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Robert Stewart

Professor Robert Stewart

Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology & Clinical Informatics

Research interests

  • Mental Health
  • Psychiatry

Biography

Rob Stewart is Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Clinical Informatics, and is Deputy Lead of the Informatics Theme in the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. He has been Academic Lead for the Maudsley’s Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) platform since its development in 2007-8.

CRIS is an internationally unique data resource comprising de-identified full electronic mental health records from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (over 500,000 patients) with extensive enhancement through multiple data linkages and natural language processing (‘text-mining’) algorithms. CRIS has been used extensively for research to improve the understanding of mental health conditions and mental healthcare services, and has supported over 250 peer-reviewed publications.  

Rob Stewart gained his degree in medicine (MB ChB 1991) from the University of Leeds and worked for 2 years in Yorkshire before training in psychiatry in north London. He joined the Institute of Psychiatry as a junior researcher in 1996 and has worked on the epidemiology of dementia and other late-life mental disorders and on a range of International Mental Health initiatives, as well as his more recent role in supporting mental health data science. He is a practising Consultant in Liaison Old Age Psychiatry.

Research Interests

  • Clinical informatics and mental healthcare data science 
  • Mental health in older adults 
  • Dementia epidemiology 
  • Physical-mental health interface 

Rob Stewart’s work on CRIS has focused particularly on the physical health inequalities faced by people with mental disorders, as well as longstanding interests in the physical health impact of dementia and its implications for safer prescribing. He directs several programmes of work to improve the quantity and quality of data from routine electronic health records through natural language processing.  

Research Groups

NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre

Expertise and Public Engagement

Rob Stewart is Co-Director of DATAMIND, the MRC-funded HDRUK hub for mental health data science.

Rob Stewart has served as Academic Secretary for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry, and as Chair of the European Psychiatric Association Section of Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry.   

    Research

    hospital emergency room uk elderly man wheelchair csi project 780x450
    Understanding Factors that Influence Why People with Dementia Make Transitions from the Community to Acute Hospital Care Settings in the Last Months of Life

    Utilising routine data to understand why people with dementia move between healthcare settings in the months preceding their death.

    Project status: Ongoing

    dementia older lady looking out window csi project 780x450
    Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care

    Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care) is a joint programme between King’s College London and University College London.

    Project status: Ongoing

    COVID-19 Ethnic Inequalities in Mental health and Multimorbidities: COVE-IMM study

    Informed by perspectives of people with lived experience, this study will look to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated ethnic health inequalities

    Project status: Ongoing

    Mental Health
    Social and Economic Predictors of the Severe Mental Disorders: The SEP-MD Data Linkage Study

    Linking health records and census data to advance understanding of mortality, in-patient admissions and worklessness among people with severe mental illness.

    Project status: Ongoing

    Family thumbnail
    eLIXIR, Born in South London

    Addressing relationships between maternal and child physical health and investigating interactions with mental health

    FEATURE CUSP Window
    Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) London

    CUSP London is a collaboration between King’s College London and New York University, which brings together researchers, businesses, local authorities and government agencies, to apply data science and visual analytics to challenges in and for London.

    CTI-AI
    Centre for Translational Informatics (CTI)

    The Centre for Translational Informatics (CTI) is finding new ways to improve healthcare through digital technologies and accelerating their delivery to patients.

    PONS Centre banner brain scan
    NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health

    National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre, designed to accelerate the advancement of cutting-edge technology to better understand brain health and ageing and help people live healthier lives for longer.

    News

    Dr Brendon Stubbs receives NIHR Fellowship

    Dr Stubbs was awarded the five year fellowship for research in persistent pain and serious mental illness.

    Brendon Stubbs 780x440

    £1.68m Wellcome funding to explore impact of extreme heat on mental health of urban communities

    Wellcome Climate Impacts Award will fund IoPPN-led research aimed at understanding the relationship between extreme heat and mental wellbeing, particularly...

    Heat wave MH 780x440

    Critical care admissions for people with dementia are increasing for those in their last year of life

    A study led by the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London has found that whilst critical care admissions for people with dementia are going down,...

    older man smiling at home

    Exposure to air pollution is associated with increased use of psychiatric services in people with dementia

    New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at king's College London has found exposure to air pollution is associated...

    Air-pollution

    Professor Robert Stewart awarded 'Collaborate to Innovate' project

    Professor Robert Stewart, who is part of the Centre for Translational Informatics leadership team, has been selected to be part of a new £2m programme to...

    light bulb innovation

    Antidepressants prescription associated with a lower risk of testing positive for COVID-19

    New research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and supported by NIHR Maudsley BRC has found that community mental health...

