Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Professor Emily Simonoff heads the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry which has a diverse research programme studying both common and rarer, severe disorders that start in childhood often persisting into adulthood. The disorders studied in the Department include: autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, affective disorders, substance misuse, obsessive compulsive disorder, intellectual disability and eating disorder as well as parenting problems and deliberate self-harm.

We aim to improve our understanding of how mental disorders develop and establish methods of treatment and prevention. Our research extends into risk factors (both biological and environmental) for the development of disorders and treatment strategies. Members of the Department use a range of scientific methods, including epidemiology, behaviour and molecular genetics, neuroimaging and clinical trials.

Research receives substantive funding from external bodies such as the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, National Institute of Health Research as well as smaller charities and other arms of the government.

We have an integrated scheme of research, teaching and clinical work. The aim is to understand how disorders develop and to apply the results to make new treatments and assessments, evaluate them and provide need and cost information for health services planners. The links between basic science and translation into improved clinical services are strengthened by the structures of the academic health sciences centre, King’s Health Partners.