Research
How to get involved in research – and enjoy it.
Research can be challenging, stimulating and fun. Your involvement will range from providing data to studies, to supporting multisite studies through to leading research yourself.
Like most things, when you start out you need support. The best way to get a taste of research is to link with an established academic team and work alongside them. They will welcome serious offers of help and should be able to support you with your own work in due course. Be patient. You rarely get awarded Michelin stars for the your first few efforts at cooking. Research is likewise a complex process that takes planning, knowledge, expertise and resources.
Guide to research for child and adolescent psychiatry
CESR helped prepare me - Nandini Chakraborty
The CESR process gave me an insight into ILOs and what is really required to become a Consultant
I applied for a CESR first time in 2006. It was nearing my final MRCPsych examinations and PMETB had just come into being. With further experience in India on my CV, I thought I was ready to take the next step.
During the process of putting my application together, I learnt that it was difficult to collect and validate materials from posts I had done years ago, especially in a different country.
For a lot of skills, I felt I had the experience but no way to evidence them, especially with the time gap that had passed. PMETB kept asking for more and more before the final bundle was sent to the College. But I understood that it was in my best interests, to try and give me the best chances of succeeding.
My first application was unsuccessful. Though disappointed, looking at the requirements/recommendations for re-application, I was more encouraged as the list now seemed more manageable, focussed and certainly doable.
The detailed assessment document from my first application is something I have filed away, even now. I have photocopied it for numerous hopefuls and sometimes still go back to it for reflection.
For the next 3 years I focussed my experiences on the recommendations of the College, not only because I saw it as the way forward for a CESR application but this was what I needed to do in order to ready myself to become a Consultant.
It was further than a paper exercise; it was a way of making sure that my career path was clear and that I knew what I had to learn further.The paper exercise was to collect evidence, to make sure everything I learnt was documented and validated- every email, every card, minutes of meetings, assessments, reports.
In August 2008, I applied for and was accepted into the ST rotation. I reapplied for CESR February 2009. My application was successful. I was informed by PMETB on the 7th of December 2009, enabling me to start my Consultant job on the 14th of December 2009. I was ST5 when I left the rotation.
Many people have asked me why I went through the entire complicated process of CESR when I was due a CCT in 2011 anyway. The answer is that I felt ready and prepared. The one year and a bit I saved has eventually proved crucial in shaping my career.
Having gone through the CESR process gave me an insight into ILOs and what is really required to become a Consultant which benefits me even now as a Training Programme Director for general adult STs. It directed my portfolio for my only ARCP.
The understanding of how the ILOs fit into the four domains of medical practice and skills is invaluable for the annual appraisal process. Collecting evidence has become natural, almost a habit which makes the appraisal process as a Consultant much easier.
Very few people encouraged me to go for the CESR application. But it was a decision that I am grateful I stuck to. It is a difficult process but rewarding at the end, not only when successful but because of the insights it gives into the requirements of a Consultant role.
Nandini Chakraborty
Child and adolescent research resources
CESR helped prepare me - Nandini Chakraborty
The CESR process gave me an insight into ILOs and what is really required to become a Consultant
I applied for a CESR first time in 2006. It was nearing my final MRCPsych examinations and PMETB had just come into being. With further experience in India on my CV, I thought I was ready to take the next step.
During the process of putting my application together, I learnt that it was difficult to collect and validate materials from posts I had done years ago, especially in a different country.
For a lot of skills, I felt I had the experience but no way to evidence them, especially with the time gap that had passed. PMETB kept asking for more and more before the final bundle was sent to the College. But I understood that it was in my best interests, to try and give me the best chances of succeeding.
My first application was unsuccessful. Though disappointed, looking at the requirements/recommendations for re-application, I was more encouraged as the list now seemed more manageable, focussed and certainly doable.
The detailed assessment document from my first application is something I have filed away, even now. I have photocopied it for numerous hopefuls and sometimes still go back to it for reflection.
For the next 3 years I focussed my experiences on the recommendations of the College, not only because I saw it as the way forward for a CESR application but this was what I needed to do in order to ready myself to become a Consultant.
