Prof Robin Murray
Sir Robin Murray is Professor of Psychiatric research at the Institute of Psychiatry and is concerned with finding the causes of psychosis, and improving its treatment. His early work challenged the prevailing view of schizophrenia as an adult-onset brain disease, instead demonstrating that it is in part a neurodevelopmental disorder. He and his colleagues have shown that that environmental factors such as obstetric events, childhood adversity, migration, and heavy cannabis use are all risk factors for psychosis. Robin is the most widely cited schizophrenia researcher outside the USA and was knighted by the Queen in 2011. He is one of only four psychiatrists ever to be elected to the UK Royal Society.
Dr Marta Di Forti
Marta Di Forti is an MRC clinical scientist working at the Institute of Psychiatry. Her work identified a particularly increased risk of psychosis following use of high-potency cannabis, particularly in adolescence. The clinical population she cares for comprises young people suffering from their first episode of psychosis. Her clinical work plays a crucial role in informing and inspiring her academic interests. Marta currently researches the interaction between genes and cannabis in causing psychotic disorders and worsening the outcome.
Prof Daniele La Barbera
Daniele La Barbera is Full Professor of Psychiatry at Palermo University and the Chairmen of the Psychiatric Unit of Palermo University. His main areas of interests are psychosis, the relationship between substance abuse and psychiatric disorders, and the psychological features of new technologies. He coordinated the Sicilian Psychosis and Genetic Study (SGAP) an incidence and a case control on first episode psychotic patients.
Dr Anton Grech
Dr. Anton Grech was born on 16 November 1967 in Gozo, Malta. He graduated as Doctor of Medicine from the University of Malta in 1992. He became a Member of the Royal college of Psychiatrists, UK, in 1997, and he became a Fellow of the same college in 2011. In 1999 he obtained an M.Sc. in Psychiatry from King’s College, University of London. He trained and worked at the Maudsley Hospital in London, between 1994 and 1998. During 1998 he was also a Clinical-Academic Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, University of London. Between 1999 and 2002 he was Honorary Researcher within the same Department. In 1999 he proceeded to Malta, where he was Senior Registrar in Psychiatry until 2003, when he was appointed Consultant Psychiatrist with a special interest in Addictions and Neuropsychiatry. In 2000 he was appointed Lecturer in Department of Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Malta, and in 2008 he was appointed as Senior Lecturer within the same Department. In 2011 he was appointed as Senior Research Fellow in the Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in association with the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. In 2011 he was also appointed as Clinical Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry in the Ministry of Health, Malta. His main research is on the aetiology of schizophrenia, and it was based at the Institute of Psychiatry London and at the University of Malta. He has published in international psychiatric journals, and presented and chaired in international psychiatric conferences. In 2008 he was chosen as one of the 30 European Scientists to be featured in the book ‘Portraits of Science; Scientists of Tomorrow’, published by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, to commemorate its 30 th anniversary. In 2013 he was appointed Chairman of 'Fundazzjoni Kenn Ghal Sahhtek', a foundation in collaboration between Community Chest Fund and the Government of Malta. He is a member of various national boards and commissions. He believes a lot in using the media to educate on mental health, and for the last years in Malta he conducted radio and TV programmes on issues related to mental health.
Prof Tom Burns
Tom Burns is Professor Emeritus of Social Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. His research was predominantly health services research in community psychiatry, particularly complex interventions. He has published six books and over 300 papers including RCTs of case management, vocational rehabilitation and Community Treatment Orders. Our Necessary Shadow: The Nature and Meaning of Psychiatry, is his book on psychiatry for the general reader published by Penguin in 2014. He was awarded the CBE in 2006 for services to mental health care. He remains interested in the centrality of relationships in psychiatry and the need for increased rigour, and attention to, research in psychiatry. He has recently coordinated a symposium to mark the 40thanniversary of the Basaglia’s revolutionary Italian Law 180 which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2019.
Dr Lucia Valmaggia
I am a Reader in Clinical Psychology and Digital Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, KCL where I lead the Virtual Reality Lab,and I am a Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. I am the incoming President of the IEPA-Early Intervention in Mental Health Association.
In my career to date I have sought to conduct research, which is clinically relevant and directly applicable to the delivery of clinical services. My work has focused on the prevention and early detection of mental health problems, in particular psychosis. I have extensive experience in service implementation in the community and I set up the first service for prevention and early detection of psychosis in a prison setting. I conduct experimental studies using virtual reality to explore the effects of adverse life experiences on the appraisal of social situations. I lead clinical studies to evaluate virtual reality assisted assessment and treatment.
