Meet the team
Professor Mark Elliot
SPRITE+ Director
(University of Manchester)
Mark Elliot has worked at the University of Manchester since 1996, mainly in the field of statistical confidentiality, founding the international renowned Confidentiality and Privacy Research Group (CAPRI) in 2002, and has managed numerous research projects within CAPRI remit.
He is one of the key international researchers in the field of Statistical Disclosure and collaborates widely with non-academic partners, particularly with national statistical agencies where he has been a key influence on disclosure control methodology used in censuses and surveys and where the SUDA software that he developed in collaboration with colleagues in Computer Science at Manchester is used.
Since 2012, he has led the UK Anonymisation Network, which has 600 members and provides advice, consultancy and training on anonymisation.
Aside from Confidentiality, Privacy and Disclosure, his research interests include Data Science Methodology and its application to social science. He is director of the University’s new interdisciplinary MSc in Data Science and the doctoral programme in Data analytics and society.
Professor Emma Barrett
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(University of Manchester)
Emma is a Professor of Psychology, Security, and Trust, and the University of Manchester’s strategic lead for Digital Trust and Security. Her role involves developing a multi-disciplinary community of researchers to apply their expertise to all aspects of digital security.
Before joining UoM in March 2018, Emma was Research to Practice Fellow at the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) at Lancaster University, leading efforts to ensure that CREST’s research activities focused on end user requirements and fostering strong links between academics and stakeholders.
From 2003-2015, she led a UK Government research unit of 25 specialist staff and contractors that developed and applied behavioural, psychological, and social research to a range of security and defence issues. She was awarded the OBE in 2010.
Emma is a Chartered Psychologist. She completed her doctorate in Psychology at the University of Birmingham and holds a MSc in Investigative Psychology, a Conversion Diploma in Psychology, and a BSc in Anthropology. She is the co-author of Extreme: Why some people thrive at the limits (Oxford University Press, 2014), and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Professor Deeph Chana
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(Imperial College London)
Deeph has extensive experience of working on world leading STEM in academia, industry and government. He is Professor of Practice within Imperial's Business School, Co-Director of the Institute for Security Science Technology and is co-founder of the UK-Goverment funded Research Institute in Trustworthy Industrial Control Systems and Imperial's FinTech Network of Excellence.
He is the founder of a STEM consultancy specialising in enterprise technology and critical-infrastructure applications and has been involved in numerous successful commercial technology projects in the private sector. Deeph has worked on a broad range of applied and theoretical research topics including, inverse problems, image processing, optical data storage, antenna design, diabetic retinopathy, computational modelling of space debris, explosives detection, crowd analysis and machine learning for cyber-security.
Deeph previously worked as a senior science and technology official within the UK Government: leading international STEM diplomacy initiatives; directing and funding national security research programmes; and setting national technology policy, standards and regulation. He has delivered advice to four Secretaries of State and served as chairman on numerous high-profile national and international technology working groups.
He has established national and international research calls in science and technology and has acted as a board member and bid reviewer for programmes in the Home Office, the US Department of Homeland Security and the EU’s Framework Programme for Research.
Professor Stacey Conchie
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(Lancaster University)
Stacey is a Professor in Psychology at Lancaster University and director of the behavioural science group within Security Lancaster. Her main interest is how trust shapes socio-emotional exchanges, especially in high-risk security and safety settings.
Stacey has worked with a number of industry and government partners to understand the impact of trust on safety- and security- related behaviours. Using field and experimental methods, she has helped agencies understand the role of trust in leader-follower exchange, the changing nature of trust following micro and macro interventions, the measurement of trust using implicit and explicit methods, both offline and online, and the impact of distrust on team performance and how this may be addressed.
Stacey is a Chartered Psychologist, a member of the UK’s Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, and an incoming board member (as communications director) of the First International Network of Trust.
Professor Sakir Sezer
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(Queen's University Belfast)
Professor Sezer is the Director of Research and the Head of the Networked System Security at the Centre for Secure Information Technology (CSIT).
He is a world-renowned authority in high-performance network processing and Internet security technologies. His research is leading major advances in the field of high-performance content and security processing, spanning cybersecurity related topics in malware, embedded systems, IoT, ICS and network security, in collaboration with leading corporations in the US and UK.
Professor Sezer is also co-founder and CTO of Titan IC Systems Ltd, and is a member of various research and executive committees.
Professor Vladimiro Sassone
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(University of Southampton)
Vladimiro is Professor of Cyber Security, holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair and leads the University’s cyber security activities. He is Director of the NCSC/GCHQ Academic Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research, and of the Cyber Security Academy, a partnership between Academia, Industry and Government to advance cyber security through research, innovation, education and training.
Vladimiro’s research expertise is on cyber security, including social and human factors, cyber-crime, data privacy (anonymity and anonymisation), internet-of-things, trust, provenance, blockchain, internet computing, foundations of computation. He has authored about 250 publications, reaching an h-index of 37 and around 3800 citations (source PoP).
Since 2014, he has secured in excess of £3.8m in research funds. Vladimiro has developed large networks of collaborators in academia, industry and government, including The Cabinet Office, FCO, DBEIS, NCA, ICO, NAO, FCA and Bank of England, and worked with governments internationally, Italy, Malta and West Bengal, and nationally, NCSC/GCHQ, DSTL, the Regional Organised Crime Units and Hampshire Police. He is Chief Scientific Officer at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finances.
Courtney Krahe
SPRITE+ Project Manager
(University of Manchester)
Courtney is leading operations and engagement for the SPRITE+ Network. Before joining SPRITE+ Courtney held the position of Project Manager at the School of Public Health at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). During her time there, she managed a three-year evaluation of a government funded national health service (NDSS), where she supported a large team of cross faculty researchers to produce eight evaluation reports.
Courtney has worked in various roles in the University sector for the last 10 years including supporting the UTS Body Donation Program and as a venue side event manager helping University clubs and societies run events.
Courtney holds a Master’s in Project Management and a Bachelor of Event Management from the University of Technology Sydney. She is a PRINCE2 certified professional and is passionate about helping people and learning new things, be it recipes or best practice.
Outside of her professional work, Courtney has also been an active member of Rotary International since 2009 and she enjoys playing (field) hockey and has joined a local club in Manchester, although playing a winter sport means something a little different in a cold northern hemisphere country…
Claire Spencer
SPRITE+ Programmes and Events Coordinator
(University of Manchester)
Claire Spencer worked at The Cathie Marsh Institute, which is part of the University of Manchester, from November 2012 to September 2023, primarily running events and short course training.
Previous to this she has had a variety of roles across the world including Business Analyst for an IT company, a Secondary School teacher and teaching English as an additional language.
Justyna Kanno
SPRITE+ Finance and Projects Administrator
(University of Manchester)
Justyna joined the University of Manchester in 2020 and has since worked as an administrator for the Digital Futures’ programme on Digital Trust and Security leading on to the Centre for Digital Trust and Society and SPRITE+.
Before joining the University of Manchester, Justyna studied and worked at the University of Central Lancashire for 8 years where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Religion, Culture and Society with Philosophy. As an undergraduate, Justyna also spent time studying at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany.
Tatiana Dia
SPRITE+ Business Engagement & Intelligence Officer
(Imperial College London)
Tatiana plays a key role in various initiatives aimed at enhancing the understanding of crucial TIPS (Trust, Identity, Privacy, and Security) themes within the industry and fostering collaboration between academic institutions and non-academic partners.
Tatiana previously worked as an academic in management and innovation at several UK universities, as well as a management consultant.
Becky Holderness
SPRITE+ Communications & Admin Assistant
(University of Manchester)
Becky joined the SPRITE+ team in 2025 as a Communications and Admin assistant. With a background in copywriting and a BA in Creative Writing, she brings a wealth of writing experience to the role and a passion for engaging & connecting with different people.
Becky manages the SPRITE+ newsletter, as well as communications across the website and social media channels.