The Immune System’s Role in Depression and Schizophrenia: from mechanism towards new treatment

Advances in Immunopsychiatry
The Immune System’s Role in Depression and Schizophrenia: from mechanism towards new treatment

Prof Golam Khandaker, PhD, FRCPsych
Professor of Psychiatry and Immunology at the University of Bristol; Head of immunopsychiatry programme at the UK MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit; Co-lead for the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre Mental Health Theme; and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Golam’s research focuses on identifying novel immunological mechanisms and potential treatment targets for depression and schizophrenia using epidemiological cohort studies, genetic analysis, and early phase clinical trials. He is also interested in the immune system’s role in cognition, neurodevelopment, and psychiatric and physical multimorbidity especially cardiometabolic conditions. Golam has also studied the effect of genetic and environmental (e.g., dietary nutrients, adversity/stress) factors on immune response. The key impetus for his work is to help develop new treatments and biology-based subtyping/classification of psychiatric syndromes. His notable discoveries include studies showing a potentially causal role of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) in depression and schizophrenia, which have led to two RCTs of the IL-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab for patients with depression and first episode psychosis. Golam is the lead editor of the Textbook of Immunopsychiatry published by Cambridge University Press, and he is on the editorial board of the journals Brain Behavior and Immunity, and Psychoneuroendocrinology.