PI for ESR project 2

Prof. Philip Asherson   Phone: +44 (0) 207 848 0078 Email

PI for ESR project 13

Prof. Jonna Kuntsi   Phone: +44 (0) 207 848 0930 Email

Institute presentation

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a School of King's College London and the largest academic community in Europe devoted to the study and prevention of mental illness and brain disease. 

The complementary roles of the IoPPN are:  (i) to pioneer research into new and improved ways of understanding and treating mental illness and brain disease; (ii) to offer advanced research training for psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists and other scientific and paramedical workers. The IoPPN's greatest strength is the interdisciplinary nature of both its research strategy and educational activities, providing unique opportunities for students and staff.

The IoPPN comprises three Academic Divisions in Neurosciences; Psychiatry; and Psychological & Systems Sciences. These encompass researchers with interests in addictions, biostatistics, child and adolescent psychiatry, basic and clinical neuroscience, forensic mental health sciences, health service and population research, neuroimaging, psychology, psychological medicine, old age psychiatry and psychosis studies. The Institute also hosts an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and an NIHR Dementia Unit, as well as the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre.

The MRC SGDP Centre’s mission is to undertake research on the impact and interplay between genetic, environmental and developmental factors, and their roles in the causal processes underlying the origins and course of multifactorial mental disorders; to consider the implications for clinical practice and public health policy; and to train others in the methodologies involved. The department’s focus is on common psychiatric disorders that emerge in childhood such as mood disorders (anxiety and depression), ‘externalising’ disorders (disruptive behaviour including ADHD and addictions) and cognitive disorders (learning disabilities and the autistic spectrum). Amongst the academics within the centre are extraordinarily diverse and multi-disciplinary expertise in subjects such as psychiatry, social psychology, psychopathology, personality traits, quantitative and statistical genetics, epigenetics, bioinformatics, molecular genetics, quantitative genetics, EEG/ERP, developmental psychology and environmental effects.