I trained in Medicine and in Surgery at the University of Pavia, in Italy. The faculty of medicine in this university is one of the oldest worldwide and the top in Italy.

I graduated in 2007 (110/110 cum laude). I then qualified in Psychiatry in 2012 (50/50 cum laude).

My passion for a holistic approach to care led me to deepen my scientific knowledge conducting a PhD at the University of Pavia, investigating the relationship between psychopathology and neurobiology, which I completed in 2016.

The desire to expand my cultural horizons motivated me to obtain a Clinical Research Attachment to one of the most prestigious training and research centres in Psychiatry worldwide: the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.

Since then, I have dedicated myself to the study of psychiatric disturbances, maintaining a position in the same Institute, while working in the NHS as a Consultant Psychiatrist for the South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust.

My research activities led to publish original articles in high impact factor peer-reviewed journals, win prizes, present at international conferences and write books. In 2019 I was awarded Highly Cited Researcher status by Web of Science.

I have 15 years experience working in the field of psychiatry.

In the NHS I work as a substantive consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust for TREAT (Treatment Review and Assistance Team), a specialist Service for patients with difficult to manage psychotic symptoms and side effects from treatment, complex physical comorbidities and treatment resistant psychosis.

I have also worked for several years with patients with emerging psychosis, in the community. I led the set up of the early detection for psychosis team (OASIS) for young adults in Croydon and Lewisham.

I have deep respect and genuine interest in people’s unique personal story and suffering from their own point of view. I treat my patients’ privacy and confidentiality very seriously. I offer a non judgemental approach, empathic understanding and a professional yet warm support.

I strive to identify and strengthen personal resilience and I deeply believe that when suffering is not denied, but faced with the right support, it can even become an enriching human experience.

I have a holistic understanding of mind and body and aim to support the person as a whole.

I always involve my patients in decisions regarding their treatment and discuss with them pros and cons of possible management strategies, including medications, which I only offer when clinically indicated, after careful assessments of potential risks and benefits.

As an example of my philosophy and values you can access two scientific articles that I have co-written with patients and their caregivers on their lived experience of suffering with mental disorders. These studies have been published in the top psychiatric journal worldwide.

The Lived Experiences of Family Members and Carers of People with Psychosis: A Bottom-Up Review Co-Written by Experts by Experience and Academics.

Estradé A, Onwumere J, Venables J, Gilardi L, Cabrera A, Rico J, Hoque A, Otaiku J, Hunter N, Kéri P, Kpodo L, Sunkel C, Bao J, Shiers D, Bonoldi I, Kuipers E, Fusar-Poli P.Psychopathology. 2023 Jan 23:1-12. doi: 10.1159/000528513. Online ahead of print.PMID: 36689938 

The lived experience of psychosis: a bottom-up review co-written by experts by experience and academics.

Fusar-Poli P, Estradé A, Stanghellini G, Venables J, Onwumere J, Messas G, Gilardi L, Nelson B, Patel V, Bonoldi I, Aragona M, Cabrera A, Rico J, Hoque A, Otaiku J, Hunter N, Tamelini MG, Maschião LF, Puchivailo MC, Piedade VL, Kéri P, Kpodo L, Sunkel C, Bao J, Shiers D, Kuipers E, Arango C, Maj M.World Psychiatry. 2022 Jun;21(2):168-188. doi: 10.1002/wps.20959.PMID: 35524616 

I am fascinated by the different perspectives of my profession, ranging from neurobiological mechanisms to subjective or philosophical aspects of psychiatry.

As Clinical Research Fellow in the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, I contributed to numerous studies that employs modern neuroscience to investigate the risk and resilience factors underlying the onset of mental disorders in particular in young people. I am a member of the EPIC lab, which investigates better approaches for mental disorders in young people.

I have also a strong interest in phenomenology and I have conducted my own study to investigate the interface between neurobiology and phenomenology.

I actively contribute to the department’s academic programme.
I have recently coordinated research projects to improve the prevention of major mental illness in children and adolescents within the Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Pavia, Italy.

I have been a visiting professor for the University of Pavia, Faculty of Medicine, teaching “psychodiagnostic” at the course for “psychiatry rehabilitation technician”.

I have been teaching for the Mental Health Study Program at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College of London, and I am currently teaching for the MSc Early Intervention in Psychosis at the same Institute.

I am also a teacher of the psychopathology module of the Maudsley Training Programme/IoPPN MRCPsych Course.

I am a lecturer on psychopathology for the Master Degree (MSc) in Psychology, Neuroscience And Human Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy.

To date (September 2024), I have published 61 scientific articles that are listed in the international databases. To see these articles please click here.

To see a selection of some of these scientific articles, please visit my Resources section.

I have been listed in the 2019 Highly Cited researcher database by Clarivate Analytics. This database recognises ‘the world’s most influential researchers of the past decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science’.