Title: NIHR Maudsley BRC
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Our proposed BRC targets mental health, pain and dementia which include 13 of the 25 most &ldquo;burdensome&rdquo; health conditions. We are a partnership between the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), the UK s largest mental health trust, and King s College London (KCL), which houses the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), Europe s leading academic centre for mental health research. Over the last five years IoPPN has become the world s leading producer of high-quality research papers in mental health. Our science has resulted in real changes to patients, including talking therapies for psychosis, remote seizure detection in epilepsy, reducing harmful antipsychotic prescriptions for dementia. In the UK s university research quality assessment the impact of our research was judged to be 100% world leading or internationally excellent . We work extensively with patients, industry and charities. We have developed new genetic and imaging technologies, new insights into the psychological basis of mental illness, new ways of working with electronic medical records, and effective ways to prevent unhealthy behaviour. Building on these successes, we will focus on four major aims: Precision Psychiatry &ndash; Many patients need to try several treatments before finding one which works. We will use genetic information and neuroimaging to guide treatment choice. For example, we have developed a neuroimaging test for autism to select patients more likely to respond to new treatments. Over the course of this BRC we will develop similar tests for use in schizophrenia, depression and dementia. Novel Therapies &ndash; Using our specialised Clinical Research Facility, extensive databases, and consent-gathering procedures, we lead trials of new treatments. For example, we developed pimavanserin, a new treatment for psychosis symptoms in Parkinson s disease which avoids side-effects other medications produce; we have also developed computer-based cognitive therapies for schizophrenia, now available in 14 countries. We will conduct at least 30 trials of drugs and psychological treatments, including new therapies like virtual reality. Translational Informatics &ndash; We host the UK s first research database of over 270,000 confidential mental health records, and have developed artificial intelligence techniques allowing information to be extracted automatically. This research identified that people with severe mental illness die 15 years prematurely, compared to the general population. We will develop new techniques allowing us to predict events such as suicide attempts and adverse drug reactions, and using remote monitoring for patient benefit. Our work demonstrated that people with both physical and mental illnesses have poorer outcomes, so we developed IMPARTS, a tablet computer-based system which detects and monitors physical and mental disorders. We are planning to test more new ways to improve outcomes in people with physical and mental illnesses, including psychological and pharmaceutical treatments. By the end of the proposed BRC we will have involved 50,000 patients in new treatment studies, trialled 30 new treatments, doubled our industry engagement and introduced at least two new digital interventions into routine NHS use. For too long mental health treatments have lagged behind the rest of medicine &ndash; our agenda will allow us to narrow the gap.

Lay abstract: Our proposed BRC targets mental health, pain and dementia which include 13 of the 25 most &ldquo;burdensome&rdquo; health conditions. We are a partnership between the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), the UK s largest mental health trust, and King s College London (KCL), which houses the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), Europe s leading academic centre for mental health research. Over the last five years IoPPN has become the world s leading producer of high-quality research papers in mental health. Our science has resulted in real changes to patients, including talking therapies for psychosis, remote seizure detection in epilepsy, reducing harmful antipsychotic prescriptions for dementia. In the UK s university research quality assessment the impact of our research was judged to be 100% world leading or internationally excellent . We work extensively with patients, industry and charities. We have developed new genetic and imaging technologies, new insights into the psychological basis of mental illness, new ways of working with electronic medical records, and effective ways to prevent unhealthy behaviour. Building on these successes, we will focus on four major aims: Precision Psychiatry &ndash; Many patients need to try several treatments before finding one which works. We will use genetic information and neuroimaging to guide treatment choice. For example, we have developed a neuroimaging test for autism to select patients more likely to respond to new treatments. Over the course of this BRC we will develop similar tests for use in schizophrenia, depression and dementia. Novel Therapies &ndash; Using our specialised Clinical Research Facility, extensive databases, and consent-gathering procedures, we lead trials of new treatments. For example, we developed pimavanserin, a new treatment for psychosis symptoms in Parkinson s disease which avoids side-effects other medications produce; we have also developed computer-based cognitive therapies for schizophrenia, now available in 14 countries. We will conduct at least 30 trials of drugs and psychological treatments, including new therapies like virtual reality. Translational Informatics &ndash; We host the UK s first research database of over 270,000 confidential mental health records, and have developed artificial intelligence techniques allowing information to be extracted automatically. This research identified that people with severe mental illness die 15 years prematurely, compared to the general population. We will develop new techniques allowing us to predict events such as suicide attempts and adverse drug reactions, and using remote monitoring for patient benefit. Our work demonstrated that people with both physical and mental illnesses have poorer outcomes, so we developed IMPARTS, a tablet computer-based system which detects and monitors physical and mental disorders. We are planning to test more new ways to improve outcomes in people with physical and mental illnesses, including psychological and pharmaceutical treatments. By the end of the proposed BRC we will have involved 50,000 patients in new treatment studies, trialled 30 new treatments, doubled our industry engagement and introduced at least two new digital interventions into routine NHS use. For too long mental health treatments have lagged behind the rest of medicine &ndash; our agenda will allow us to narrow the gap.

Research activity codes: 2.6 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH