Rongqin Yu

I conduct research at the intersection of psychiatry, violence, and suicide prevention. My work examines the links between mental disorders and adverse outcomes — including domestic and sexual violence, self-harm, and suicide — and explores how these risks can be better understood, predicted, and prevented.

Based in the  Forensic Psychiatry group and the Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford, I combine large-scale epidemiological and developmental research with the development, validation, and implementation of evidence-based risk assessment tools  (https://oxrisk.com/). Using population-based longitudinal data across multiple countries, I integrate psychiatric, criminological, and developmental perspectives to inform clinical practice and public policy.

I also examine the psychiatric and social consequences of imprisonment, and evaluate alternatives to prison that may reduce reoffending and improve health and other outcomes. Within the Oxford Martin Programme on Decarceration, I lead a major work package assessing the effectiveness of community sentences and treatment-based orders, generating evidence to inform safer and more effective approaches to reducing reliance on imprisonment.

Another focus of my work is on resilience. I investigate resilience and differential susceptibility across the life course. I examine how individual characteristics — including personality traits and biological markers — interact with environmental exposures to shape psychiatric, psychosocial, and violent outcomes. This developmental perspective underpins my broader research programme on risk, prevention, and intervention.

See more of our work via Google Scholar.