Rate My Professor Oliver Howes

Professor Oliver Howes is Professor of Molecular Psychiatry and Head of the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, within the broader field of Medicine. He obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge in 1994, a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Oxford in 1997, a PhD from the University of London in 2005, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Oxford in 2007. As a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, he leads a team managing patients with difficult-to-treat psychotic disorders, including those unresponsive to standard treatments or experiencing significant side effects.

Howes heads the Psychiatric Imaging Group, which investigates the neurobiology of major mental illnesses, with a primary focus on psychosis and schizophrenia. The group's research encompasses the roles of dopamine and neuroinflammation in psychosis onset, effects of antipsychotic medications on neural and endocrine systems, and mechanisms of cognitive impairment. Utilizing advanced in vivo imaging techniques such as PET, fMRI, and MRS, along with pharmacological and behavioral challenges targeting immune, serotonergic, dopaminergic, and cannabinoid systems, the group conducts experimental medicine studies in patients and healthy volunteers. They develop novel radiotracers and pharmacological probes, preclinical models including sub-chronic ketamine, cocaine, and chemogenetic challenges in rodents, and biomarkers for patient stratification. His influential publications include 'The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia: version III—the final common pathway' (Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2009; 3,764 citations), 'Schizophrenia—an overview' (JAMA Psychiatry, 2020; 1,791 citations), 'The nature of dopamine dysfunction in schizophrenia and what this means for treatment' (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2012; 1,290 citations), and 'Treatment-resistant schizophrenia: TRRIP working group consensus guidelines' (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2017; 1,281 citations), contributing to over 32,868 total citations. Howes has received the Schizophrenia International Research Society Translational Research Award (2024), Robert Sommer Translational Science Award (2025), ACNP Joel Elkes Research Award (2022), and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2020). ISI Thompson ranks him among the world's leading scientists in psychiatry and neuroscience, with 18 papers in the top 1% by citations and Faculty 1000 designating 10 as outstanding.