Warwick Alliance to battle schizophrenia

The University is developing strategies to combat schizophrenia, a disease affecting more than 24 million people worldwide, as part of the international collaboration between Warwick and Monash.

Professor Swaran Singh became the first Warwick academic to travel to Melbourne for a research visit to Monash University since the alliance between the two universities was established in early 2012.

Professor Singh met with researchers at Monash to discuss collaborative opportunities, and also presented data from his recent studies into the high rates of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders in ethnic minority groups in the UK at a free public forum in Melbourne.

Singh said he was looking forward to meeting with colleagues at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre (MAPrc) to discuss opportunities for collaboration as part of the Warwick-Monash alliance: “I was pleased to learn that some of the work of the MAPrc similarly focused on schizophrenia and psychotic disorders.

“By collaborating with Monash University, we are approaching this field of research from a new aspect and together our complementary strengths may yield significant outcomes.”

Director of the MAPrc Professor Jayashri Kulkarni said Professor Singh and his team of psychiatry researchers would find ‘kindred spirits’ in researchers at the centre: “Professor Singh and I share a mutual approach for schizophrenia, conducting broad, integrative clinical research into this complex disease.

“Through this alliance with Warwick University, we hope to develop new treatments and understanding of a disease that can severely impair people’s lives,” Professor Kulkarni said.

This collaboration is just the beginning of what was promised to be an important partnership for students of both universities. Some of the first ‘building-block’ initiatives for the alliance are new joint PhDs and dual Masters programmes in areas of strategic importance, as well as the development of virtual mobility through interdisciplinary modules and online learning.