The University of Hull has been awarded £11m from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to establish a world-leading centre to carry out essential research into addiction and mental health.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research combines expertise from the University of Hull with those of our partners and collaborators to increase the capacity of research across the region and nationally.
Through our new centre we provide targeted research into addiction and mental health, focusing on those often most hidden or excluded from treatment.
Our research informs how services are delivered and improves the provision of, and access to essential services in the community.
One in four adults and one in ten children experience mental illness.
Mental health problems are the single largest cause of disability in the UK.
It is estimated 340,000 people need help for opiate and/or crack use and over 600,000 need alcohol treatment, with a large group of adults and young people experiencing both mental ill health and substance use.
An important role of the centre will be to undertake a clinical study to explore tangible solutions to the complex issue around addiction and mental health conditions in young people and adults.
Our powerful partnership will drive improvements in services.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research is funded by a £11m award from the from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). We are working in partnership with world leading academics from the Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London and the Institute of Mental Health Research at the University of York. Our collaborators are the University of Kent, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The research team will build further partnerships with institutions, services and groups over the course of the five years and we look forward to working with teams across the region and beyond.
Our active research will focus on targeted engagement.
The initial five years of research will focus on people who may not access treatment. These include young people and adults with substance use and mental health problems and adults with alcohol-related cognitive impairments.
The centre’s target area covers a diverse population of 1.7 million people in cities, market towns, rural villages and coastal communities across the Humber and North Yorkshire, which includes some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK.
Our research team
Making a positive difference to health and wellbeing in our region and beyond.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research will be led by Professor Thomas Phillips, Professor of Nursing in Addiction and Professor Judith Cohen, Professor of Clinical Trials at Hull York Medical School, and Director of the Hull Health Trials Unit at the University of Hull.
Professor Phillips said: “Research, in many areas of addiction, is underdeveloped and under resourced and we urgently need to identify how to improve the provision of treatments for those experiencing co-existing substance and mental health conditions.
"Despite the significant pressure on public health caused by substance use, this area has accounted for less than three per cent of the overall mental health research activity in the last decade.
“Crucially, we will involve and engage with young people, patients, carers, families and local communities as active partners to include a broader range of voices and maximise the impact of our research."
For further information or to make contact, please email: CAMHR@hull.ac.uk
Our research themes
Patient, Public Involvement and Engagement
Our postgraduate researchers
Funded by
Our partners
In collaboration with
