Dr. Paul Harrison is a distinguished psychiatrist and leading authority in the translational neurobiology of psychiatric disorders at the University of Oxford. He currently serves as Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Head of Department for Research within the Department of Psychiatry, while also chairing the Oxford Neuroscience Committee. After completing his medical training at Oxford University and specializing in psychiatry in Oxford and London, he established himself as a prominent researcher through his Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship. His strategic leadership culminated in his appointment to a Clinical Readership in 1997 and subsequent award of a Professorial Chair in 2000, marking the beginning of a distinguished academic career spanning over two decades.
Professor Harrison's groundbreaking research program spans genetic mechanisms in psychiatric disorders, functional neuroimaging techniques, and large-scale clinical trials, with particular expertise in schizophrenia and related conditions. His scholarly impact is evidenced by over 360 publications, including influential books such as The Neuropathology of Schizophrenia and The Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, alongside a Google Scholar h-index of 104 and more than 47,000 citations. His work has evolved from neuropathology to examining how schizophrenia risk genes affect brain function, with particular focus on voltage-gated calcium channels as potential therapeutic targets. More recently, his team has made significant contributions to understanding the psychiatric and neurological consequences of COVID-19, demonstrating through rigorous epidemiological studies that mental and brain health can be substantially damaged by the virus with long-lasting effects.
Beyond his research achievements, Professor Harrison serves as Deputy Editor for Biological Psychiatry and Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, shaping the scientific discourse in his field through editorial leadership. His influence extends to national research strategy as a Theme Leader in the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and Group Leader in the Oxford Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, while also holding an adjunct faculty position at the Lieber Institute of Brain Development in Baltimore. His service includes chairing NHS Research Ethics Committees, participating in REF 2021 assessment, and previously serving as President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology from 2014 to 2016. Currently, his research continues to bridge molecular neuroscience with clinical psychiatry, exploring innovative approaches to understanding psychiatric disorders while investigating emerging questions about the relationship between vaccines, neurological health, and potential dementia prevention.
