Oliver Howes receives Royal College of Psychiatrists Award
Oliver Howes, Professor of Molecular Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, and the London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, was yesterday named R N Jajoo Memorial Academic Researcher of the Year at the Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards.
Professor Oliver Howes is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, where, amongst other things, he runs a service for people with refractory psychoses.
Professor Howes received the award from Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes, chair of the Academic faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Professor Howes said, ‘It's a great honour to be recognised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in this way. My research usually involves lots of people so this award is also testament to the many fantastic students and colleagues at King's and the Maudsley who have helped with my studies. I am very grateful to them and the people who nominated me for their inspiration and support over the years. Most importantly I'd like to thank the patients who motivate and take part in our studies.’
The review panel said, ‘Professor Oliver Howes has an outstanding track-record of research and scholarship. Through using positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, his work has significantly contributed to our understanding of dopaminergic and glutamatergic function in psychotic disorders. Professor Howes is a committed clinician and has developed guidelines to improve clinical management. He also mentors a number of trainees in developing their careers.’
Dr Sridevi Kalidindi, Consultant Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and Visiting Senior Clinical Lecturer, IoPPN, was named Psychiatrist of the Year.
Dr Kalidindi is the immediate past Chair of the Faculty of Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), and as such she has collaborated to set the direction of Rehabilitation Psychiatry nationally. She is a co-author of the national Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health Commissioning Guidance for Rehabilitation Services and also co-developed the national RCPsych Rehab service standards, used by 60 per cent of in-patient Rehab units in England to date.
The ceremony, now in its ninth year, was attended by more than 300 guests working in psychiatry and mental health.
Professor Wendy Burn, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists congratulated the shortlisted individuals and teams before the proceedings began; mentioning how hugely impressed the judges were by this year’s quality of entries received for each category of the award.
Musician, journalist columnist, presenter and Church of England priest The Reverend Richard Coles, hosted the awards.