    Oleg Glebov study

    Higher rates of HIV diagnoses found amongst mental health service users

    New research has found HIV is 2.5 times more frequent in people who use mental health services than the general population in South London.

    HIV

    King's to participate in partnership for improved mother and infant data

    The partnership will improve maternal and infant health, particularly among disadvantaged groups, by developing new resources and tools for research that use...

    Electronic Health Data

    Researchers review impact of pre-existing mental health disorders on received cancer treatment

    A new systematic review from scientists at King’s explores the disparities in cancer treatment for people with and without pre-existing mental health...

    cancer treatment mental health 780x450

    New study highlights need for investment in better dementia end-of-life care

    Research from King’s College London found that people living with dementia experience high levels of unplanned hospital admissions towards the end of life....

    elderly lady hospital bed gown patient csi 1903x558

      Research

      hospital emergency room uk elderly man wheelchair csi project 780x450
      Understanding Factors that Influence Why People with Dementia Make Transitions from the Community to Acute Hospital Care Settings in the Last Months of Life

      Utilising routine data to understand why people with dementia move between healthcare settings in the months preceding their death.

      Project status: Ongoing

      dementia older lady looking out window csi project 780x450
      Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care

      Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care) is a joint programme between King’s College London and University College London.

      Project status: Ongoing

      COVID-19 Ethnic Inequalities in Mental health and Multimorbidities: COVE-IMM study

      Informed by perspectives of people with lived experience, this study will look to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated ethnic health inequalities

      Project status: Ongoing

      Mental Health
      Social and Economic Predictors of the Severe Mental Disorders: The SEP-MD Data Linkage Study

      Linking health records and census data to advance understanding of mortality, in-patient admissions and worklessness among people with severe mental illness.

      Project status: Ongoing

      Family thumbnail
      eLIXIR, Born in South London

      Addressing relationships between maternal and child physical health and investigating interactions with mental health

      FEATURE CUSP Window
      Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) London

      CUSP London is a collaboration between King’s College London and New York University, which brings together researchers, businesses, local authorities and government agencies, to apply data science and visual analytics to challenges in and for London.

      CTI-AI
      Centre for Translational Informatics (CTI)

      The Centre for Translational Informatics (CTI) is finding new ways to improve healthcare through digital technologies and accelerating their delivery to patients.

      PONS Centre banner brain scan
      NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health

      National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre, designed to accelerate the advancement of cutting-edge technology to better understand brain health and ageing and help people live healthier lives for longer.

      News

      Dr Brendon Stubbs receives NIHR Fellowship

      Dr Stubbs was awarded the five year fellowship for research in persistent pain and serious mental illness.

      Brendon Stubbs 780x440

      £1.68m Wellcome funding to explore impact of extreme heat on mental health of urban communities

      Wellcome Climate Impacts Award will fund IoPPN-led research aimed at understanding the relationship between extreme heat and mental wellbeing, particularly...

      Heat wave MH 780x440

      Critical care admissions for people with dementia are increasing for those in their last year of life

      A study led by the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London has found that whilst critical care admissions for people with dementia are going down,...

      older man smiling at home

      Exposure to air pollution is associated with increased use of psychiatric services in people with dementia

      New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at king's College London has found exposure to air pollution is associated...

      Air-pollution

      Professor Robert Stewart awarded 'Collaborate to Innovate' project

      Professor Robert Stewart, who is part of the Centre for Translational Informatics leadership team, has been selected to be part of a new £2m programme to...

      light bulb innovation

      Antidepressants prescription associated with a lower risk of testing positive for COVID-19

      New research led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and supported by NIHR Maudsley BRC has found that community mental health...

      Oleg Glebov study

      Higher rates of HIV diagnoses found amongst mental health service users

      New research has found HIV is 2.5 times more frequent in people who use mental health services than the general population in South London.

      HIV

      King's to participate in partnership for improved mother and infant data

      The partnership will improve maternal and infant health, particularly among disadvantaged groups, by developing new resources and tools for research that use...

      Electronic Health Data

      Researchers review impact of pre-existing mental health disorders on received cancer treatment

      A new systematic review from scientists at King’s explores the disparities in cancer treatment for people with and without pre-existing mental health...

      cancer treatment mental health 780x450

      New study highlights need for investment in better dementia end-of-life care

      Research from King’s College London found that people living with dementia experience high levels of unplanned hospital admissions towards the end of life....

      elderly lady hospital bed gown patient csi 1903x558