Old Age Psychiatry Research MPhil/PhD at Kings College London

Members of the Department work to develop new treatments and to find ways of getting the best for our patients from treatments that are already available. We are a friendly and motivated team who welcome collaboration and are keen to train the next generation of researchers in our field.

Members of the Department’s team carry out biological and clinical research that we believe will have important impact upon our understanding of dementia and other mental illnesses that affect older people and lead to the development of better treatments. We do this by working in close collaboration with the IoPPN’s Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health (https://www.maudsleybrc.nihr.ac.uk/) and SLaM Mental Health of Older Adults clinical services.

Our research into the basic biology of Alzheimer’s disease and the conduct of randomised controlled trials is internationally regarded. We have a particular commitment to the conduct of high quality independent clinical trials because the results of these can impact positively upon the availability of effective treatments.

Ongoing Department projects:

• PROTECT – online longitudinal study of healthy people aged over 50 answering crucial questions relating to brain ageing
• Visual hallucinations in eye disease, dementia and Parkinson's Disease
• Management of agitation in dementia
• Blood based biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease.
• New biomarkers for Dementia with Lewy Bodies
• ELAD trial – liraglutide for AD
• Brains for Dementia Research

Description

Members of the Department’s team carry out biological and clinical research that we believe will have an important impact upon our understanding of dementia and other mental illnesses that affect older people and lead to the development of better treatments. We do this by working in close collaboration with the IoPPN’s Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and SLaM Mental Health of Older Adults clinical services. Our research into the basic biology of dementia, the clinical features and the conduct of randomised controlled trials is internationally regarded. We have a particular commitment to the conduct of high quality independent clinical trials because the results of these can impact positively upon the availability of effective treatments.

Course study environment

Senior members of the Department offer supervision to students wishing to undertake a PhD or MD (Res). There are currently 7 full-time PhD students within the department.

Graduate research students work closely with their supervisors and enjoy regular meetings to discuss their progress. They also liaise with other members of staff with relevant research interests and are encouraged to attend and participate in departmental research presentations and other Institute seminars. There is a full induction for new graduate students on commencing their studies. Each full-time graduate research student is allocated their own workspace and computer; facilities for part-time students can be arranged according to their needs.