John Gallacher is Professor of Cognitive Health at Oxford University. An expert on brain health and the use of big data in medical research, Professor Gallacher holds a visiting professorship at Imperial College London and an honorary professorship at the University of Hong Kong. He is the Principal Investigator for the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS).
Department/Institute: Department of Psychiatry
John has led several trials and research syntheses which have had major influence on clinical practice internationally. He is an editor of the New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (3rd Edition OUP).
John is a member of the Academia Europaea, an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and was awarded the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Neuropsychopharmacology Award in 2016 in recognition of his ground-breaking work on the psychopharmacology of bipolar disorder. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2018.
His current research focuses on the development and evaluation of treatments for people with bipolar and mood disorders. John has developed new approaches to self management and monitoring, and conducted key clinical trials as well as influential research syntheses. By involving patients in research, his team has been able to characterize the nature of mood disorder more accurately. His research aims to use this knowledge to identify new targets for better treatments.
My core research interest is in the social and ethical dimensions of innovations in neuroscience, psychiatry and related areas. In the therapeutic realm, I am particularly interested in translational impacts for children and families. My outlook is local and global, with an emphasis on connecting contextual, empirical investigations with ethical analysis and policy deliberations (empirical ethics). I believe that good neuroscience ethics requires a firm grip on the science and the ethics, and that respect for patients and understanding of context make for good and relevant neuro-ethical contributions. While in Oxford, I have developed the foundations for the Design Bioethics Lab, which develops co-designed, purpose-built engineered tools for research and engagement on the societal and ethical dimensions of biomedical innovations.