Robin Murray

Vocation

Notable

Scottish psychiatrist, Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He has treated patients with schizophrenia and bipolar illness at the National Psychosis Unit South London and Maudsley NHS Trust who are referred because they fail to respond to treatment, or cannot get appropriate treatment, locally; he sees patients privately if they are unable to obtain an NHS referral. Murray is ranked as one of the most influential researchers in psychiatry and schizophrenia.In 1994, he was the president of the European Association of Psychiatrists; now the European Psychiatric Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 2010) and also a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Murray is co-editor-in-chief of Psychological Medicine. He was Chairman of the Schizophrenia Commission which, over 2011 and 2012, reviewed in detail the care of people with psychosis in England, and concluded people with this illness were neglected, often poorly treated and subject to discrimination. The Commission made numerous recommendations for improvement.[ Murray and colleagues were among the first to demonstrate that prolonged heavy abuse of cannabis can contribute to the onset of psychosis, and that starting early before 15 years and using high potency cannabis (e.g. skunk) particularly increase the risk. He conducts ongoing research why some people are especially vulnerable to this drug while most develop no problems. In 2009 Murray had a public disagreement about the dangers of cannabis in triggering psychosis. The issue has become a political football. Murray was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours for his services to medicine. Link to Wikipedia biography