Our Infrastructure

Key partners for the mental health programme include:

Karolinska Institute/UCL School of Pharmacy

Pharmacoepidemiology collaborations with School of Pharmacy and Karolinska have delivered important novel translational findings: e.g., Association of hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, calcium channel antagonists and biguanides with reduced admissions and episodes of self-harm in serious mental illness, published in January’s JAMA Psychiatry. The effects seen with these drugs are equivalent to discovery of a new antipsychotic drug and we are planning an RCT to test this prospectively. Our collaboration with School of Pharmacy includes work on novel delivery methods for antipsychotics.

Through collaboration with the School of Pharmacy, we are developing novel delivery methods for antipsychotic drugs and are moving to human studies of intranasal olanzapine with an MRC DPFS grant in submission.

Camden & Islington NHS Trust

Camden and Islington NHS Trust (C&I) stands as the NHS arm of the mental health theme, providing mental health and substance misuse services to people living in Camden and Islington, and a substance misuse and psychological therapies service to residents in Kingston.

With two inpatient facilities, at Highgate Mental Health Centre and St Pancras Hospital, as well as community-based services throughout the London boroughs of Camden and Islington, and in Kingston. The Trust is also a member of University College London Partners (UCLP). 

Queen Square Institute of Neurology

Through our work and collaboration with Institute of Neurology we have developed repurposed drug treatments for psychiatric symptoms in neurodegeneration, including the phase 2 TOPHAT trial of ondansetron for visual hallucination in Parkinson’s disease (funded by Parkinson’s UK £1m).

UCL BioResource

We have set up a new pipeline to include NHS patients with mental disorders in the UCL BioResource. Currently we have included 400 patients and further recruitment is ongoing. The Bio-Resource conducts extensive genotyping using the UK Biobank Axiome Array. Data are linked to anonymized electronic mental health records with longitudinal data over 5 to 9 years.   

UCL Institute of Mental health

Led by the Director and Sackler Chair, Professor Anthony David, the UCL Institute of Mental Health (IoMH) brings together the best clinical academics and scientist in the field of mental health to realise the ambitious vision of building a world-leading centre for research into mental disorders. 

NIHR Mental Health TRC

Close collaboration with NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC): The BRC Translational Research Collaboration (TRC) is now well established with representation from all the BRCs with Mental Health Themes and Clinical Research Facilities (CRFs): SLaM, UCLH, Imperial College (London), Exeter, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Southampton, Oxford, Cambridge as well as representation from the Scottish Mental Health Network and NOCRI.

Its purpose is to support research including biomarker studies and clinical trials, at a scale not possible within a single BRC.

Queens square