Professor Paul Stokes is Professor of Mood Disorders and Psychopharmacology at the Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London (KCL), and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Stokes’ main research interest is to use functional neuroimaging and clinical trial methodologies to better understand mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorders. He is particularly interested in understanding the reward and cognition related brain mechanisms associated with mood disorders.

Professor Stokes studied medicine at the University of Birmingham and completed clinical training in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, London. In his doctoral studies at Imperial College London, Professor Stokes used PET and fMRI neuroimaging to examine the role of neurotransmitter systems in mediating psychosis, addictions and mood disorders.

In his clinical work, Professor Stokes is a consultant psychiatrist with the National Affective Disorders Service at the Maudsley Hospital, a national tertiary specialist service for people with complex or treatment resistant mood disorders.

Professor Stokes welcomes enquiries regarding PhD opportunities.

Research interests

• Bipolar Disorders
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Neuroimaging
• Psychopharmacology 
• Clinical Trials
• Addictions
• Cognitive impairment
• Sleep
• LGBTQ+ Mental Health

Teaching

Professor Stokes co-leads the KCL MSc Affective Disorders programme and leads the MSc Affective Disorders Challenges in Treating Affective Disorders module. He teaches on the MSc Affective Disorders programme. Professor Stokes has provided dissertation supervision for KCL MSc Affective Disorders students and postgraduate students from several other KCL MSc programmes, some of which have been published in scientific journals.

Expertise and public engagement

Professor Stokes is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which makes recommendations to the UK government on the control of harmful drugs. He is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Academic Faculty executive committee, a member of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Targeting Cognition and Chronobiology taskforces, and is the Mood Disorders Specialty Chief section editor, Frontiers in Psychiatry.