‘Psychosis risk in adolescents’ researcher awarded international prize

We are delighted to announce that Dr Thomas Lancaster has been presented with a prestigious international research award.

Thomas, who is a Research Associate based at the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, was one of just two people honoured by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) in their scheme’s ‘Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’ category.

The accolade recognises Thomas’s research on ‘Polygenic Risk of Psychosis and Ventral Striatal Activation Reward Processing in Healthy Adolescents’. The study provides evidence that common genetic risk loci for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder increase disease risk via alterations in the brain's reward system, which is a neural network linked to psychotic symptoms such as delusions, reductions in motivation and pleasure.

Joining Thomas on the winner’s pedestal was Psychiatrist Dennis Raven, from the Netherlands, whose research focuses on the treatment of mental disorders using a community sample of Dutch adolescents.

EPA’s mission is to improve psychiatry and mental health care across Europe, and this year it handed out 10 prizes of €2,000 to Early Career Psychiatrists working in Europe who published the best scientific papers in the year 2016.

'Deeply proud'

Upon receiving his award, Thomas said: “To be presented with such a prestigious honour so early on in my career is a real privilege.

“I am eternally grateful for the opportunities provided to me by my mentors, colleagues and collaborators; all of whom helped to make this work possible.

“My hope is that our research will ultimately uncover precise links between specific brain networks and psychiatric risk genes, allowing researchers and clinicians to predict future symptoms, provide early intervention and tailor treatments accordingly.”

Jeremy Hall, Director of NMHRI at Cardiff University, added: “We are deeply proud of the invaluable contribution our students and staff make to the world of research and wider society, both nationally and internationally.

“Thomas truly deserves this recognition for his outstanding work into exploring the risk of psychosis in young people. It is fantastic that EPA has chosen to acknowledge the achievements of a researcher at the beginning of what I am sure will be a long and successful career in psychiatry.”

To apply for EPA research prizes or see the full list of 2017 winners, please visit: http://www.europsy.net/awards/research-prizes/2017-winners/