It’s an honour to get this award but it did worry me a little because it rather implies that I am not expected to make any more contributions in my lifetime. Fortunately, I am sharing the award with a brilliant Dutch colleague so I reassure myself that I am getting half a lifetime award, and I can come back and get the second part in ten years’ time.
Professor Sir Robin Murray
11 June 2026
Professors Sir Robin Murray and Oliver Howes receive accolades at ECNP Awards
Both professors, who work in the Department of Psychosis Studies, and at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, have received recognition from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) as part of their 2026 awards.
Professor Sir Robin Murray received a Lifetime Achievement Award; this recognition was shared with Professor Marian Joels from UMC Utrecht. Professor Oliver Howes was presented with the 2026 ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award.
Founded in 1987, the ECNP is a scientific organisation with over 1,000 members. It exists to help ensure advances in brain function and human behaviour are translated into better treatments and improved public health.
Professor Sir Robin Murray, Professor of Psychiatric Research received the ECNP Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his outstanding career-long contributions to advancing applied and translational neuroscience in Europe. The Award specifically honoured his pioneering work that transformed understanding of psychosis, from early advances in drug safety to establishing the influential neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia.
Sir Robin has spent most of his working life at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience except for one year at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the USA. His particular interest is in psychosis. He was one of the first to suggest that schizophrenia was in part a neurodevelopmental disorder, and he and his colleagues have contributed to the understanding that environmental factors such as obstetric events, drug abuse and social adversity dysregulate striatal dopamine and thus increase the risk of psychosis. He also cares for people with psychosis at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Professor Oliver Howes, Professor of Molecular Psychiatry receives the 2026 ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award. This award recognises his outstanding contributions to advancing understanding of the brain changes underlying psychotic disorders as well as the molecular mechanisms of psychotropic drugs.
Oliver Howes is Head of Department, Psychosis Studies, and a Consultant Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust where he runs a team for people with difficult to treat psychotic disorders, including helping people where treatment hasn’t worked or with side-effects. He leads the Psychiatric Imaging Group at the IoPPN and has been named as one of the world’s leading scientists in both psychiatry and neuroscience by ISI Thompson because of high impact publications over the last decade.
Receiving this award has made my year! I am fortunate to work with a great many talented and fantastic students and colleagues. I am also very grateful to the patients and others who have participated in our studies. This award recognises you all; thankyou all your help! The award is for discoveries that could lead to better treatments for mental illnesses. I hope we can get the funding to take the next steps into the clinic to help improve the lives of patients at the Maudsley Hospital and beyond.
Professor Oliver Howes
Both Professor Sir Robin Murray and Professor Oliver Howes will be presented with their awards during the 39th ECNP Congress in October in Germany.
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Professor of Molecular Psychiatry
Professor of Psychiatric Research