In my career to date I have sought to conduct research, which is clinically relevant and directly applicable to the delivery of clinical services. My work has focused on the prevention and early detection of mental health problems, in particular psychosis. I have extensive experience in service implementation in the community and I set up the first service for prevention and early detection of psychosis in a prison setting. I conduct experimental studies using virtual reality to explore the effects of adverse life experiences on the appraisal of social situations. I lead clinical studies to evaluate virtual reality assisted assessment and treatment.
Prof Andrew Mackintosh
I am Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh. I trained in Medicine in Aberdeen before completing my postgraduate psychiatric and statistical training in Edinburgh. I lead the Generation Scotland Expert Working Group for Psychiatric Disorders, co-chair the Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and I lead depression-focussed grants on population cohort studies, genomics, global mental health and data science. My main interests are in the field of depression and resilience.
Prof Paola Dazzan
Professor Paola Dazzan is Professor of Neurobiology of Psychosis and Vice Dean for the International Strategy, Institute of Psychiatry, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She is internationally known for her work on the relationship between neuroimaging data and other biological measures such as neurodevelopmental indices, stress and reproductive hormones in the initial stages of psychosis. Her work has been extensively published in high impact papers, and has been recognised by several prestigious International Awards. She has a strong interest in addressing gender inequality and promoting diversity in the academic environment, and until recently was the Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Team of the IoPPN, the group that produced the application for the Athena Silver Award obtained by the Faculty in 2015.
Prof Eugenio Aguglia
Eugenio Aguglia is Full Professor of Psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Catania in Italy. His scientific production consists of about 450 works. Most of them, of an experimental nature, deal with issues concerning psychopharmacology, psychiatric epidemiology, alcoholism eating disorders and dementia; others are about psychopathology and the nosograpics framing of the various psychopathological emergences.
Professor Nadia Micali
Dr. Micali, MD, MRCPsych, PhD, FAED, is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Geneva and head of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, Geneva University Hospital. She received her MD from the University of Messina School of Medicine in Italy, and her PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. She trained in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, with a specialty in Eating Disorders at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK, and as an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, before becoming a Senior Lecturer and Consultant Psychiatrist at the Institute of Child health, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Most recently she was Associate Professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, US. Over the course of her career, Dr. Micali has written over 100-peer reviewed papers and has given over 50 lectures and presentations around the world. She serves as an elected executive member of several societies, including the Eating Disorders Research Society (for she served as president in 2015).
Dr. Micali’s research focuses on understanding biological and intergenerational risk for eating disorders using a developmental perspective. Her research has investigated the epidemiology of adolescent eating disorders and behaviors and their etiology, including genetic, brain and intergenerational factors; the biological and brain basis of ‘at risk’ status; as well as pregnancy and perinatal effects on development of maternal eating disorders. The impact of Dr. Micali’s research is underscored by her role on editorial boards of top journals in the field, including European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Molecular Autism and British Journal of Psychiatry Open.She has several research collaborations across Europe and the US.
Dr. Micali’s contributions to the field of eating disorders have been recognized by several awards, most notably a prestigious fellowship by the Academy of Eating Disorders, her election as 2015 President of the Eating Disorders Research Society, and several prizes.
Dr. Micali’s research focuses on understanding biological and intergenerational risk for eating disorders using a developmental perspective. Her research has investigated the epidemiology of adolescent eating disorders and behaviors and their etiology, including genetic, brain and intergenerational factors; the biological and brain basis of ‘at risk’ status; as well as pregnancy and perinatal effects on development of maternal eating disorders. The impact of Dr. Micali’s research is underscored by her role on editorial boards of top journals in the field, including European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Molecular Autism and British Journal of Psychiatry Open.She has several research collaborations across Europe and the US.
Dr. Micali’s contributions to the field of eating disorders have been recognized by several awards, most notably a prestigious fellowship by the Academy of Eating Disorders, her election as 2015 President of the Eating Disorders Research Society, and several prizes.
Dr Evangelos Vassos
Dr Evangelos Vassos is a practicing Consultant Psychiatrist in Oxford Health NHS Trust and a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences, King’s College London, UK. He holds a Medical Degree and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Medical School of the University of Athens, Greece and he trained in psychiatry in Oxford UK.
Dr Vassos is investigating the genetic underpinnings of psychosis. His current work is focused on the development and validation of risk estimation models for psychosis based on genetic and environmental risk factors. He has performed genome-wide association analysis and polygenic score analysis in samples of individuals with first episode psychosis and prodromal psychotic symptoms. He has extensive experience in genetic association studies of candidate genes for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, genetic epidemiology studies measuring familiality/heritability of dimensions of psychosis, and genotype-phenotype correlations in Huntington’s disease.
Dr Vassos is a member of a number of professional and learned societies, including the Schizophrenia International Research Society and the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics as well as the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. He particularly enjoys lecturing in MSc courses and supervising trainee psychiatrists, MSc and PhD students.
