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

Brainwave illistration - Loaivat from Pixabay

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

August 8, 2023

Square image with 4 males, 2 above and 2 below

Cambridge researchers listed among world’s most influential researchers

November 21, 2022

Cambridge researchers awarded Fellow status

May 11, 2022

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

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

Exploring how inflammation affects cognitive performance in people with depression

March 9, 2022

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

Cambridge Professors receive NIHR Senior Investigator awards

March 3, 2022

Previous Next

Mental Health Case Studies

Sculpture of person holding head in hands

Diagnosing autism in adulthood

October 16, 2024

New app to help people with OCD symptoms

October 16, 2024

Blood sample - NIHR BRC: Cambridge image

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

October 16, 2024

Woman stressed - Counselling from Pixabay

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

October 16, 2024

Economic evaluation of interventions for treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review.

March 22, 2023

Longitudinal effect of clozapine-associated sedation on motivation in schizophrenia: naturalistic longitudinal study

January 12, 2023

Association between antidementia medication use and mortality in people diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies in the UK: a retrospective cohort study.

December 14, 2022

Patient and public involvement to build trust in artificial intelligence: A framework, tools, and case studies.

June 16, 2022

Public opinion on sharing data from health services for clinical and research purposes without explicit consent: an anonymous online survey in the UK

April 13, 2022

The NIHR BRC: Cambridge 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.

Contact Us

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

Tel: 01223 348490

NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

@cambridgebrc ·

25 Aug

Congrats to @NIHR20 Research Leaders Prizewinners @CambridgeCRF Operations Director Caroline Saunders & @Cambridge_Uni & @CUH_NHS Neurosurgeon Benjamin Davies, who've both won awards for their leadership skills & commitment to patient-centred research: https://bit.ly/4y0HVFx

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National Institute for Health and Care Research

Verified account @nihrresearch ·

21 Aug

Are you looking for guidance on setting up a clinical trial? Look no further!

The #CTToolkit is an interactive colour-coded routemap that provides guidance on legal and best practice requirements. Bursting with advice, it's a must-see for any aspiring researcher ➡️

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Medicine at Cambridge

@medcambridge ·

20 Aug

The Lung Immune Challenge Study, led by @Akhilesh_Jha (@HLRI_Cambridge), has reached a milestone with the final participant completing the first phase designed to investigate how immune systems respond to viral lung infections.

➡️ https://buff.ly/tXrD5v8

@The_MRC @CambridgeBRC

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National Institute for Health and Care Research

Verified account @nihrresearch ·

18 Aug

Learn about two upcoming career development awards that can support you in undertaking short placements in another part of NIHR or a local authority to enhance your research training experience and academic career development.

📅 Join our webinar from 12-1pm on 3 September to

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

@cambridgebrc ·

12 Aug

📣 Only 20 places left for each session❗️

Whether you’re new to PPI, want to improve your knowledge & skills we’ve got the session for you!

These FREE events are only available to East Anglia researchers - tickets for other regions are now fully booked! http://bit.ly/Trg4PPI

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NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

@cambridgebrc ·

10 Aug

📣 Full day of Patient & Public Involvement (PPI) training available❗️

👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 Are you a health researcher❓
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 New PPI❓
📍 Located in #EastAnglia❓
👍 We’ve got the training day for you!

Join us on 2 Sept 9.30am-4pm, West Hub, Cambridge.
Book https://bit.ly/4yUOx9L

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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

Economic evaluation of interventions for treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review.

Longitudinal effect of clozapine-associated sedation on motivation in schizophrenia: naturalistic longitudinal study

Association between antidementia medication use and mortality in people diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies in the UK: a retrospective cohort study.

Patient and public involvement to build trust in artificial intelligence: A framework, tools, and case studies.

Public opinion on sharing data from health services for clinical and research purposes without explicit consent: an anonymous online survey in the UK

Contact Us

Useful Links

NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

National Institute for Health and Care Research

Medicine at Cambridge

National Institute for Health and Care Research

NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre