Dr Fiona Gaughran

Biography

Dr Fiona Gaughran has had a visiting attachment to IoPPN since 2000 and took up a substantive role in 2014. She is a Reader in Psychopharmacology and Physical Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. She is also Director of Research and Development at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in London, where she is the Lead Consultant for the National Psychosis Service.

Dr Gaughran qualified in Medicine from University College, Dublin, later receiving her Doctorate from University College Cork. She practiced first in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, and went on to complete general and specialist psychiatry training in the Irish Southern Health Board and National schemes respectively. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in London, Edinburgh and Dublin.

As part of her clinical role, Dr Gaughran is responsible for implementing new, evidence-based approaches to help people with psychotic illnesses that have not responded well to treatment. She has a keen interest in the physical health of people with psychosis and has published widely in this field. Dr Gaughran has published over 150 papers, and book chapters and recently co-edited books on “Treatment Refractory Schizophrenia” and “Physical Health in Schizophrenia” and the “Maudsley Practice Guidelines for Physical Health in Psychiatry”.

Research interests

Dr Gaughran’s research interests are largely focused on the interface between physical health and severe mental illness and on the management of psychosis. She also has an interest in improving the implementation and application of digital technology and is the Theme Lead for Applied Informatics in the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration in South London.

She is currently supervising MD Res and PhD students in areas such as High Intensity Interval Training in Psychosis; HbA1c levels in people with severe mental illness; Management of dysglycaemia in mental health settings; Stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and co-morbid mental health problems; Fatigue in people with psychosis.