Psychological Medicine

Robin Murray
Psychological Medicine MPhil/PhD
I trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and was formerly Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry before taking my current post as Professor and Head of the Division of Psychological Medicine & Psychiatry. I also run a clinical unit, part of the National Psychosis Unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital; people from across the UK come to this specialist unit for both outpatient and inpatient care.
My research focuses on finding the causes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and on using this knowledge to develop better treatment methods. For example, my colleagues and I study twins where one has schizophrenia and the other doesn't and examine molecular genetics and brain changes in people with schizophrenia. We are very interested in the questions of how cannabis can induce psychosis, and why schizophrenia is especially common in London and in immigrants. Consequently, I am the most widely cited international researcher in the field of schizophrenia.
Teaching is one of my greatest pleasures and research students join a community of over 100 PhD students in the Department of Psychological Medicine & Psychiatry alone, with diverse projects covering topics such as addiction, Alzheimer's disease, eating disorders and psychosis. Researchers from the department have gone on to pursue a range of careers as consultant psychiatrists, research fellows and lecturers amongst others.