Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration

 The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) is a national network of centres of excellence in mental health translational and clinical research that facilitates collaboration with charities and industry partners.

What we can offer
Our expertise and strengths
Who we are
Our projects
Contact us

What we can offer

NIHR Mental Health TRC offers industry and charities:

• Quicker and easier feedback to clinical research proposals
• Partnership with service users affected by mental health problems across the country
• Access to mental illness cohorts for experimental medicine studies
• Accelerated translation of discoveries into better treatments.
  
  

Our expertise and strengths

The main focus areas of this collaboration include but are not limited to:

• Mood disorders, particularly treatment-resistant depression: Led by Dr Michael Browning
• Early psychosis: Led by Dr Paolo Fusar-Poli
• Development of well-defined patient cohorts through the NIHR BioResource: Led by Professor Gerome Breen
• Medical Informatics: Co-led by Professor Ann John and Professor John Ainsworth
• Training and Capacity Development: Co-led by Dr Kate Saunders and Dr Shruti Garg

The NIHR Mental Health TRC brings together:

• World-class mental health clinical research facilities across nine of the NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centres and Clinical Research Facilities
• The NIHR Mental Health MedTech Co-operative
• Five additional centres of excellence across England, Scotland, and Wales.
  
  

Who we are

The NIHR Mental Health TRC is co-led by Chair Professor John Geddes from the NIHR Oxford Health BRC, Chair Emeritus Professor Matthew Hotopf from the NIHR Maudsley BRC, and Deputy Chair Professor Rachel Upthegrove from the University of Birmingham.

By working collaboratively, we can accelerate this innovation to help those with mental illness.”

Read the blog from Professor Matthew Hotopf, Chair of the NIHR Mental Health TRC

To find out more about the NIHR Mental Health TRC and how your company or organisation can partner with us, E-mail: nocri@nihr.ac.uk 

The breadth of mental health expertise in the UK

This map demonstrates some of the key mental health centres based across the UK (listed below) which are part of this Collaboration.

List of Mental Health TRC partner organisations

NIHR Institutions and clinical academic leads:

• Maudsley BRC and associated CRF at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
  Professor Matthew Hotopf (Emeritus Chair of the Mental Health-TRC)
• Oxford Health BRC and associated NIHR CRF at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
  Professor John Geddes (Chair of the Mental Health-TRC)
• Nottingham BRC and MindTech Co-operative
  Professor Chris Hollis
• Bristol BRC
  Dr Jonathan Evans
• Cambridge BRC and associated CRF at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  Professor Ed Bullmore
• UCLH BRC
  Professor Anthony David
• Imperial BRC
  Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes
• Exeter CRF
  Professor Clive Ballard
• Manchester CRF in association with Greater Manchester Mental health NHS Foundation Trust
  Professor Bill Deakin

Other centres and clinical academic leads:

• Cardiff University, National Centre for Mental Health
  Professor James Walters
• NHS Research Scotland Mental Health Network
  Professor Andrew Gumley
• Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
  Professor David Baldwin
• Newcastle University
  Professor Hamish McAllister-Williams
• University of Birmingham
  Professor Rachel Upthegrove (Deputy Chair of the Mental Health-TRC)

Our projects

The Mental Health TRC boasts a wealth of expertise in a wide variety of areas within mental health. The TRC and its members are actively involved in different projects aiming to improve research into mental health. Some examples include:

• Children and Young People’s Mental Health Project - experts from across the TRC identify research priorities and develop research proposals in this important area.
• Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study - As part of its workstream “Development of well-defined patient cohorts through the NIHR Bioresource”, the TRC has been prompting the use of this trial-ready cohort among both companies and mental health researchers. Read this update on recruitment to the GLAD study.
• PHOSP-COVID (Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study) - The TRC manages the Brain Working Group of this study.
• The COVID-19 and Mental Health Studies Register - This register, funded and led by the MH-TRC, collated information about research projects that aimed to study the mental health aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Information about 92 studies was gathered and was immediately made openly available during the first year of the pandemic. This register helped prevent duplicate efforts, and coordinated and facilitated the development of high-quality collaborative mental health research in the UK within the context of the COVID-19.
• The NIHR Incubator for Mental Health Research - This NIHR Incubator offers practical advice, connections, and career development opportunities for aspiring researchers in mental health.  Training, capacity development, and mentoring the next generation of future leaders and academics in mental health is a key priority for the MH-TRC.  Read this blog from about how the Incubator aims to support academic researchers in mental health.  

Contact us

To find out more about the NIHR Mental Health TRC and how your company or organisation can partner with us, E-mail: nocri@nihr.ac.uk