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Professor John Geddes has been appointed to the WA Handley Professorship of Psychiatry and will take up this post in November 2021. He will be a fellow of Merton College. A donation from the WA Handley Trust endowed the first Chair of Psychiatry in the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, which was founded in 1969.

John Geddes
It’s a true honour to be appointed to a statutory chair at Oxford University. Even in normal times Oxford is an astonishing place and I am simply awestruck by what this place has done in the battle against the virus. The WA Handley Chair will help me ensure that we learn from this to bring the same urgency, widespread collaboration and intellectual inspiration to bear on mental health. - Professor John Geddes, Head of Department of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry and Merton College, one of the oldest colleges in Oxford with a strong commitment to excellence in research and teaching, held a rigorous search and selection process for this prestigious clinical academic post. The position provides an unparalleled opportunity to develop and sustain a large scale research programme, supported by the world-leading clinical research infrastructure in Oxford.

Mental health research is a priority for the University of Oxford, which is working closely with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust through the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.

Previous post holders include the late Professor Michael Gelder, the founder of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and Professor Guy Goodwin.

Read the full story on the Department of Psychiatry website