Julian Breeze, PhD

•  Jul 2009 
  North Wales Research Committee Grant

Dr Julian Breeze was born in St Asaph, Wales in 1969. He received a BSc (Hons), MSc, and PhD degrees in Psychology from Bangor University in 2002, 2003, 2008. For his thesis he worked on task switching, manipulating variables such as stimulus set size, task practice, and the number of stimulus dimensions in order to vary the amount of cognitive control needed. He was also involved in a number of undergraduate and postgraduate projects using event-related potentials during this time.

He then worked as a Research Assistant with Dr Lisa Evans and Dr Jane Herron at the School of Psychology in Cardiff on a project investigating the role of schizotypy in the memory retrieval of imagined and perceived events using event-related potentials. In 2008, he was appointed as a Research Officer in the School of Medical Sciences at Bangor University working with Prof Michael Rees on the cardiovascular and psychological processes involved in chest pain experienced by those with Cardiovascular Syndrome X. A condition where there is no evidence of vascular disease – the expected cause of angina.

His research interests are in the effects of cognitive stress on the cardiovascular system, and the cortical areas involved in the regulation and perception of the heart. He is also involved in the development and maintenance of a patient database of those with Syndrome X who are interested in taking part in research. His work with Prof Rees was recently awarded a grant from the North Wales Research Grants Committee for a project examining the affect of an NHS cardiovascular rehabilitation programme at Ysbyty Gwynedd on the frequency and severity of chest pain experienced by Syndrome X patients.