Claudia Hammond

For the fictional Home and Away character, see Claudia Hammond (Home and Away).

Claudia Hammond
144px Hammond in November 2015
Born	Claudia Anne Hammond 1971 Biggleswade, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Journalist and broadcaster
Parent(s)	Nicholas Hammond Yvonne Glenister/Hammond
Website	http://www.claudiahammond.com/

Claudia Hammond (born 1971) is British author, occasional TV presenter, and frequent radio presenter with the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4.

Education

Hammond grew up in Bedfordshire. She was educated at Sussex University in applied psychology, and Surrey University, where she gained a MSc in health psychology, carrying out research into doctor–patient communication in a breast cancer unit.

Career

Author

Hammond is the author of a book on the science of emotions entitled Emotional Rollercoaster, published in 2005. Reviews were positive, with one saying that although it contained 'rare errors' these mistakes are 'vastly outweighed by the wealth of fascinating observations', and that 'humour, sensitivity and warmth... emanate from every page'.

She published her second book, Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception, with Canongate Books in May 2012. The Financial Times calls it a fascinating and at times mind-boggling book that will change the way you think about time.

Radio presenter

Hammond has said that she decided that she wanted to work in radio quite suddenly, although early. "I was at a children's book festival and, after I had queued up to get Roald Dahl's autograph, he asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I'm told I said "I want to work in radio". That was the first my parents knew about it. It was probably the first time I realised." She presents programmes about psychology on BBC Radio 4, including All in the Mind. She also presents Health Check on BBC World Service Radio.

TV presenter

In addition to presenting Health Check on BBC World News every Friday, Hammond has appeared on several other TV programmes (such as The One Show and BBC Breakfast) commenting on psychological topics. In the past, as reporter, she presented science and medical features for Channel 5 News.

Journalistic philosophy

Hammond has said she tries to "give people a better understanding of the role psychology plays. Helping people articulate and get across a seemingly technical piece of good research is central to my approach. I also like bringing different specialists together – it's amazing how often people who are hugely expert in one area of psychology know next to nothing about related work in a slightly different field."

Despite her varied portfolio, Hammond gave 'be choosy' as a piece of careers advice in one interview:

"Popular programmes are fine – "I sometimes go on Richard & Judy to talk about psychological research – but if I think a show is going to dumb it down, I say no. And sometimes what they’re looking for is a qualified therapist, and that’s not me."

Awards and nominations

Year	Organisation	Category	Result
2011	British Psychological Society	Award for Public Engagement & Media	Winner
2011	Mind Media Awards	'Making A Difference' Award	Winner (For All in the Mind)
2010	The Population Institute's Global Media Awards	Best Radio Programme	Winner
2009	Mental Health Media Awards	Best Factual Radio Programme	Shortlisted
2009	PPA Magazine	Columnist of the Year	Highly Commended
2008	Premio Luchetta Award for International Humanitarian Journalism		Shortlisted
2008	Medical Journalism Awards		Shortlisted
2007	Association of British Science Writers	Science Writing in a Non-science Context	Shortlisted
2000	Mental Health Media Awards		Runner-up

External links

• Claudia Hammond homepage
• BBC World Service presenter profile (including a video).
• Emotional Rollercoaster on ISBNDb
• Review of Emotional Rollercoaster in The Independent