RCSI Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Youth Mental Health, Mary Cannon, has been listed as one of the most influential researchers in the world by Clarivate for the second year in a row.
Clarivate listed Professor Cannon in recognition of her global influence in the field of psychiatry through the publication of multiple papers that have been cited many times. Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researcher List is drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year.
Professor Cannon has an established global reputation for her research work in psychiatry and in particular in the area of psychotic experiences in youth. Her research has been published in numerous publications including JAMA Psychiatry, the British Journal of Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Professor Cannon’s field of research is young people’s mental health and, in particular, childhood and adolescent risk factors for later mental health problems in adulthood. She was one of the first researchers to recognise the importance of psychotic-like experiences in young people. She and her team were among the first to demonstrate that psychotic symptoms in young people are much more common than had previously been considered and that they are linked with adversity and other mental health problems in childhood. Her research is now moving toward developing preventative interventions that may reduce the risk of the development of mental health problems in young people who have experienced adversity and psychotic experiences.
Professor Cannon’s research was the first to demonstrate the link between cannabis use, childhood trauma and the risk of psychotic experiences. Her papers on the relationship between early cannabis use and later psychosis have been cited more than 600 times.
Professor Cannon has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including an ‘Outstanding Clinical and Community Research Award’ from the Schizophrenia International Research Society and Research awards from the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. She was previously listed on the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers List (2014), where she featured as the only female Irish researcher.
Professor Cannon’s research work has been funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the European Research Council. She has also worked with Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience on neuroimaging research to study psychotic experiences in young people. She is Co-Lead on a recently-announced HRB-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award programme on Psychosis (PSI-Star)
As Chair of the Academic Faculty of the College of Psychiatrists (2016-2020), she was instrumental in the establishment of the Youth and Student Psychiatry Faculty at the College, which is the first Faculty of its kind in the world within a medical college. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Chair of the Diversity Task Force of the Schizophrenia International Research Society. She has participated in several governmental groups in youth mental health, including the Youth Mental Health Taskforce.
Prof Cannon is a regular contributor to media and has featured in an RTE documentary on the topic of psychosis and has co-authored a colouring book for young people, entitled ‘Journey Through the Brain’, that has been translated into three languages.
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