Warneford Park ‘a critical turning point’ for brain and mental health research – Professor Belinda Lennox

A CGI image showing the proposed new research facility (Cityscape Digital for Eric Parry Architects)

In her blog for the Department of Psychiatry, Professor Lennox, explains that research is absolutely critical to improving outcomes in brain and mental health care.

She said: “Finding new treatments and approaches that work means that people get well more quickly, and return to their families, communities and jobs. This in turn reduces waiting lists and costs, and builds economic productivity and growth. ”

However, she explains that the potential for progress is being held up by “poor scientific facilities, a lack of funding and a lack of integration between cutting edge science and clinical practice”.

With plans to redevelop the Warneford Hospital site submitted to Oxford City Council, Professor Lennox said that “bringing together science and clinical care on one site will see the benefits from mental health research translated directly into clinical practice, delivered by top class specialists focused on preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental illness early”.

She added: “Our powerful research capability and knowledge, alongside modern facilities for brain scanning, laboratories and clinical trials, will supercharge our understanding of, and the development of new treatments for, a wide range of medical conditions – with a particular focus on the brain and mental health – that affect so many people, from young children to older adults.

“This is a hugely exciting opportunity and, if approved and funded, could be the critical turning point for brain and mental health research that could transform outcomes for so many patients and their families.”