In March, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) launched their new microsite - Stories of Research - to showcase their impactful work. Over the years, the NIHR Maudsley BRC has brought together scientists, clinicians, mental health professionals, industry, government, service users and carers to produce valuable research that is making difference to the lives of those affected by mental health conditions.

Working in partnership with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, research at the NIHR Maudsley BRC focuses on mental health and neurological disorders.

Explore through nine impact areas

The stories are organised into nine key areas which capture the ways that the NIHR Maudsley BRC approach mental health research to enable its translation into healthcare at the right scale. The nine impact areas are:

• Developing Resources for Research
• Whole Person Care
• Involving Patients in Research
• Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics
• Industry Collaboration
• Data and Analytics to Drive Healthcare
• National and International Collaboration
• Improving Access and Uptake
• Personalising Treatment to Patients

Discover the difference NIHR Maudsley BRC research is making to mental health

Mental health issues affect a large proportion of the population, with a knock-on cost to the economy. It is thought between 29 and 42 people per 1000 suffer from major depressive disorder, costing around £20-24 billion per year in England – but one third of those people are resistant to current treatments. Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, affect two in every 100 people, and are among the most disabling of all health conditions – however existing antipsychotic drugs often have severe side effects, or do not relieve symptoms.

The NIHR Maudsley BRC has made significant progress in preventing, diagnosing and treating mental illness . Their research is tackling mental and neurological conditions at all stages of life, from infancy to older adulthood. And they are training the next generation of mental health researchers in this field.

On the microsite, you can find out more about how the NIHR Maudsley BRC are developing technology to extract and analyse big data from healthcare records, and building neuroimaging tools and techniques which identify mechanisms of the brain. In partnership with the IoPPN, researchers from the NIHR Maudsley BRC are evaluating and testing novel drugs, such as psilocybin and cannabidiol, and co-developing treatment programmes with involvement and guidance from those with lived experience of mental health conditions. They are harnessing the prevalence and convenience of smartphones and wearable devices to monitor symptoms and provide effective digital therapeutics into people’s hands. Their genetics research is finding new ways to assess the basis not only of mental health conditions, but also how people will respond to treatments.

Follow the campaign

Explore the Stories of Research microsite through the link below. Over the coming weeks the NIHR Maudsley BRC will be sharing these stories on their social media channels with additional videos and news about their research.

Follow the NIHR Maudsley BRC on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn for the latest updates.

Visit the Stories of Research microsite here.