Cardiff University

Academic Institute

OFHS260138

Severe mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, affect how people think, feel, and behave. We are interested in looking at poor outcomes for people with these conditions, like repeated hospital stays, difficulties with relationships, and difficulties finding or keeping a job. Current treatments help with some symptoms and effects of these disorders but many people experience poor outcomes. We want to understand why outcomes differ between people with these conditions. We will look at how genetic and other factors impact someone’s chances of developing these conditions. We will also look at how these factors affect outcomes. Millions of people worldwide have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. These conditions have big impacts on a person’s health and place pressure on families and healthcare systems. How these conditions affect people’s lives can be different from person to person. Some people recover well, and are able to participate fully in everyday life, including building and keeping relationships, as well as being able to work. Others face difficulties like repeated stays in hospital, serious physical health problems, and struggle with daily life. Research has shown that genetics can impact someone’s chance of having either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. We do not know why different people with the same condition can experience very different outcomes. Genes and biology can help to explain these differences, but large datasets, such as Our Future Health, are needed to understand how. We will use Our Future Health information about people’s health and lives, as well as their genetics. We want to identify how genetics can support progress towards healthcare that is more tailored to an individual, known as precision medicine.

Conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder cause disability for millions of people all over the world. They often begin in when people are young adults and can affect many aspects of a person’s life. Some treatments are available but they do not work perfectly for everyone. Currently, doctors struggle to know how a person’s illness will progress or which treatments would be best for them. The goal of this project is to better understand how genetics and biology affect the progress of a person’s condition. This could help us know how best to help somebody from the beginning of their illness, which is when treatments and support can have the biggest effect. For example, there might be people we can group together, based on their genetics, who would benefit from the same treatment or support. Our work could help progress towards more personalised approaches to care, improved treatments, and a better quality of life for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Public Health Research

19/10/2026

27/08/2026

TRE