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Psychosis & schizophrenia

In the Department of Psychiatry, we’re using cutting edge techniques and technologies to help diagnose and find the best treatments for serious mental illnesses such as psychosis and schizophrenia.

There have not been significant advances in psychosis treatments for more than 50 years, since the development of antipsychotic medication, which can have debilitating side effects and do not work for everyone.

In Oxford, we’re hosting major programmes that could revolutionise the treatment of people experiencing psychosis, including a global study investigating the effectiveness of cannabidiol (CBD) and a trial testing if immunotherapy could treat some patients with a form of psychosis that could be caused by antibodies in their blood.

Groups within this theme

We undertake research across the translational spectrum, ranging from basis science studies, through to trials of new treatments and approaches for psychosis, right through to researching clinical services and their effectiveness. We work closely with the Oxfordshire Early Intervention in Psychosis Service in Oxford Health NHS FT. This service provides high quality, multi-discliplinary care for people experiencing first episode of psychosis and their families. We also lead the Early Intervention Psychosis network for the NHS in the South of England, providing the opportunity to speed up the translation of new research findings into routine clinical care. You can find out more about our current studies below.

Early Psychosis Research Group

We conduct research across the translational spectrum to understand how immune and metabolic processes contribute to the development and progression of severe mental illnesses, such as psychosis and schizophrenia.

Immuno-metabolism & Severe Mental Illness Group

We are dedicated to testing and developing new ways of improving treatments for psychiatric disorders, and maintaining brain health during aging. A significant proportion of people suffering from disturbances of mood and memory, do not respond to the available medication, and so there is an urgency to supplement or provide an alternative to current therapies.

Neurobiology and Experimental Therapeutics

The Oxford Mental Health Economics and Policy research group brings together world-leading researchers in intersection of mental health, economics, and policy across the University of Oxford and it is hosted by the Department of Psychiatry.

Oxford Mental Health Economics and Policy

We are an international multidisciplinary group of researchers, clinicians (both psychiatrists and psychologists), statisticians, methodologists and students who aim to improve the current treatment practice in the NHS and across the world, using innovative approaches from artificial intelligence and machine learning, to digital mental health and bioethics.

Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab

Principal Investigators

Paul Harrison

Professor of Psychiatry; Associate Head of Department (Research)

Belinda Lennox

Head of Department

Philip McGuire

Professor of Psychiatry

Rachel Upthegrove

Professor of Psychiatry, Director NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre

Philip Burnet

Professor of Neuroscience

Andrea Cipriani

Professor of Psychiatry

Dr Lahiru Handunnetthi

Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Neurologist

Robert McCutcheon

Associate Professor

Amedeo Minichino

Associate Professor, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist