About
I am Professor of Psychiatry at Cardiff University and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, with an honorary academic position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I trained in reproductive mental health. I serve as Clinical Lead for Cardiff University Psychiatry Service.
In 2016, I established the UK’s first clinical and research programme in reproductive mental health at Cardiff University. I lead the Reproductive Mental Health Clinic, a pioneering service providing expert assessment and treatment for mental health conditions linked to reproductive life stages, including the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. The clinic offers specialized pre-conception counselling and gender-informed second opinions for women with severe mental illness. As the first and only service of its kind in the United Kingdom, the clinic brings expertise in behavioural endocrinology from specialized training at the internationally renowned UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders.
My work has advanced women’s mental health globally. I provide expert guidance to governments, public bodies, and third-sector organizations, and serve on the Clinical Advisory Board of the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD). My research has shaped clinical guidelines for treating women with bipolar disorder and informed the recognition of postpartum psychosis as a distinct condition. Recent findings from my research have identified perimenopause as a risk factor for new-onset bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.
I have secured competitive funding from institutions across Wales, the UK, the European Union, and the United States. I serve as Executive Team Co-Director and Phenotype Group Co-Chair for the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium’s Bipolar Disorder Working Group, leading international collaborative research efforts. I led the first molecular genetic study examining psychiatric sensitivity to sex hormone changes, funded by a prestigious European Research Council grant.
My research appears regularly in leading journals, with recent publications in Nature and other high-impact venues.