Research leadership changes at CPFT
CPFT’s Research and Development Director Professor Ed Bullmore (left, above) steps down this month after 12 years of service, overseeing record performance at one of the UK’s top research-active NHS trusts.
Joining our Trust in 2010, and later taking up the role as Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University, Ed has upheld a long tradition of academic research in partnership with local healthcare services and inspired the next generation of mental health and neuroscience researchers.
After training in medicine at the University of Oxford and studying psychiatry at the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospital, Ed first moved to Cambridge as Professor of Psychiatry in 1999. Over decades of local healthcare service and clinical studies with regional, national and international partners, he has become one of the world’s most highly cited researchers in mental health, with more than 500 scientific papers and a best-selling book The Inflamed Mind published in 2018.
CPFT Chair Julie Spence said: “We are very grateful to Ed for his expert leadership and vision to advance research at the Trust, ensuring it is central to our strategy and development. I am delighted that Ed will continue to lend his wisdom and expertise to our Board as a non-executive director, alongside his ongoing leadership of ground-breaking mental health studies.
"Building on his extensive research legacy, most recently exploring the links between inflammation and mental health conditions, Ed is also one of our Cambridge Children’s Hospital project leads creating a world-class centre integrating physical and mental health care with research.”
Dr Ben Underwood (right) has now been appointed as Director of Research and Development at CPFT, taking up the post with his current role as Clinical Director of the Trust’s specialist Windsor Research Unit. Ben brings great expertise in CPFT services and local population needs as former clinical director of Older People, Adult and Community services. He is also a Cambridge University assistant professor and regional lead for dementia at the NIHR Clinical Research Network East of England, which honoured him with an award for Putting Patients First in 2019.
Ben said: “I would like to thank Professor Bullmore for his excellent work in research and development at CPFT. He has made a huge contribution to the success of the Trust as a research organisation and played a crucial role in leading the research effort during the pandemic.
"Though they are big shoes to fill, I hope I will be able to build on this success in the future to continue bringing benefits from research to patients.”
The Trust has also appointed to a new associate director role to provide operational research leadership. Rasha De Marco will be joining in December, bringing a wealth of experience from leading research delivery with the National Institute for Health and Care Research at Imperial College London.
