Ed Bullmore is Regius Professor of Psychiatry and Head, School of Academic Psychiatry, at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London, returning to King's in 2025.

Ed Bullmore studied medicine at the University of Oxford and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, graduating in 1985. He completed specialist training in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and was supported by the Wellcome Trust to do a PhD in statistical analysis of brain MRI scans at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, supervised by Professor Michael Brammer.

His scientific work has principally focused on developing new computational tools for analysis of the complex network organization of the human brain, and understanding how schizophrenia and other major mental health disorders arise from atypical development of brain networks. His research has been highly cited with H-index greater than 200.

He was a Professor of Psychiatry in the University of Cambridge from 1999 (Head of Department of Psychiatry, 2014-2021; Director, Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, 2014-2024; Deputy Head, School of Clinical Medicine, 2021-2025). He worked half-time for GlaxoSmithKline (2005-2019) as Vice-President Experimental Medicine, latterly focused on immune mechanisms for depression, as described in his best-selling book, The Inflamed Mind.

Since 2023 he has been an Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge; and since 2025 an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge.

He has also served as Treasurer of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2018-2023) and as Director of R&D (2010-2021) and Non-Executive Director of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (2021-2025).

Research Interests

• Brain imaging
• Network neuroscience
• Immuno-psychiatry
• Schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders

Expertise and public engagement 

Ed Bullmore has expertise in brain imaging and its application to understanding the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. He has worked closely with industry to support the development of new therapeutics, especially by deeper understanding of how the immune system can contribute to mental illness and psychological symptoms.

He has experience of public engagement in many media (TV, radio, print journalism, public talks etc) and on many topics. In 2018 he published The Inflamed Mind, a general introduction to the links between depression and inflammation, which was a Sunday Times best-seller. In September 2025 he published The Divided Mind, a general introduction to the past, present and future of schizophrenia.