Oxford Health researcher wins national award

Professor Andrea Cipriani has won a national award at the 2018 Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards. He is a consultant psychiatrist and associate director of research and development at the trust, as well as researcher at the University of Oxford and the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.

The annual Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards mark the highest level of achievement in psychiatry, recognising individuals across 17 categories. Nominees include psychiatrists of all grades, as well as medical students, foundation doctors and teams who work in mental health care.

Prof Cipriani won in the category ‘S N Jajoo Memorial Academic Research of the Year’.

He said: “I am honoured to have won this award and I feel privileged that I’m working in Oxford, a vibrant environment with fantastic colleagues in the university department and in the trust.

“I am proud to be involved in research that has the ability to make a real difference in the lives of others. Leading a team of international experts, I am using high-quality data to develop an algorithm that will help personalise treatment in mental health and better inform the real world decision-making process between clinicians, patients and carers. I look forward to what lies ahead.”

Earlier this year, Prof Cipriani gained international recognition as lead author of a ground-breaking antidepressant study published in the Lancet.

His research compared 21 commonly used antidepressants and concluded that all are more effective than placebo for the short-term treatment of acute depression in adults.

These results were based on a meta-analysis of 522 double-blind, randomised controlled trials comprising a total of 116,477 participants. The study included the largest amount of unpublished data to date, and all the data from the study has been made freely available online.

Commenting on his research, Prof Cipriani said: “Our study brings together the best available evidence to inform and guide doctors and patients in their treatment decisions.”

Prof Cipriani was also among a team recently recognised for their studies on amphetamines as the first-choice treatment for ADHD in adults and young people. The works were published as NIHR Signals, which highlight research considered to contain the evidence most valuable to decision makers.

Prof Cipriani’s RCPsych win follows three awards for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust at the ceremony last year:

• The older adult community mental health team south Oxfordshire was named Psychiatric Team of the Year: Older-age adults
• The emergency department psychiatry service in Oxfordshire was named Psychiatric Team of the Year: Outstanding Commitment to Sustainable Service Development for its Technology Assisted Psychiatry (TAP) project
• Medical Student of the Year went to Maxime Taquet from the University of Oxford, based at the Whiteleaf Centre in Aylesbury.

Winners of the 2018 RCPscyh Awards were announced at a ceremony at the College on Wednesday, 7 November.

Read more about Prof Cipriani’s antidepressant research.