I am chuffed to receive this award. I'm motivated by the desperate need better treatments for schizophrenia, so it is a real boost that the award recognises our translational work. Of course, I couldn't have done this without the help of many talented students and colleagues, and patients who take part. This award goes out to them all. Thank you!
Professor Oliver Howes, Head of Department of Psychosis Studies, School of Academic Psychiatry, King’s IoPPN
25 April 2025
Professors Oliver Howes and Marta Di Forti presented with Schizophrenia Research Society Outstanding Translational Research Awards
Professor Howes and Professor Di Forti were presented their awards on 29 March 2025 at the 2025 Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society in Chicago, Illinois.
The Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Outstanding Translational Research Award recognises an outstanding contribution to schizophrenia research – either a single discovery or a cumulative body of work which has translational impact.
The SIRS named two 2025 awardees, both based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.
Oliver Howes is Professor of Molecular Psychiatry and Head of the Department of Psychosis Studies at the IoPPN. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist at The Maudsley Hospital, where he runs a clinical service for people with psychosis.
His research interests centre on trying to understand what underlies mental illnesses and to develop better treatments for them. This includes the role of dopamine, GABA, glutamate, and the immune systems. He has published over 400 scientific papers.
His work has been recognised through a number of awards including the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Award for Translational Research (2022), Royal College of Psychiatrists Researcher of the Year Award (2017), Schizophrenia International Research Society Rising Star Award (2013), European Psychiatric Association Biological Psychiatry Prize (2012), and the Royal Society of Medicine Psychiatry Prize (2010). Web of Science named him as one of the most influential researchers in the world over the last decade. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.
Marta Di Forti is Professor of Drugs, Genes and Psychosis in the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the IoPPN, and Honorary Consultant Adult Psychiatrist in Lambeth EI Community team at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
She is internationally renowned as an expert in cannabis use and psychosis and is the first author of three of the five most frequently cited research papers on this topic. She leads the UK’s first Cannabis Clinic for patients with psychosis at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She also established Europe’s first dedicated clinic for young people with cannabis-induced psychosis who use cannabis.
This award celebrates the work of my team and, more importantly, the patients under my care and their families who have inspired me. It has reminded me that the true meaning of research is to improve the care and life of those we serve as clinicians.
Professor Marta Di Forti, Professor of Drugs, Genes and Psychosis at King’s IoPPN
Professor Di Forti has received numerous awards for her work cannabis use and psychosis, including the Royal College of Psychiatrist Researcher of the Year Prize (2021), and an MRC Senior Research Fellowship (2020). With her team she showed for the first time that use of high potency types of cannabis, for example "skunk", carries a higher risk of psychosis than use of traditional types and that it affects rates of psychotic disorders across Europe.
Her work has had an important influence on public discussion on the role of cannabis in society recently she has serves as a member of the London Mayor’s Drug Commission. It has been quoted by the US Surgeon General and in the UK and European Parliaments.
The SIRS is a worldwide organisation that aims to bring together researchers and clinicians in schizophrenia and related disorders.
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Professor of Molecular Psychiatry
Professor of Drug use, Genetics and Psychosis