It was further than a paper exercise; it was a way of making sure that my career path was clear and that I knew what I had to learn further.The paper exercise was to collect evidence, to make sure everything I learnt was documented and validated- every email, every card, minutes of meetings, assessments, reports.
In August 2008, I applied for and was accepted into the ST rotation. I reapplied for CESR February 2009. My application was successful. I was informed by PMETB on the 7th of December 2009, enabling me to start my Consultant job on the 14th of December 2009. I was ST5 when I left the rotation.
Many people have asked me why I went through the entire complicated process of CESR when I was due a CCT in 2011 anyway. The answer is that I felt ready and prepared. The one year and a bit I saved has eventually proved crucial in shaping my career.
Having gone through the CESR process gave me an insight into ILOs and what is really required to become a Consultant which benefits me even now as a Training Programme Director for general adult STs. It directed my portfolio for my only ARCP.
The understanding of how the ILOs fit into the four domains of medical practice and skills is invaluable for the annual appraisal process. Collecting evidence has become natural, almost a habit which makes the appraisal process as a Consultant much easier.
Very few people encouraged me to go for the CESR application. But it was a decision that I am grateful I stuck to. It is a difficult process but rewarding at the end, not only when successful but because of the insights it gives into the requirements of a Consultant role.
Nandini Chakraborty
Research teams
The Child Psychiatry Research Society (CPRS) was founded in 1972 and exists to foster research in child and adolescent psychiatry, facilitate links between child and adolescent psychiatry researchers, and foster new research and researchers by organising scientific meetings.
Members can be full members, associate members, honorary members or corresponding members depending on their level of research activity and location. New members are nominated by full members to the secretary, Professor Dasha Nicholls (Imperial College London) d.nicholls@imperial.ac.uk. The current CPRS chair is Professor Alan Stein (University of Oxford).
| University | Team lead | Department or Group | Specialism | Happy to be approached to support CPRS nomination? Y/N |
| University of Bristol | Dr Helen Bould | Centre for Academic Mental Health | My work concerns the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of eating disorders. I am also involved in work on how young people use the online world | Y |
| Cambridge University | Professor Tamsin Ford, Emeritus Professor Ian Goodyear |
| The effectiveness of services and interventions for children’s mental health, particularly at the interface with schools. | Y |
| Cambridge University | Professor Paul Ramchandani |
| Early prevention of mental health problems, play, child development and education | Y |
| Cardiff University School of Medicine | Professor Anita Thapar | Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section and Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health | ADHD, adolescent depression: genetics, longitudinal research/development | Y |
| University College Dublin | Prof Fiona McNicholas | Academic Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Burnout; Eating Disorders; Transition; 22Q11DS; Liaison; Pharma o-epidemiology; ADHD | Y |
| University College London | Professor David Skuse | Population, Policy and Practice Dept, UCL GOS Insitute of Child Health | Our primary interest is in rare Mendelian genetic disorders that are associated with cognitive & behavioural phenotypes. Our longitudinal MRC-funded prigram (IMAGINE-ID) is following a national cohort of affected children into early childhood. We also collaborate internationally on Duchenne Muscular Dystrphy studies, including gene therapy, & are developing novel online assessment procedures for detecting ASD in BAME populations. | Y |
| University College London | Dr Priya Rajyaguru | Institute of cognitive neuroscience and division of psychiatry | Early prevention of mental health problems, social influences, executive functioning, rumination, repetitive negative thinking, depression, anxiety, adhd, asd, emotion regulation | Y |
| University of Edinburgh | Professor Ian Kelleher | Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry | We apply data science approaches to understanding trajectories of mental health and illness from childhood to adulthood. We also carry out pharmacoepidemiological research to understand how treatments in childhood and adolescence might affect mental health outcomes in adulthood. We're especially interested in new approaches to the prediciton and prevention of psychosis. We also look at the health economics associated with mental ill health in childhood and adolescence. | Y |
