Principal Investigators
A Principal Investigator (PI) is a person responsible for the conduct of a research study at a site. They are responsible for the planning, design and management of a research project from its inception to the delivery of results and dissemination.
Most of the PIs at the OH CRF are based in the University of Oxford, here you can find out more about our PIs:
Professor Belinda Lennox
CRF at the Warneford enables delivery trials of new medications and treatments for patients with mental illness, within a mental health setting. This provides tangible benefits for patients, researchers and clinicians
Professor Andrea Cipriani
One of the USPs of the OH-CRF is the outstanding quality of the staff, who are specifically trained to support and deliver early translational and experimental medicine research. All nurses are cannulation trained and ad-hoc training is delivered regularly by OH-CRF medics, Lead Roles and OHFT pharmacy staff on controlled drug ordering, recording, and storing; use of blood tests and tubes; vital signs and ECG processes and how to record medical histories and concomitant medications. An in-house programme designed to increase numbers of OH-CRF staff trained in administering specialist cognitive rating scales was developed and this has helped standardise the blind assessment of patient across multiple recruiting sites for PETRUSHKA. Moreover, now that the OH-CRF has also dedicated PPIE and EDI strategies, this has proven to be a material contribution to increase diversity and inclusion in clinical trials.
Professor Vanessa Raymont
The CRF is a vital in my delivering research, as the staff have incredible experience and expertise supporting people with dementia and mental health diagnoses. This means they allow me, as a PI, to very efficiently and effectively offer broad-ranging and complex studies to as many people as possible.
Professor Phil Cowen
With its skilled and dedicated clinical staff, the CRF enables the key step in treatment discovery – engagement with patients
Professor Michael Browning
The CRF really helps my group run experimental studies in patients to better understand whether and how treatments work in depression. If it wasn’t there we simply wouldn’t be able to run the studies we do
Dr Katharine Smith
The CRF enables me to set up and deliver complex studies with novel agents and targets. It is invaluable to be able to access set up resources which streamline all of the complex processes required, and the OH CRF provides a unique portfolio of experience and expertise across mental health , psychology and psychiatry, which enables us to study and deliver innovative treatments and interventions to a wide and diverse range of people.
Catherine Harmer
Working with the CRF allows us to run our experimental medicine studies in the best possible way. It’s a safe and calm oasis with highly trained staff and collaborators delivering on highly complex and demanding studies. Working with the CRF has allowed us to investigate key questions such as how do fast acting antidepressants, such as ketamine, work in depression and are there new drug treatments which may also have early effects in the treatment of depression
We are dedicated researchers delivering clinical trials. These trials explore potential new approaches that could lead to better treatments and care.
Collaboration is essential to our success
We work closely with the Oxford Health BRC [link], a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. This allows us to combine academic and clinical expertise, ensuring our research remains relevant and applicable.
We partner with leading institutions like Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University and Oxford University Hospital, along with other research centres across the UK. Sharing knowledge and resources accelerates our progress and ensures our findings benefit people everywhere.
The safety and well-being of all our research participants is paramount. Our highly trained team guides them through each stage with clarity and respect, ensuring they understand their involvement and are comfortable throughout.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly adapted our expertise to contribute to critical vaccine trials. This demonstrates our commitment to responding to pressing needs and making a real difference in public health.
We value public and patient involvement in our work. Their experiences and perspectives are invaluable in shaping our research agenda and ensuring its relevance to the people it ultimately aims to help.
As part of a broader network focused on mental health research, we contribute to collaborative efforts that drive significant advancements in the field. Our dedication to this vital area remains unwavering
Industry
- Angelini Pharma: Funded a project on patient perspectives of antidepressant side effects.
- Biotekna SRL: Collaborated on the PATTERN study to measure physiological parameters in mental illness.
- Janssen: A pharmaceutical company with an ongoing strategic partnership for depression trials.
- Lilly – partnership including improving patient pathways in dementia diagnosis
- Oxehealth: Provides technology for non-invasive patient monitoring in research on sleep disturbance and other parameters.
- AstraZeneca
- Boehringer Ingelheim
- GSK
- Lundbeck
- Merck
- Mezurio Inc.
- Novavax
- Novo Nordisk
- Pfizer
- P1vital Ltd
- P1vital Products Ltd
- Roche
- Sanofi
Academic
- University of Toronto: A new transatlantic partnership has been established to leverage the complementary strengths of both institutions and their respective healthcare providers. Specific details about collaborative projects are not mentioned, but the focus will likely be on knowledge exchange and joint research initiatives [1].
- University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry: A close partnership exists for research and development, including the Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab at UOXF [1].
- Oxford BRC: Collaborates on research focusing on treatment resistant depression and psychosis.
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), the Wellcome Institute for Neuroimaging Oxford (WIN): Collaborate on research focusing on treatment resistant depression and psychosis.
Healthcare
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR): Funds the OH-CRF and provides a network for collaboration with other CRFs.
- Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS FT: NHS Trusts collaborating on new research areas like early treatment of psychosis.
- Oxford University Hospitals (OUH): Collaborates to leverage capabilities of both CRFs for different research needs.
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS FT and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust: Neighbouring Trusts with whom OH-CRF collaborates for planning and research.
- Mental Health RDT and Memory and Cognition RDT: Collaborate to raise patient awareness and recruit participants for OH-CRF studies.
- NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration – (MH-TRC): Collaborate on a national level for mental health research.
- Brain Health Centre (BHC): Collaborate to share expertise and ensure access to MRI and PET scanning for dementia studies.