Caroline Zangani

RESEARCHER

• Researcher, Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab (OxPPL), Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford.
• Specialty Doctor in Clinical Research, NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (OH-CRF), Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford

As a member of the OxPPL, my main research focus is evidence-based synthesis and personalised medicine. My passion stems from my clinical experience as a psychiatrist, fuelling my drive to identify innovative treatments for patients. My research is focused on solving real-world clinical challenges and enhancing everyday practice. Recently, I completed a project about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of mental health services. This work has shown how mental health services across the globe adapted by using telemental health to respond to the surge in required care while following social distancing measures and lockdown restrictions. This study also identified critical areas and specific patient needs that should be considered for a sustainable transformation of mental health services in the long term (doi: 10.2196/38600).

Currently, I am working on an Individual Participant Data-Network Meta-Analysis (IPD-NMA) on the efficacy of common antidepressants on depressive dimensions (https://osf.io/n4jea/?view_only=312cbd9513044b66a5c44682fbcd8429). The main aim of this project is to characterise the effect of different antidepressants on specific clusters of depressive symptoms, which better resemble the clinical presentations of depression encountered during clinical practice. This will help patients and clinicians finding the most suitable treatment based on their unique symptomatology profile, distancing the treatment choice from the old one-size-fits-all concept.

My clinical work at the OH-CRF includes setting up and delivering high-intensity, experimental trials in individuals with cognitive and mental health conditions. I routinely liaise with university staff, commercial sponsors, and third-party vendors to conduct study activities safely and efficiently. My daily tasks range from completing clinical assessments and psychiatric interviews to preparing and administering investigational medicine products in oral, intravenous, or other formulations.

I am the Oxford-site Principal Investigator (PI) for the EULAST II trial (NCT05165316), a multi-centre follow-up cohort study aiming to investigate the long-term outcomes of patients with schizophrenia who participated in the previously conducted EULAST-I clinical trial, in the first decade after being diagnosed.

I am also the Oxford Co-PI of the IMPACT-1 study (NCT05741710), a multi-centre phase Ib/IIa randomised control trial investigating the use of methylone in adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).