Mental Health

This Theme’s Focus

Look at the development of the brain to try and prevent mental health disorders
Improve our understanding of how mental and physical (brain and body) health interact to help develop new treatments
Use digital technology to help identify, prevent and treat mental health conditions

Mental illness contributes to more than 16% of the burden of disease and costs the UK £119 B/year. Our growing understanding of the intimate links between physical and mental health mean that this theme intersects with many others, particularly Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Dementia (collectively the Brain–Mind supertheme), Child Health, Genomics, Data Science and Population Health, Nutrition/Metabolism, and Advanced Therapies.

We will identify new opportunities for prevention and personalised intervention that can lead to fewer people struggling with poor mental health and quicker recovery for those that do. We will focus on technological innovation for earlier identification and diagnosis of mental disorders, preventative strategies to minimise the burden of poor mental health, and recognition of the close and reciprocal links between physical and mental health.

The perspectives of those with lived experience of poor mental health, and their carers, as well as typically-developing young people, are embedded within all of our work.

Theme Leads

Ben Underwood

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Email:ben.underwood@cpft.nhs.uk

Paul Fletcher

Bernard Wolfe Professor of Health Neuroscience

Email: pcf22@cam.ac.uk

Rudolf Cardinal

Associate professor of clinical informatics; honorary consultant liaison psychiatrist

Email: rnc1001@cam.ac.uk

Meet our researchers

Consistent with governmental goals for mental health research, our three sub-themes address core challenges facing a science-based approach to mental health:

Developmental

Can we characterise typical development from early childhood to emerging adulthood using cognitive, neuroimaging, and genetic approaches, and determine how atypical trajectories foreshadow preventable mental disorders?

Biomedical

Can we understand brain–body links mechanistically to discover new treatments involving both mental and physical aspects?

Digital

Can we apply digital technologies to create more sensitive and precise ways to identify, prevent, and treat mental health disorders?

Research community

Cambridge has a large and vibrant research community that conducts world-leading work with direct implications for understanding mental health disorders. T he Cambridge Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Research Centre comprises more than 850 clinical and non-clinical scientists, coordinated around themes closely related to our sub-themes. This network supports collaborations across diverse disciplines, removing traditional boundaries between basic and translational science.

Our expanding multidisciplinary research programme in adolescent development focuses investigation at the age of peak incidence for many mental health disorders. Similarly, recent funding for a regional Children’s Hospital/Research Institute (East of England) will strengthen the connection between physical and psychological medicine and promote translation of findings. Our established expertise will enable BRC funding to add immediate value to a critical mass of existing research, increasing the potential for therapeutic innovation, especially in autism, addiction, depression, psychosis, obsessive–compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as for approaches that span many different conditions.

Regionally, we collaborate across the East of England (e.g. Anglia Ruskin University, University of East Anglia) in research related to psychotic disorders, immunology, informatics, psychological therapies). Nationally, we collaborate closely with several BRCs; (Maudsley BRC, informatics, immunology, epidemiology; UCLH BRC, neuroimaging, Bristol BRC informatics/epidemiology; Nottingham BRC digital).

Latest News

Largest genetic study of brain structure identifies how the brain is organised

August 17, 2023

The largest ever study of the genetics of the brain – encompassing…

Brainwave illistration - Loaivat from Pixabay

Brain’s ‘appetite control centre’ different in people who are overweight or living with obesity

August 8, 2023

Cambridge scientists, in research supported by the NIHR Cambridge…

Square image with 4 males, 2 above and 2 below

Cambridge researchers listed among world’s most influential researchers

November 21, 2022

Congratulations to our NIHR Cambridge BRC theme leads who have been named in the Clarivate listings of the ‘world’s most influential researchers.’

Cambridge researchers awarded Fellow status

May 11, 2022

Eight Cambridge researchers are elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

AI generated brain image - David_SMC from Pixabay

Brain charts map the rapid growth and slow decline of the human brain over our lifetime

April 7, 2022

An international team of researchers has created a series of brain charts spanning our entire lifespan – from a 15 week old fetus to 100 year old adult – that show how our brains expand rapidly in early life and slowly shrink as we age.

CT scan, close up image of the brain - NIHR Cambridge BRC image

Exploring how inflammation affects cognitive performance in people with depression

March 9, 2022

Research has found that inflammation may influence cognitive problems for people with depression, highlighting a new target to improve treatment.

image of 2 separate people next to eachtother, a male and a female

Cambridge Professors receive NIHR Senior Investigator awards

March 3, 2022

Professor Emanuele Di Angelantonio and Professor Tamsin Ford have been newly-appointed as Senior Investigators for the NIHR.

