Saeed Farooq

Biography

Professor Saeed Farooq is NIHR Global Research Professor and Professor of Psychiatry and Public Mental Health, School of Medicine, Keele University. He is also co-lead for the mental health and wellbeing research theme (specialist care and global mental health) within the School. He is an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.

Saeed has over 250 publications including papers in peer reviewed high-impact journals and chapters in several books. He currently leads several studies as principal investigator on improving treatment adherence, optimising treatment for severe mental illness for improving physical health outcomes and early detection of treatment resistant schizophrenia. He has research grants worth around £10 million as principal investigator. Saeed has pioneered several translational research studies and concepts in psychiatry.

Research and scholarship

Saeed’s research interests include improving the outcomes in severe mental illness by using evidence-based interventions, physical health in severe mental illness and global mental health. He is particularly passionate about providing evidence-based health care using a public health approach for low- and lower-middle income countries (LMICs).

Saeed currently leads the NIHR RIGHT-3 funded CONTROL project, which aims to develop and test psychological intervention for treating depression in Pakistani and Afghan refugee TB (and multi-drug resistant TB) patients and to improve their adherence with anti-TB treatment. The project is a joint collaboration between Keele University and Khyber Medical University, Pakistan, and also brings together the diverse experience of other co-investigators from a variety of organisations across the UK, Pakistan and The Netherlands. You can find the funding information for CONTROL here: The CONTROL (COgNitive Therapy for depRessiOn in tubercuLosis treatment) programme of research to improve outcomes for depression and TB in Pakistan and Afghanistan. - NIHR Funding and Awards

Saeed is also principal investigator of several other global mental health projects. He is principal investigator of The HOPE project, which aims to develop a culturally appropriate and context-bespoke intervention for early identification, referral, and management of first episode psychosis in adolescents in Peshawar, Pakistan. Funding information for The HOPE can be found here: GtR (ukri.org) and trial registry can be found here: ISRCTN - ISRCTN75347421: Traditional healers working with primary care and mental health for early intervention in psychosis in young persons

Saeed is also principal investigator of the STOPS+ study, which focuses on improved treatment adherence and functioning in patients with schizophrenia in resource-poor communities in Pakistan. He also runs the SPIRIT and, most recently, the TRANSLATE studies. These projects look at predicting risk of treatment resistance to antipsychotics in first episode schizophrenia and translating evidence for early intervention in psychosis in LMICs.

Saeed also runs the iSWITCHED study, a three-year NIHR funded study regarding switching antipsychotics to improve physical health for people with severe mental illness (SMI) in the UK. The study aims to develop and user-test an intervention to support decision-making around switching antipsychotic medication for those with SMI to improve physical health outcomes.

In addition, Saeed supervises several PhD and postgraduate students, including five students from Khyber Medical University, Pakistan as part of the CONTROL programme capacity building. PhD project topics which Saeed supervises include adapting guidelines for postnatal depression for use in LMICs, developing an essential package of care for the treatment of SMI and the use of cognitive behavioural therapy for cannabis use disorder in Pakistan.

Teaching

Saeed has been involved in teaching for postgraduate psychiatric education and research methodology. He has led several workshops on research methodology. The workshops on the identification and development of research questions and medical writings have consistently received good feedback. Saeed is the academic secretary to the West Midlands division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has successfully organised the division academic meetings twice a year.