Prof Allan Young to head up new IoP Centre for Affective Disorders
King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) is delighted to announce that Professor Allan Young has joined the Institute to head up the new Centre for Affective Disorders (CfAD).
Focusing on mood and anxiety disorders, CfAD will be a centre of excellence for understanding the science related to these conditions and using this knowledge to help develop new treatments of all types, including psychological and pharmacological.
Professor Allan Young, MB, ChB, MPhil, PhD, FRCPsych, FRCP(C), was the former Chair of Psychiatry at Imperial College London where he was also Director of the Centre for Mental Health within the Division of Brain Sciences. His research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has held academic appointments at the Universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, Newcastle upon Tyne, (latterly holding the Chair of General Psychiatry at Newcastle) and UBC, Vancouver, Canada where he held the Leading Edge Endowment Fund Endowed Chair in Research in the Department of Psychiatry and was also the Director of the Institute of Mental Health.
Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean and Head of School at the IoP said, ‘We are delighted to welcome such a distinguished scholar to lead our new Centre for Affective Disorders. Professor Young’s strong track record in this important area makes him a natural choice to advance this exciting addition to the Institute’s research portfolio.’
CfAD brings together a number of world leading clinician scientists who already work at King’s College London including Professors Anthony Cleare, Andre Tylee, Carmine Pariante and others.
Professor Young said: ‘Mood and anxiety disorders cause great suffering for people. Affective disorders overlap with many other areas of psychiatry and medicine so we are looking forward to working with colleagues throughout King’s and more widely. Our aim is to foster and encourage academic research to combat these devastating disorders.’
CfAD hosts the International Society for Affective Disorders and World Psychiatric Association Section for Affective Disorders.
Professor Young is a member of a number of editorial boards and is a member of numerous professional and scientific societies. He is currently Treasurer of the International Society for Affective Disorders and Chair of the Psychopharmacology Group in the Royal College of Psychiatrists.