About Psychiatry Research Trust

Mental illness and brain disease can be devastating. They cause profound distress not only to their sufferers but also to their families and friends. Sufferers often have to endure personal humiliation and social disadvantage which can make recovery even more difficult. Mental illness and brain disease are more common than many assume - they are a part of everyone's life in some way.

Much of the research into mental illness and brain disease in this country originated at the Institute of Psychiatry and its associated Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals. The research work carried out at the Institute has been acclaimed for half a century to be of the highest quality.

The Psychiatry Research Trust was formed at the Institute in 1982 and exists solely to support research into mental illness and brain disease there.

The Institute is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious and academically successful institutions in the world dedicated to the study of psychiatry and brain disease. Current research involves a wide range of mental, nervous and brain disorders, including work on the underlying causes of these conditions and means of preventing, treating and curing them.

In all these clinical spheres the Institute sustains collaborative, interdisciplinary research groups of an international standard. Their work throughout the years has brought countless benefits to hundreds of thousands of people suffering from brain disease and mental illness and continues to do so.

The advances they have made in their particular field of knowledge are numerous. In recent years, bodies such as Science Watch in the USA, the Department of Health and the Higher Education Funding Council in the UK have testified to this.

Our history

The Psychiatry Research Trust was formed at the Institute of Psychiatry in 1982 and exists solely to support research into mental illness and brain disease at the Institute.

Since its inception the Trust has raised in excess of £5 million. These funds have been used to support a wide area of research into many aspects of mental illness and brain disease including - investigating the increased risk of schizophrenia as a result of maternal viral infections and obstetrics difficulties and demonstrating for the first time that genetic factors play a role in the development of Parkinson's Disease.