Our people
SPRITE+ is led by a Management Team who work closely with Project Partners and Expert Fellows. Our Advisory Board reviews and helps to develop SPRITE+ performance. Membership is open to both academic and non-academic individuals and organisations.
SPRITE+ Management Team
The Director of SPRITE+ is Professor Mark Elliot (University of Manchester), with Co-Directors Professor Emma Barrett (University of Manchester), Professor Hamed Haddadi (Imperial College London), Professor Stacey Conchie (Lancaster University), Professor Sakir Sezer (Queen’s University Belfast) and Professor Vladimiro Sassone (University of Southampton).
Together, the Management Team sets the direction of the NetworkPlus, manages relationships with Project Partners and other stakeholders, and oversees SPRITE+ activities, including supporting the work of Working Groups and the administration of the research fund.
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 internationally renowned Confidentiality (CAPRI) in 2002, and has managed numerous research projects within CAPRI remit.
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.
Justyna Kanno
SPRITE+ Finance & 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...
Professor Emma Barrett
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(University of Manchester)
Emma is 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.
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...
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.
Dr Hamed Haddadi
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(Imperial College London)
Hamed Haddadi is at the Department of Computing at Imperial College London. He also serves as a Security Science Fellow of the Institute for Security Science and Technology. In his industrial role, he is the Chief Scientist at Brave Software where he works on...
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...
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.
Professor Stacey Conchie
SPRITE+ Co-Director
(Lancaster University)
Stacey is 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.
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...
SPRITE+ Advisory Board
The SPRITE+ Advisory Board provides advice to the SPRITE+ Director and Management Team on the NetworkPlus’s strategic direction and activities. Specifically, the Board:
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Review SPRITE+ activities in the context of the policy and practice landscape
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Suggest ways of extending and developing the network
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Promote SPRITE+ within stakeholder communities
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Provide advice on the strategic direction of SPRITE+
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Professor Lucy Mason is a Director at Capgemini Invent, leading on emerging technologies and innovation, especially in the defence, space and security sectors.
Her interests include the threats and opportunities posed by AI and machine learning, the internet of things, quantum...
Professor Lucy Mason
Emily Keaney is Director of Regulatory Strategy, Domestic, at the ICO. Emily was previously Director of the UK Regulators’ Network, a vehicle for collaboration between thirteen regulators across the financial, utilities, transport, communications, data, legal and financial sectors. Before that she was Head of Media Literacy...
Emily Keaney
Dr Andreas Haggman is the Principal of Privacy, Security and Academic Partnerships at Ofcom, the UK's communication regulator, where he primarily works on online safety. His role involves academic engagement to support and enhance Ofcom's capabilities in a wide range of online safety technology areas.
Dr Andreas Haggman
Richard is a Reader in Civil Engineering at UoM, Deputy Director of the Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research, and member of the senior leadership team in the Manchester Urban Institute.
Richard's research on government major project delivery has attracted funding...
Richard Kirkham
Professor Tom Rodden is Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and a Professor of Computing at the University of Nottingham. His research brings together a range of disciplines to tackle the emerging human, social, ethical and technical challenges as computing becomes a...
Professor Tom Rodden
Dr Michał Król is a lecturer in Cyber Security at City, University of London. He received his PhD in Computer Science at University Grenoble- Alpes (France) and held research fellow positions at UTC Sorbonne University (France), University College London (UK), University of California, Los Angeles (US) and UCLouvain...
Dr Michał Król
Dr Shilon Bala is the Portfolio Manager in the UKRI EPSRC Resilience and Security theme.
The theme exists to put a spotlight on critical technologies relevant to the security, defence and resilience of the UK, funding research which will aim to create a more secure and resilient society, that is robust and...
Dr. Shilon Bala
Rem Noormohamed is a partner in the Technology & Data Law group at Fieldfisher LLP, Industrial Professor at the University of Bristol Law School and past Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship. His advisory expertise and research interests centre on the intersection of law and regulation with 'tech' and data driven innovation, new...
Rem Noormohamed
Benoît Dupont is Professor of Criminology at the Université de Montréal, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and the Philanthropic Research Chair in the Prevention of Cybercrime. He is also one of the co-founders and Scientific Director of the Smart Cybersecurity Network (SERENE-RISC), which brings...
Professor Benoît Dupont
M. Angela Sasse is the professor Human-Centred Security at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany and at University College London, UK. She is a pioneer of usable security research and interdisciplinary security research. She was the Founding Director of the Research Centre on Socio-Technical Security (RISCS)...
Martina Sasse
Expert Fellows
Academic Expert Fellows complement the Management Team’s expertise and help SPRITE+ develop a multidisciplinary approach to realising its vision. Fellows provide intellectual leadership, take a leading role in setting and exploring Challenge Themes, and help bridge the gaps between diverse cognate groups and networks.
We also have policy and professional practice Expert Fellows. These individuals are champions for research engagement within their organisations and sector, play a key role in setting and exploring Challenge Themes, advise the Management Team on how to enhance industry engagement, act as expert advisors (for instance, in the review of research projects), and support impact generation.
We have more than 190 Expert Fellows so far, and run open calls to fill gaps in expertise, particularly targeting those from outside the traditional ‘cyber security’ community.