In the latest of our 60 second interview series, we spoke with Dr Graham Blackman, Senior Clinical Researcher in the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry and Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Blackman is also a researcher in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Oxford Health’s Data Science and Brain Technologies Themes.
In this article, Dr Blackman shares how his clinical and research work is focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis, and the development of innovative NHS care pathways.
Dr Blackman also discusses how his recent Wellcome Trust and NIHR Fellowship awards will help translate research discoveries into better care for future patients.
Tell us a little about yourself, and what attracted you to working in research?
I work with people experiencing a first episode of psychosis – an area that has fascinated me for more than 20 years.
My interest first began during my undergraduate psychology degree, when I spent a year at Harvard University and took a graduate course on psychosis. I was struck by how the field sits at the intersection of psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by trying to understand how disturbances in the brain can profoundly affect the way we think, perceive and experience the world.
What has kept me motivated is the people behind the diagnosis. Psychosis usually develops in early adulthood at a pivotal time in most individual lives where they may be entering higher education, beginning a career or thinking about starting a family. Although it can have a devastating impact, many people who experience an episode of psychosis make a full recovery when they receive the right care. That combination of challenge and hope is what continues to inspire me.
What is the focus of the work in your department?
My work focuses on improving both the diagnosis and treatment of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis.
With support from the Wellcome Trust and the BRC: Oxford Health, we are launching the Baseline Biomarker Check (BBC) Clinic – an integrated clinical-research platform embedded within the Oxford Early Intervention Service.
Based at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, the clinic acts as a “one-stop shop”, bringing together enhanced diagnostic assessment, including MRI brain imaging, cognitive assessment and neurological examination. Patients also have the opportunity to take part in research, including advanced MRI and blood sampling, helping us better understand the biological causes of psychosis.
Alongside this, together with Professor Philip McGuire and Dr Daniel Maughan, we have developed and implemented a new Oxford Early Intervention Service pathway for first-episode psychosis to improve how we monitor early treatment response and optimise care during the critical first few months after diagnosis. My NIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship, which begins in September, will support the ongoing development and evaluation of this pathway.
What does a day in your current job look like? What are you currently working on?
One of the things I enjoy most is that no two days are the same.
Some days are spent in clinic assessing patients and working alongside colleagues in the Oxford Early Intervention Service. Other days involve developing new research studies, supervising students and research staff, analysing data, writing papers, or meeting collaborators from across psychiatry, neuroscience, radiology and psychology.
One of the most rewarding moments recently was completing the first full pilot of the BBC Clinic. After several years of planning, it was incredibly satisfying to see colleagues from so many different disciplines working together and seeing the clinic run as we had envisaged. It was one of those moments when you realise that years of planning have become something tangible that will soon benefit patients.
What has surprised me most has been the tremendous number of people involved to get to this stage. Establishing the clinic has required close collaboration between clinicians, neuroscientists, psychologists, radiographers, research nurses, managers, service users and many others. It highlights how collaborative the Oxford research community is and how much can be achieved when different disciplines work towards a shared goal.
How will your recent Fellowship awards support your work?
I’m incredibly grateful for the support of both the Wellcome Trust and the NIHR.
The Wellcome Trust award is supporting the establishment of the BBC Clinic, creating a platform that combines embedded NHS care with deep clinical and biological phenotyping.
The NIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship, will support the continued development and evaluation of the Oxford Early Intervention Service pathway for first-episode psychosis, helping us understand how best to improve early treatment and patient outcomes in routine NHS practice.
Together, these awards provide an exciting opportunity to strengthen the integration of research and clinical care, ensuring that research findings can be translated into meaningful improvements for patients.
How did you get to where you are today?
Looking back, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to benefit from wonderful mentors and opportunities throughout my career.
Growing up in rural Nottinghamshire and having the opportunity to spend a year studying at Harvard broadened my horizons enormously. The time spend abroad made me realise that, despite different backgrounds and cultures, people often have far more in common than divides them. That lesson has stayed with me and continues to shape how I approach research and collaboration today.
After completing a psychology degree, I went on to complete a medical degree before undertaking most of my psychiatry training through the Maudsley Training Programme in South London. During that time, I completed my PhD with Professor McGuire at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, who has played a major role in shaping my academic career.
Since moving to Oxford in 2023, Dr Maughan has been instrumental in helping me think about how research can be translated into practical improvements within NHS services.
I’ve also been fortunate to receive outstanding support from Dr Karl Marlowe, Dr Martin Batty, Professor Belinda Lennox, Professor Rachel Upthegrove and many other colleagues across Oxford Health and the University of Oxford.
Who or what inspires you?
Professionally, I’m inspired by patients and their families.
One patient I’ll never forget was a young man who was almost exactly my own age when I first worked on an inpatient psychiatric ward. Seeing the profound impact that psychosis had on him and his family made me realise just how fortunate I had been in my own life. It also reinforced my determination to improve the care available for people experiencing psychosis.
I’m also inspired by colleagues who combine excellent clinical care with curiosity, innovation and collaboration. For me, the most rewarding research is research that changes what happens in the clinic.
If you were not in your current job, what would you like to be doing?
I genuinely struggle to think of another career that I would find more rewarding.
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be not to worry quite so much about the future. Instead, I’d encourage myself to focus on work that feels meaningful and where I believe I can make the greatest difference. Things have a remarkable way of working out over time.
I feel incredibly fortunate to combine clinical work, research and teaching, and every week brings something different. If I wasn’t working in psychiatry, I would like to think that I would still be working at the interface between healthcare, science and technology, developing new ways to translate scientific discoveries into better care for patients.
