The past year has once again seen a huge amount of activity here in the Department of Psychiatry – both in terms of ground-breaking and impactful research and the efforts we are making in our People and Culture work to make the Department a place people want to join and stay.
I have really enjoyed my visits to research groups in the Department, and the chance to spend time with people and hear what they do. I continue to be incredibly impressed and inspired by the quality and diversity of the research that we carry out, and also by the display of Department values that I see: of teamwork and collaboration, of kindness and generosity, of professionalism and integrity, and of respecting diversity, inclusivity and wellbeing. Whilst I have found the meetings very helpful, I hope that you, at the very least, now know who I am, and shows that I am available to you if you need to get in touch.
In April our Athena Swan Silver Award was renewed, highlighting our commitment to gender equality and inclusion. We are now focused on delivering our future action plan to make the Department an even more inclusive and positive environment for all, as we aim to go for gold next time. I am also pleased we have been able to take a concrete step in addressing the ongoing issue of fixed term contracts by opening applications for open-ended contracts, which we hope will be a positive and helpful initiative for staff.
This year has seen the retirement of several giants in our field – Michael Sharpe, Alan Stein, John Geddes, Paul Harrison have stepped down from statutory posts in the Department this year. We have made some key appointments as well, welcoming Ole Jensen as Chair of Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, Rachel Upthegrove as Director-Designate of the Oxford Health BRC. Mina Fazel became the first female clinical statutory professor in the whole of the Medical Sciences Division. It is also nearly a year since David Hyland joined us as our new Head of Administration and Finance.
This year also saw the very sad loss of our dear colleague Valeria Frighi, who was a compassionate and dedicated researcher into intellectual disabilities. She and her work made a big impact on so many. I am delighted that we have launched a funding award in her memory, to enable others to continue in this important field of research. Last month we paid tribute to Professor Tim Crow, who died aged 86, and who was a hugely influential figure in the Department over many years and whose research into schizophrenia raised a huge amount of awareness of the illness.
Now, as we look ahead to 2025, I am excited about the new projects that are getting off the ground and will be starting to recruit, and even more excited by projects that will be finishing this year, and where results have the potential to make a real difference to patients and clinical care. 2025 will also see further developments on the Warneford Park project, with the application for planning permission due to be submitted.
Thank you and well done for your work over the past year and I wish you a peaceful festive break and look forward to seeing you in the new year.