourages international collaborations in social work research, education and practice developments in the field of gender, sexuality, sexual identity and LGBT+ issues.
Alfonso is also the secretary of the European Transcultural Nursing Association (ETNA).
Alfonso has a professional Twitter feed @AlfPezzella where he enjoys bringing the community together and discussing topics regarding mental health, LGBT, psychology and education. You can also follow Alfonso on ResearchGate for his latest publications.
Qualifications
Membership of Professional Bodies
English (Fluent)
Italian (Mother tongue)
Spanish (Conversational)
Programme Leadership
Module Leadership
Taught modules
Teaching Interests
Alfonso is currently working and leading on a large-scale european project funded by Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnership, along with six other European countries. The project, Developing a culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ curriculum in health and social care education aims to enhance knowledge and raise awareness of LGBT+ issues to enable health educators to develop teaching tools to support the inclusion of LGBT+ issues within health and social care curricula. (IENE 9)
Alfonso is also working on a number of small scale projects on LGBT+ issues in health and social care and BAME studies.
Research interests
Pezzella, Alfonso (2023) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning. In: Alcohol Use: Assessment, Withdrawal Management, Treatment and Therapy: Ethical Practice. Cooper, David B. , ed. Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783031183805 (Accepted/In press)
Pezzella, Alfonso (2023) Culturally competent and compassionate LGBTQ health and social care. In: Transcultural Nursing and Ethics, 7th February 2023, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland.
Kouta, Christiana and Velonaki, Venetia Sofia and Lazzarino, Runa and Rousou, Elena and Apostolara, Paraskevi and Doru, Ana Maria and Dudau, Victor and Kalokairinou, Athena and Licciardello, Orazio and Mauceri, Manuela and Nikolaidou, Elena and Pezzella, Alfonso and Samartzi, Christina and Kuckert-Wöstheinrich, Andrea and Papadopoulos, Irena (2022) Empowering the migrant and refugee family's parenting skills: a literature review. Journal of Community Health Research , 11 (4). pp. 337-348. ISSN 2322-5688
Pezzella, Alfonso (2022) Culturally competent and compassionate LGBTQ inclusive education in health and social care. In: IAHR seminar: EDI in Research, 10 Nov 2022, University of Birmingham, UK (Virtual).
Monaco, Salvatore and Pezzella, Alfonso (2022) Coming out in the workplace: a comparative study between Italy and England. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health . ISSN 1935-9705 (Published online first)
European Grants Awards
Small-scale grants
Grant awarded to Pezzella, A., Foley, L. and Dadzie, L.
Middlesex University
October 2016 – July 2017;
MADD – Making a Difference through Diversity
Principal Investigator
Grant awarded to Pezzella, A. and Papadopoulos, I.
Middlesex University
April 2016 – July 2015;
Cultural competence and LGBT
Principal Investigator
Professional Roles and Activities
Other Professional Practice and KT Activities
Alfonso is the lead organiser for KT seminars in the Department of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine, where he organises monthly evening seminar to disseminate the research undertaken in the department and involve colleagues from other disciplines, students and the local community.
