Helen Dodd is a Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter Medical School. She is an expert in child mental health with a particular interest in the development of childhood anxiety disorders.

Helen’s research has been funded by the ESRC, Royal Society, British Academy and the Australian Research Council, amongst others. Helen has received awards for her research, most recently from the British Psychological Society for her outstanding contribution to developmental psychology. She was one of the first researchers to be awarded a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, which funds a program of work examining the relationship between children's play and mental health.

Alongside her academic work, Helen is a strong advocate for children’s right to play; during the pandemic she led the playfirstUK campaign calling for children's play to be prioritised and she worked with Save the Children and Play England to campaign for a Summer Of Play in 2021. Helen is a trustee of Play England and sits of the UK Children’s Play Policy Forum.