Professor Allan Young MB, ChB, MPhil, PhD, FRCP (Edin.), FRCPC, FRCPsych has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Brain Sciences for a five-year term, starting from 1 September 2025.
Professor Young is currently Chair of Academic Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Psychiatry in the Department of Brain Sciences, having rejoined Imperial earlier this year from King’s College London. He previously held roles at Imperial as Chair of Psychiatry and Director of the Centre for Mental Health between 2010 and 2013. He has also held academic appointments at Oxford University, Newcastle University, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has received research grants from many funding agencies and has over 800 peer-reviewed publications, including several books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders.
He has held a number of leadership roles in professional and scientific societies and is currently Vice-President of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP). He is past President of the International Society for Affective Disorders and of the British Association of Psychopharmacology, and the Inaugural Chair of the Special Committee for Psychopharmacology of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is also a former trustee of the patient and family charity Bipolar UK, and a current trustee of the Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU).