Ruth Ohlsen first trained as a general nurse and then as a psychiatric nurse in Australia, working in acute psychiatry, and becoming a clinical nurse specialist in mood disorders at the Black Dog Institute in Sydney. When she emigrated to England, Dr Ohlsen worked in South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, managing the Maudsley clozapine clinic, the atypical antipsychotic clinic and the Southwark first episode psychosis team.

She worked as a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience where she gained her PhD in biosciences, developing interventions for patients with antipsychotic induced weight gain, and exploring the genetics involved in this phenomenon. She moved to the Mental Health Nursing Department in 2012 and completed her PGCAPHE. She is a lecturer in nurse education, specialising in severe mental illness, health behaviour change, pharmacology and research methodology. She is the Head of Department (Interim) for Mental Health Nursing.

Research interests

• Addiction
• Medication management for people with psychosis.

Enquiring about potential PhD supervision

If you’re thinking of applying for one of our PhD programmes and are looking for potential supervisors, please email nmpc_pgr_enquiries@kcl.ac.uk listing the names of the supervisors you’ve identified as having expertise in your chosen area, along with your CV and a short research proposal. 

Our Postgraduate Research Team will contact supervisors on your behalf and get back to you. If you have any queries in the meantime, please use the email address above, rather than contacting potential PhD supervisors directly, because they are unable to respond to initial enquiries.

Research profile