Rate My Professor Katherine Beck

Dr. Katherine Beck is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in General Adult Psychiatry in the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, within the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. She holds the degrees of BA and BM BCh, a PhD on the neurobiology of psychosis using neuroimaging funded by the Rosetrees Trust and Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education with Merit from King's College London, and membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych). Beck serves as an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in General Adult Psychiatry at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, where she developed a specialised service for treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. Her career includes clinical training and academic progression through NIHR funding to her current lectureship position.

Beck's research specializations encompass biological factors in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, glutamate system alterations using PET and MRI neuroimaging, and novel drugs targeting glutamate for psychotic disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Key publications include 'Impaired glucose homeostasis in first-episode schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (2017), 'Defining the locus of dopaminergic dysfunction in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis and test of the mesolimbic hypothesis' (2018), 'Comparative effects of 18 antipsychotics on metabolic function in patients with schizophrenia, predictors of metabolic dysregulation, and association with psychopathology: a systematic review and network meta-analysis' (2020), 'Variability and magnitude of brain glutamate levels in schizophrenia: a meta and mega-analysis' (2023), 'Schizophrenia: from neurochemistry to circuits, symptoms and treatments' (2023), 'Histamine-3 Receptor Availability and Glutamate Levels in the Brain: A PET-1H-MRS Study of Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls' (2024), and 'New Drug Treatments for Schizophrenia: A Review of Approaches to Target Circuit Dysfunction' (2024). Her 41 research outputs have accumulated over 3,000 citations. She has received major awards and fellowships from the Royal Society of Medicine, British Association of Psychopharmacology, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Schizophrenia International Research Society, and Royal College of Psychiatrists.