Dr Vassos is investigating the genetic underpinnings of psychosis. His current work is focused on the development and validation of risk estimation models for psychosis based on genetic and environmental risk factors. He has performed genome-wide association analysis and polygenic score analysis in samples of individuals with first episode psychosis and prodromal psychotic symptoms. He has extensive experience in genetic association studies of candidate genes for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, genetic epidemiology studies measuring familiality/heritability of dimensions of psychosis, and genotype-phenotype correlations in Huntington’s disease.
Dr Vassos is a member of a number of professional and learned societies, including the Schizophrenia International Research Society and the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics as well as the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. He particularly enjoys lecturing in MSc courses and supervising trainee psychiatrists, MSc and PhD students.
Dr Chloe Wong
Chloe Wong is a Lecturer of Epigenetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience’s MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London. She received a PhD in Epigenetics from King’s College London in 2012 and has been appointed as a Lecturer of Epigenetics since June 2013. Chloe’s main research interest lies primary in psychiatric epigenetics, with a particular focus on neurodevelopmental behaviors and disorders such as severe psychosocial stress exposure and autism. She has extensive experience in cutting-edge epigenetic profiling approaches and bioinformatics analyses. In addition to research, Chloe also plays an active role in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and have a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP; King’s College London 2014). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Genetics module leader for MSc Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry and MSc Genes Environment and Development.
Dr Luis Alameda
Luis Alameda has been trained in psychiatry and psychotherapy in Lausanne University Hospital, in Switzerland, specializing in psychosis spectrum disorders. He's currently doing a PhD at the Department of Psychosis Studies, King's College London. Luis is interested in childhood adversity and its impact on patients suffering from psychosis, from genetics to psychopathology and treatment.
Prof Ilaria Tarricone
Professor Ilaria Tarricone
Professor Isobel Heyman
Isobel Heyman qualified in medicine at University College London and gained a PhD in developmental neurobiology, before training as a child psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, London. She is now a full-time clinical psychiatrist working in the UK National Health Service, at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, where she leads a team specialising in liaison/consultation psychiatry and neuropsychiatry. She is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. She founded and led the first national paediatric OCD service in the UK, and for many years carried out research in OCD and related conditions. She has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, as well as book chapters and reviews. She advises, teaches and trains nationally and internationally on neuropsychiatry, child psychiatric practice and service strategy. In her current job, alongside her clinical work, she runs a research program on service delivery, focusing on integrating physical and mental health care. Recognising that treatable psychiatric disorders commonly accompany physical ill-health in children, but are often undetected, her aim is to improve detection of psychiatric disorders, and early evidence-based intervention, in these children. She is committed to raising awareness and reducing stigma in relation to mental health, and has been actively involved in public education and media productions. In 2015 the Royal College of Psychiatrists named her Psychiatrist of the Year, and in 2018 awarded her Psychological Medicine Team UK CAMHS Team of the Year.
Dr Alexander Butt
Dr Alexander Butt, is a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist specialised in the care of the Older Adults. He works at St George’s Hospital, South West London, which covers one of the largest and most diverse clinical catchment areas in London and hosts one of London’s best Medical Schools. Alex was born at St George’s, lived a few miles away, and after a short educational break, he returned to St George’s, first to study Medicine and then to complete his Psychiatric Training in both Adult and Old Age Psychiatry. In his clinical practise he embraces and teaches the recovery model. He sits on St George’s Ethical Committee board and he is regularly involved in the teaching of Medical Students and Psychiatric trainees. He is highly appreciated by colleagues and students for the passion and devotion of the commitment to his patients and their families. We are lucky that he has agreed to guide us on a unique journey across the surgical and medical wards of St George’s to meet his special patients.
Dr Caterina (Erika) La Cascia
Caterina La Cascia (Erika), is a clinical psychologist, PhD in neuroscience and behavioral disorders, and assistant professor at Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience in University of Palermo. She works also as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist at Unit of Psychiatric of University Hospital of Palermo. Her main interest in research is in Psychosis, particularly in use of cannabis and psychosis onset, and in psychiatric rehabilitation.
Dr Laura Ferraro
Laura Ferraro is a PhD in Clinical Medicine and Behavioural Sciences and a Psychologist and Cognitive Psychotherapist. She has been working in the research field until July 2009 when she started her four-years research fellowship grant in schizophrenia research at University of Palermo, where she is currently working as a teacher. She is interested in psychosis, particularly in cannabis use, cognition, and premorbid adjustment.
Dr Giuseppe Maniaci
Giuseppe Maniaci is a PhD in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, a Clinical Psychologist and a Psychotherapist. He works at the Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience at University of Palermo. His main research fields concern the assessment and treatment of gambling disorder, the association between unhealthy lifestyles and psychiatric disorders and the evaluation of the outcome of psychological therapies.
