About us

Darren is a consultant general adult psychiatrist with specialist expertise in occupational and military psychiatry. He has served in the Royal Navy since joining on a medical cadetship in 2001, with early career maritime deployments to the Middle East, Caribbean and Falkland Islands. His clinical work has been based at the Department of Community Mental Health in HM Naval Base Devonport, and he has also undertaken staff appointments in policy and personnel roles, as well as attending the Advanced Command and Staff Course. From 2021 to 2024 he was the Defence Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry, providing professional clinical leadership, and expert clinical and clinical policy advice across the Armed Forces. He is currently attending the Global Strategy Programme at the Royal College of Defence Studies.

In June 2022 Darren assumed the Chair of the Occupational Psychiatry Special Interest Group. Alongside a dedicated Executive Committee, he advocates the importance of good work for mental health, and that returning to, remaining in or securing such employment should be a key treatment outcome for psychiatrists. He holds the Diploma in Occupational Medicine, and Fellowships with the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Peter McAllister is an experienced Consultant Forensic and General Adult Psychiatrist, approved under section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983.  

Professor Neil Greenberg, Professor of Defence Mental Health, BM, BSc, MMedSc, FHEA, MFMLM, DOccMed, MInstLM, MEWI, MFFLM, MD, FRCPI, FRCPsych (Neil@marchonstress.com).

Derek Tracy is the Chief Medical Officer of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He’s a Senior Lecturer at King’s and University College London, and has published over one hundred and twenty peer-reviewed scientific papers and fifteen book chapters. His research interests include New Psychoactive Substances (‘legal highs’) and Derek is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that advises the Home Office on drug harms. He is the editor for public engagement at the British Journal of Psychiatry, writing its Kaleidoscope and Highlights columns. He likes enthusiastic people, running, and the Stone Roses; he hates butter, whinging, and cats. 

Dr Hester Mannion is a Specialty Registrar dual training in older and general adult in London. Prior to studying medicine she trained and worked as a secondary school English teacher, and worked for seven years with charities in London supporting street homeless and vulnerably housed people.

As a medical undergraduate Hester published articles on Leadership and Followership theory which marked the beginning of her interest in behaviour and engagement of professionals in clinical environments. She is developing an interest in workplace wellbeing in the public sector and helped to organise a webinar focusing on mental health of teachers as part of the 2021 RSM conference series ‘Transforming mental health in schools’.  In 2024, along with some of her fellow OPSIG board members she published an article on the impact of regulation on work-related stress in the BJPsych Bulletin. 

Dr Langford undertook his psychiatric training in London and Oxford, and has been a Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry since 2018. He worked on female and intensive care psychiatric wards in the NHS before moving to independent practice in 2022. He undertakes occupational psychiatry assessments with patients from a range of backgrounds. He is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians, a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, holds a BSc in psychology and a Diploma in Occupational Medicine. He also enjoys working as an expert witness and is a past winner of the RCPsych Morris Markowe prize for public engagement.  

Dr Muzaffer Kaser is a consultant psychiatrist at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and an affiliated assistant professor at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge. He has been the lead consultant for the establishment of the Staff Mental Health Service, a bespoke mental health clinic for NHS staff in Cambridgeshire that serves over 25,000 healthcare workers. The Staff Mental Health Service (SMHS) provides rapid access to assessments and treatments from a multidisciplinary mental health team. In collaboration with University of East Anglia, they are currently running a health economics evaluation study of the Staff Mental Health Service, investigating the cost-effectiveness of the model.

Dr Kaser trained in psychiatry in Istanbul and in Cambridge. He specialises in general adult psychiatry and liaison psychiatry. He did an MPhil in Translational Medicine and a PhD at the University of Cambridge where he also has worked as NIHR clinical lecturer. His research has focused on the mechanisms and treatments of neurocognitive problems associated with psychiatric conditions. Dr Kaser is a by-fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is a member of the Occupational Psychiatry Special Interest Group executive committee and a member of the Wellbeing Committee and the at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Elizabeth is a consultant general adult psychiatrist. She has served in the British Army for sixteen years, including working as a General Duties Medical Officer in Afghanistan.

She is currently the Defence Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry, providing expert clinical and clinical policy advice across the Armed Forces, as well as professional leadership of the specialty, in order to support an occupationally focused mental healthcare service for all service personnel. She has led the Department of Community Mental Health Scotland, where she continues active clinical practice.

She joined the OPSIG executive committee in August 2024 as the Military Lead on the committee.