IoP researchers recognised at the 2010 British Association for Psychopharmacology Meeting
28 July 2010
Livia Carvalho and Valeria Mondelli from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's received the 2010 Robert Kerwin International Conference Bursary and the 2010 Junior Clinical Psychopharmacology Award respectively at the 2010 British Association for Psychopharmacology Meeting in Harrogate (25-28 July 2010).
Dr Carvalho's research found that a lack of response to antidepressant treatment in depressed patients is associated with increased blood levels of cytokines, which are biomarkers produced by the immune cells that greatly affect brain function. The Robert Kerwin Bursary, established in memory of one of the most respected academics ever to have worked at the IoP, will cover Dr Carvalho's travel expenses and registration fee to present her work at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in 2011.
Dr Mondelli studied the relationship between stress and physical health in psychosis, with a particular interest in stress hormones. The Junior Clinical Psychopharmacology Award is given to candidates selected internationally who are within ten years from medical graduation.
Both researchers work in the Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology Laboratory (SPI-Lab), in the Section of Perinatal Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, headed by Dr Carmine M Pariante. They are based in the James Black Centre, where they work very closely with the Centre for Cellular Basis of Behaviour. Their research is funded primarily by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health (BRC) and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) at the IoP.