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Mental Health Case Studies

Sculpture of person holding head in hands

Diagnosing autism in adulthood

October 16, 2024

Autism affects 1% of the child and adult population, costing…

New app to help people with OCD symptoms

October 16, 2024

A new app developed by Cambridge researchers may help people…

Testing whether an anti-inflammatory drug can help people with depression

October 16, 2024

Following research evidence that some patients with depression…

Woman stressed - Counselling from Pixabay

Stress does not lead to loss of self-control in eating disorders

October 16, 2024

People who experience eating disorders do not lose self-control…

Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis

October 14, 2025

Identifying people with potentially undiagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies using natural language processing

October 1, 2025

Deconstructing delay discounting in human cocaine addiction using computational modelling and neuroimaging

January 24, 2025

How sleep in patients with serious mental illness is recorded and treated, and its impact on service engagement

September 18, 2024

Temporal trends in population attributable fractions of modifiable risk factors for dementia: a time-series study of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2004–2019).

September 10, 2024

The NIHR Cambridge BRC is part of the NIHR and hosted by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge. We are at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest health research area.

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Contact Us

Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Box 277
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ

Tel: 01223 348490

NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc ·

8 Jan

The Cambridge-led IVORY trial has shown that targeting the immune system, by giving a low-dose of aldesleukin, could prevent future heart attacks by nearly 8%.

Learn more about the study >>https://bit.ly/4aLzW6Q

@CUH_NHS @Cambridge_Uni @NIHRresearch @RoyalPapworth

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Milner Therapeutics Institute @themilnerinst ·

6 Jan

📣 The Milner Consortium Call returns with its sixth call for research proposals. Academic researchers – join our Q&A webinar to learn more and ask questions about the Call!

🗓️ 22 Jan ⏰ 10am 📍 Online

🔗 Register: https://ow.ly/5PMb50XCIuF

🔗 More info: http://www.milner.cam.ac.uk/consortiumcall/

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc ·

5 Jan

👉 Want to help shape a future trial focused on preventing falls in older people?
👉 Are you an older adult and/or family member/carer? 👉 Free on Wed 21st Jan 2026 at 13.30 for an online group?
👉 Contact James Piercy - james@brainhrc.org
@CUH_NHS @NIHRBrainHRC @Cambridge_Uni

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc ·

31 Dec

🎉Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!🎉
Thinking of making a #NewYearsResolution?
Are you interested in giving feedback on the #research we do?
Live in the #EastOfEngland?
Then why not join our Patient & Public Involvement Panel >> https://bit.ly/3LlRX1c
@CUH_NHS

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc ·

24 Dec

Merry Christmas and a happy #NewYear from the #NIHR #Cambridge BRC!!
#Thankyou to all our amazing staff, everyone who has supported us and all those who took part in #research this year!
@CUH_NHS @Cambridge_Uni @NIHRresearch

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre @cambridgebrc ·

22 Dec

🥳 As 2025 draws to a close, we’ve put together a snapshot of some of our key research stories over the year.
🥳 We’d like to thank everyone who took part in, or contributed to our research over 2025!
To learn more >>
@CUH_NHS @Cambridge_Uni @NIHRresearch

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Mental Health

This Theme’s Focus

Theme Leads

Ben Underwood

Paul Fletcher

Rudolf Cardinal

Related Videos

Consistent with governmental goals for mental health research, our three sub-themes address core challenges facing a science-based approach to mental health:

Developmental

Biomedical

Digital

Research community

Latest News

Largest genetic study of brain structure identifies how the brain is organised

Brain’s ‘appetite control centre’ different in people who are overweight or living with obesity

Cambridge researchers listed among world’s most influential researchers

Cambridge researchers awarded Fellow status

Brain charts map the rapid growth and slow decline of the human brain over our lifetime

Exploring how inflammation affects cognitive performance in people with depression

Cambridge Professors receive NIHR Senior Investigator awards

Mental Health Case Studies

Diagnosing autism in adulthood

New app to help people with OCD symptoms

Testing whether an anti-inflammatory drug can help people with depression

Stress does not lead to loss of self-control in eating disorders

Mental Health Publications

Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis

Identifying people with potentially undiagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies using natural language processing

Deconstructing delay discounting in human cocaine addiction using computational modelling and neuroimaging

How sleep in patients with serious mental illness is recorded and treated, and its impact on service engagement

Temporal trends in population attributable fractions of modifiable risk factors for dementia: a time-series study of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2004–2019).

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