Precision Psychiatry
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.
The Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab (OxPPL) is committed to ensuring that patients are more involved in decisions about their own healthcare. This can range from patient participation in research studies, through to people voicing opinions and providing feedback on projects to the OxPPL team.
We work closely with people with lived experience of mental health issues, alongside Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and many other Trusts and organisations across the UK. In early 2021 we founded the OxPPL PPI Group, an active partnership with a diverse group of collaborators who are embedded across the research projects undertaken in the lab.
We are funded by the National Institute for Health Research, by the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and by the Oxford and Thames Valley Applied Research Collaboration.
- We are currently working on our PETRUSHKA project, which looks to tailor antidepressant medication to patients experiencing moderate to severe depression, based on primary and secondary care data, as well as patient preferences. We are developing an evidence-based, digital shared decision-support tool to personalise treatment, transform clinical outcomes and empower patients with major depression in the NHS. What does PETRUSHKA stand for? Personalise antidEpressant TReatment for Unipolar depreSsion combining individual cHoices, risKs and big datA.
- We are also invested in examining and addressing the ethical parameters of precision psychiatry. For example, we recognise how important it is that treatment options are accessible, beneficial, and trusted by patients. We also understand the importance of ensuring that patient data is used appropriately and effectively. As part of ongoing projects, we will therefore be considering ethical issues, patient perspectives and trust in precision psychiatry.
- We are investigating how benefits and harms related to medical interventions should be communicated. The CICERO trial (single session, 20 minutes) aims at facilitating information comprehension and involvement of patients in clinical shared decision-making.