| University of Glasgow | Professor Helen Minnis | Adverse Childhood Experiences Lab | Our work aims to understand and develop interventions for the mental health problems associated with maltreatment | Y |
| Imperial College London | Professor Dasha Nicholls, Emeritus Profesor Elena Garralda, Dr Matthew Hodes, Dr Cornelius Ani | Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research Group | Prevention and early intervention in young people's mental health, especially emotional and behavioural dysregulation and the interface between physical and psychological health. | Y |
| Kings College London | Professor Stephen Scott | Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IOPPN) | Interventions work to improve child functioning, including reduction of antisocial behaviour and promotion of secure attachment. | Y |
| Kings College London | Professor Andrea Danese | Stress & Development Lab at IOPPN | Our work aims to understand how stressful experiences in childhood affect development and later health, and how to best support children who had such traumatic experiences. | Y |
| Kings College London | Professor Emily Simonoff | Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Autism; ADHD; ID; Antisocial behaviour; Genetics; Epidemiology | Y |
| Kings College London | Dr Gonzalo Salazar de Pablo | IOPPN | Prevention and Early Intervention of psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder/ affective disorders | Y |
| University of Leeds | Professor David Cottrell | Division of Psychological & Social Medicine | Understandings of & interventions for self-harm | Y |
| Newcastle University | Dr Aditya Sharma | Translational & Clinical Research Instuitute, Faculty of Medical Sciences | Mood disorders in children, adolescents & young adults.
Digital interventions, Global mental health, Paediatric psychopharmacology trials, links with autism & neurodevelopmental disorders | Y |
| University of Nottingham | Professor Kapil Sayal, Prof Chris Hollis (Full Members); Dr Josephine Holland, Dr Puja Kochhar, Dr Pallab Majumber (Associate Members) | Institute of Mental health | Our main research themes & expertise span intervention research (RCTs), Health Services Research, Perinatal & developmental epidemiology; Digital technology; Biological mechanisms undepinning psychiatric disorders; Translational neuroscience; Psychopharmacology; Systematic reviews | Y |
| University of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Dr Pallab Majumder | Institute of Mental health | Mental health, illness, intervention and service provision for Looked After Children. Mental health and treatment for refugee children. Transition of care between different parts of the mental health and care system. | Y |
| University of Nottingham and Cambridge & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust | Dr Anupam Bhardwaj | Institute of Mental health | Clinical trials for Mood Disorders in children & adolescents; Evidence based service developments | Y |
| University of Oxford | Professor Alan Stein | Department of Psychiatry | The development of very young children & adolescents in the face of adversity including parental physical illness, psychological disorders, poverty & malnutrition. | Y |
| University of Oxford | Professor Mina Fazel | Department of Psychiatry | School-based mental health interventions; | Y |
| University of Oxford | Dr Tony James & Professor Francis Szele | Department of Psychiatry | Stem cell research in early-onset schizophrenia and healthy adolescents. | Y |
| Queen Mary University of London | Professor Dennis Ougrin | Wolfson Institute of Population Health | Therapeutic interventions for adolescents with self-harm and understanding early predictors of self-harm | Y |
| University of Reading | Dr Leticia Gutierrez-Galve | Therapeutic interventions for adolescents with self-harm | Y | |
| University of Southampton | Professor Samuele Cortese | Centre for Innovation in Mental Health | Advanced evidence synthesis methods (network meta-analyses, individual participant data meta-anlyses, dose-response meta analyses, umbrella reviews etc) and prediction science in neurodevelopmental disorders | Y |
| Tavistock Research Unit | Dr Eilis Kennedy | Tavistock Research Unit | Clinical trials; Early intervention & prevention; Longitudinal research; Gender identity; Personalised intervenions | Y |
| University of York (Hull & York Medical School) | Professor Bernadka Dubicka (also Honorary MAHSC Chiar Univeristy of Manchester) | Department of Health Sciences | Clinical trials for adolescent depression; brief interventions for depression; online harms; environment & mental health | Y |
| University of York (Hull & York Medical School) | Professor Paul Tiffin | Mental Health & Addictions Research Group | Mental health services, the health workforce, machine learning and predictive modelling in youth mental health | Y |