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Riccardo De Giorgi

MD, DPhil, MRCPsych

Clinical Researcher

  • Clinical Researcher, Honorary Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry

Repurposing immuno-metabolic drugs in mental disorders

I am a Clinical Researcher at the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, and Honorary Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. I am a tutor in psychiatry and regularly teach medical students and trainees about the topics of research methodology and critical appraisal, psychopharmacology, and mood disorders. I am an Elected Council Member for the British Association of Psychopharmacology, EDI Ambassador at the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, and BJPsych Journal Club Co-Coordinator for The BJPsych. I am Section/Associate Editor for the BJPsych, BJPsych Adv, BMJ Mental Health, and BMJ Connections Mental Health.

I enjoy the interplay between clinical practice and research, which drives me to be a determined clinician and inspires my academic interests. I am interested in neuropsychopharmacology and the evidence-based treatment of mental illness, especially mood disorders. There is increasing evidence that immunological and metabolic factors play a role in the pathophysiology of cognitive and mental disorders. Repurposing commonly used medical treatments (e.g., anti-inflammatory or metabolic medications) may therefore benefit those patients who respond poorly to conventional treatments and who might be identifiable a priori through measurement of immunological and metabolic markers.

Currently, I am working on experimental medicine studies for the repurposing of drugs with immuno-metabolic activity (e.g., statins, GLP1-RAs) in mental disorders. This work is informed by collaborative projects in evidence synthesis and pharmacoepidemiology with several other research teams at the department. I look at early markers of response, such as neuropsychological changes, as well as  immuno-metabolic peripheral markers, to validate the use of these drugs in further clinical trials.