Giuseppe Pierpaolo Merola joined King’s College London in 2025 as an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. He is a GMC-registered Specialist in Psychiatry with clinical and academic experience across the UK and Europe. His research focuses on psychiatric genetics, psychometrics, and the integration of genomic, environmental and clinical data to improve prognosis and treatment stratification in mood and psychotic disorders.

He completed his medical degree at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and his postgraduate specialty training in Psychiatry at the University of Florence, with rotations spanning general adult, liaison, forensic, and subspecialty services. Prior to joining King’s, he held consultant-level roles in Italy and worked independently in UK private practice, including structured ADHD and ASD assessments.

He has conducted research at several international institutions and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, with over 35 research outputs. He is a recipient of a competitive Medical Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowship and currently combines academic research with honorary clinical work at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Research interests

• Psychiatric and behavioural genetics
• Psychometrics and transdiagnostic traits
• Mood disorders, psychosis and neurodevelopmental conditions
• Integration of genomic, environmental and clinical data
• Evolutionary approaches to mental health

Teaching

• Clinical teaching and supervision during psychiatry training in Italy
• Academic teaching contributions within research placements

Expertise and public engagement

• Author of Il paradosso della schizofrenia, a popular science book on genetics, psychiatry, and anthropology
• Peer reviewer for leading international journals including Nature Mental Health, Schizophrenia, Genes, Brain and Behavior and BMC Psychiatry
• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Psychiatry
• Editorial Board Member, The Journal of Sexual Medicine and Sage Open Medicine
• Speaker at international conferences and invited academic seminars
• TV and radio guest speaker on mental health topics in Italy
  
  

Find Dr Merola's publications on ORCID or Google Scholar.