From left: Pilleriin Sikka, Paul Harrison, Liz Tunbridge, Louise Verrall, Valerie West, Sharon Eastwood, Inga Deakin, Tracy Lane, Greg Bristow, Phil Burnet, Beata Godlewska, Louisa Lyon, Linda Laatikainen, Mary Walker, Li Chen.

Paul is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and head of the Molecular Neuropathology research group. He qualified from Oxford in medicine in 1985 and trained in psychiatry before spending three years at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London researching gene expression in Alzheimer's disease. After receiving a D.M. he returned to Oxford in 1991 as a Clinical Lecturer where he set up a laboratory to investigate the molecular neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. He was awarded a Wellcome Senior Fellowship in 1995 and became an honorary consultant psychiatrist, and in 1997 was appointed Clinical Reader in psychiatry and Governing Body Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He has published over 170 papers, and is co-author of The Neuropathology of Schizophrenia (OUP, 2000), Lecture Notes on Psychiatry (Blackwells, 2005) and Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (OUP, 2006). He has received research awards from the Society for Biological Psychiatry, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologium, and British Association for Psychopharmacology.

Valerie West, BSc

Valerie is Paul Harrison’s PA. She has a BSc in the History and Philosophy of Science. She has worked in various research environments and has in-depth knowledge of research approval and administration processes including those of ethics committees, NHS Trusts, the MHRA and universities. She works in the team part time, combining this with another part time job as Project Coordinator on a large scale Wellcome Trust-funded research project, also in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.

Phil Burnet, MSc, PhD

Phil graduated in 1985 with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Hull, and went on to gain an MSc in Neurochemistry and a PhD from the University of London. He then spent two years at the National Institute of Mental Health, USA as a Fogarty Research Fellow. Phil has been with the Molecular Neuropathology group since 1992, first as an MRC Training Fellow, and then as a Wellcome Trust post-doctoral Research Assistant (1995-1999). He is now a University Research Lecturer and tutor for the Final Honours School of Physiological Sciences. Phil is also the Departmental Safety Officer, and Biological Safety Officer. Phil’s research interests include: RNA interference and gene knock-out paradigms, gene delivery strategies, the modulation of glutamate neurotransmission, the expression of excitatory amino acid transporters, receptors and metabolic enzymes in schizophrenia, and the molecular pharmacology of psychotropic agents.

Sharon Eastwood, MSc, DPhil

Sharon graduated from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, with a BSc in Zoology in 1989, and a MSc in 1991. After being granted an Overseas Research Student award in 1992, she studied gene expression in schizophrenia, focusing on the pre-synaptic protein synaptophysin and glutamate receptors GluR1 and GluR2,  under the supervision of Paul Harrison. Since gaining her DPhil in 1996, Sharon has continued her research into schizophrenia as a member of the Molecular Neuropathology group. In 2001 she was awarded the Margaret Temple Research Fellowship by the British Medical Association and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award in 2005.  Sharon is also co-holder of an MRC grant to investigate the expression and function of susceptibility genes in schizophrenia. Sharon’s other research interests include investigations of interstitial white matter neurons as potential markers of neurodevelopmental disorders, and experimental models of schizophrenia. Sharon has been appointed as a University Research Lecturer.

Amanda Law, MSc, PhD

Amanda is currently an MRC Career Development Fellow. She works both with Paul Harrison here, and is a Research Scholar with Dr Daniel Weinberger in the Genes, Cognition and Psychosis program at the National Institute of Mental Health, Washington DC, USA. Amanda obtained a BSc (Hons) in Human Anatomy and Cell Biology and an MSc in Neuroscience, from Sheffield University. She then went on to obtain a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Manchester, joining the Harrsion Group as a research fellow in 2000. Her research has focused on brain and genetic mechanisms  involved in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia, utilising neuropathology and molecular biology approaches. Amanda's current research is focused particularly on understanding the role of neuregulin as a risk gene for schizophrenia, and how genetic mechanisms influence brain development and adult brain structure and function.

Elizabeth Tunbridge, MSc, DPhil

Liz graduated in 2000 from the University of Bath with a BSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology.  She joined the Oxford University Wellcome Trust 4 Year programme in Neuroscience, completing an MSc in Neuroscience and gaining her DPhil in the Molecular Neuropathology group, supervised by Paul Harrison.  She spent a year as an advanced scholar in the lab of Dr Daniel Weinberger as part of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, USA.  She was awarded a MRC Pathfinder grant, along with Dr Derek Blake (Dept. of Pharmacology) and Paul Harrison, and has been appointed Weir Junior Research Fellow at University College, Oxford. She was recently awarded a MRC Project Grant, with Prof Paul Harrison, Dr David Bannerman (Dept. Experimental Psychology), Dr Ole Paulsen (Dept. Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics) and Dr Trevor Sharp (Dept. Pharmacology). Liz's research focuses on the role of the catechol-o-methyltransferase gene in regulating brain function and susceptibility to psychiatric disorders.

Louise Verrall, BSc, MSc

Louise graduated in 2002 from the University of Southampton with a BSc in Physiology and Pharmacology and gained an MSc in Neuroscience in 2004 from Oxford University as part of the Wellcome Trust 4 year programme. She has since completed a DPhil supervised by Dr Phil Burnet studying the neurobiology of D-serine metabolic genes in schizophrenia. She is now continuing in this field developing in vitro and in vivo models to study the role if D-amino acid oxidase in brain function and schizophrenia. Louise works collaboratively with Paul Harrison and Phil Burnet in the MNG, and Matthew Wood at the Dept. Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, where she has been appointed as Departmental Lecturer in Neuroscience. She teaches neuroscience for Medicine, Human Sciences and Physiological Sciences and tutors at The Queen's college as a non-stipendary lecturer. Louise is also a Junior Research Fellow and member at Pembroke college.

Inga Deakin BA, MSc

Inga is in the final year of a Wellcome Trust 4-year Programme in Neuroscience, and her DPhil project and is investigating Neuregulin1. She is supervised by Paul Harrison and Dr Amanda Law, and collaborates with Dr David Bannerman (Department of Experimental Psychology).  She graduated in 2004 from Pembroke College, Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences,  specialising in Neurobiology. Inga is a member of Keble College.

Louisa Lyon, BA, MSc

Louisa graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2001 with a BA(Hons) in Natural Sciences. After working as a research assistant, first for the University of Birmingham and then for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford, Louisa embarked on the Wellcome Trust's 4 year Programme in Neuroscience. She is currently studying the role of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors, supervised by Phil Burnet and Dr Ole Paulsen (Department of Physiology).

Mary Walker

Mary joined the group in 2003 as laboratory manager. She has worked for the University for many years as a medical laboratory scientific officer, with a background in histology and neuropathology. She is currently involved in neuropathological and molecular studies of schizophrenia and depression.

Greg Bristow, BMedSc

Linda Laatikainen

Linda is in the first year of her three-year DPhil project studying COMT. She is supervised by Prof Paul Harrison and Dr Elizabeth Tunbridge, and collaborate with Dr Trevor Sharp (Dept. Pharmacology), Dr David Bannerman (Dept. Experimental Psychology) and Dr Ole Paulsen (Dept. Physiology Anatomy and Human Genetics). Linda graduated in 2007 from Cambridge University with a degree in Natural Sciences, majoring in Pharmacology.

Tracy Lane

Beata Godlewska

Pilleriin Sikka

Li Chen