Rate My Professor Saeed Farooq

Professor Saeed Farooq is NIHR Global Research Professor and Professor of Psychiatry and Public Mental Health in the School of Medicine at Keele University. He co-leads the mental health and wellbeing research theme, with a focus on specialist care and global mental health. He holds the position of Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and serves as Academic Secretary to the West Midlands Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. His research centers on improving outcomes in severe mental illness through evidence-based interventions, enhancing physical health in individuals with severe mental illness, and advancing global mental health via public health approaches tailored for low- and lower-middle-income countries. As principal investigator, he has obtained research grants totaling approximately £10 million and currently leads initiatives on treatment adherence, optimizing therapies for severe mental illness to improve physical health, and early detection of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Saeed Farooq has authored over 250 publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and contributed chapters to several books. He has pioneered translational research studies and concepts in psychiatry, including projects such as HOPE, CONTROL, TRANSLATE, and STOPS.

Saeed Farooq holds qualifications including a PhD, MCPS (Psych), and FCPS (Psych). His prior academic role was as Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Chester from December 2015 to April 2016. He received the NIHR Global Health Professorship in 2024, accompanied by a £1.8 million grant to establish early intervention services for young-onset psychosis in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Other honors include the Leadership Award from Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust in 2023 and a prestigious award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2024. Key publications encompass 'Development and initial evaluation of a clinical prediction model for risk of treatment resistance in first-episode psychosis' (2024, British Journal of Psychiatry), 'Traditional healers working with primary care and mental health services' (2023, BMJ Open), and 'Early Intervention in Psychosis and Management of First Episode Psychosis in Low- and Middle-Income Countries' (2024). His scholarship has accumulated over 4,000 citations, influencing mental health practices globally, particularly in resource-limited settings.