[1] Her work focuses on the interplay between genetic and environmental factors on the development and treatment of anxiety and depression.

She is the daughter of Sarzi and Piers Eley, a former director of Nordic Bank, who also attended Trinity College.

Her maternal great-grandfather was Sir Frederic Wake-Walker, whose son, being Thalia's great-uncle, married the sister of the father of Diana, Princess of Wales.

She then undertook her PhD at University College London's Institute of Child Health; her thesis [3] is entitled 'Aetiology of emotional symptoms in childhood and adolescence: Depression and anxiety in twins'.

In April 2013 Eley was made Professor at the IoP, where she directs the Emotional Development, Intervention and Treatment lab EDITlab.