Prof. Robert Howard

Old Age Psychiatry / Psychopathology

UCL & North London Mental Health Partnership

Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at UCL; led landmark dementia and psychosis trials.

Professor Robert Howard FRCPsych is Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at University College London and an Honorary Consultant with the North London Mental Health Partnership, leading influential clinical trials in dementia, late-life psychosis and depression.

Education & training: Read medicine at Cambridge and completed psychiatric training at the Maudsley/IoPPN, progressing to chairs in Old Age Psychiatry first at King’s College London and, since 2015, at UCL.

Clinical interests: Dementia-related neuropsychiatry including agitation and psychosis, very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis and late-life mood disorders, with a translational focus from mechanisms to pragmatic trials.

Research, teaching & leadership: Chief investigator and senior investigator on UK-wide RCTs; notably the SYMBAD trial which found no clinical benefit of mirtazapine for agitation in dementia versus placebo, informing prescribing practice, alongside wider trial portfolios in Alzheimer’s disease and late-onset psychosis.

Service & systems: Integrates trial infrastructure into NHS memory and older-adult services, emphasising shared risk–benefit decisions and deprescribing where evidence shows lack of efficacy or harm.

Selected publications & contributions: Highly cited outputs in The Lancet, NEJM and BMJ on dementia therapeutics and service models, with regular public and professional engagement on evidence-based care for older people.