The PsyLife research group in the Division of Psychiatry, UCL, aims to explore how our environments influence psychiatric health and illness over the life course. We are interested in understanding which factors in our social, economic and physical environments affect mental health, when exposure to these factors is most harmful, and the ways in which these risk factors lead to the onset of mental health issues. We are also interested in how we can use this research to inform policy, plan mental health services more effectively, and prevent or lower the risk of developing mental health problems in the population.

We explore these questions through different types of research studies, using data collected on large numbers of the population. Epidemiological principles of study design and applied statistical methods are used to test our research hypotheses for the different research projects we use. You can find out more about epidemiology, public health and medical statistics on our For the Public, From the Public page. We currently run four main research projects within the group. To find out more about each, click on the links below. We also collaborate on a number of other projects.