Throughout October, we're showcasing our Nottinghamshire Healthcare colleagues, and the path they have taken into research. To discover Your Path in Research, visit the National Institute of Health Research website for information and inspiration.

Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Associate Professor in Forensic Psychiatry, Dr John Tully shares how research makes him think critically about his practice, and the need for more research in mental health care.

Who or what inspired you to get involved in research?

Mostly my interest emerged from my clinical experience in psychiatry, realising how much we didn't know about our patient population, and how important research would be in addressing this. Several early clinical mentors were influential also. I was steered in particular towards neuroscience though by a couple of fascinating books by psychiatrists- 'In Search of Memory' by Eric Kandel (the only trained psychiatrist to win the Nobel Prize) and 'The Brain That Changes Itself' by Norman Doidge. 

How has working on research projects changed your day to day practice?

By making my thinking more critical. Not accepting dogma and narratives that have been built up without sufficient evidence. In the everyday clinical setting, this can be a bit exhausting at times, but I think it's worth it to improve the quality of our clinical practice in psychiatry.

Did you face any challenges when you wanted to get involved in research?

I had completely underestimated the logistical challenges of getting even small projects completed. I tend towards being fastidious in my clinical practice, but found that this was not enough in the research setting, where you can never seem to be meticulous enough!

How would you encourage your colleagues to get involved with research?

I always tell my clinical colleagues that even though you may not have a research background, you are in the best position to formulate important research ideas for clinical outcomes. Trust your knowledge and judgement and speak up! Alongside this, I also flag up the need to be realistic about how much time and energy they will expect to dedicate to involvement in any given project - it is easy to underestimate. But picking something you are genuinely interested in helps with follow-through. Our Forensic Research Nottingham group is a great way to dip one's toe in and get a sense of what opportunities are there.

What's your research ambition?

To develop a dual stream of forensic clinical and neuroscience research in Nottingham, including involvement in large-scale national and international collaborations.

How does research make a difference to the NHS? (Or to your service?)

It only makes a difference if it is well-designed, done properly, and taken through to completion. Then, it can guide real empirically-informed practice, which unfortunately remains a deficit of mental healthcare internationally. But small improvements in quality of evidence can have significant impact in the long-term- we don't need to chase panaceas!

To discover what your path in research might be, take a look online or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.