$36 million gift from Jane Hamlyn and family funds new centre for emerging minds research focused on young people’s mental health

A pioneering research center aimed at achieving better mental health outcomes for children, young people, and families will be established at the University of Oxford thanks to a $36 million gift from the Hamlyn family’s Paul Foundation.

The Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research will serve as a hub to investigate how to promote good mental health and prevent and treat emerging mental health conditions by identifying and harnessing children’s and young people’s aptitudes and interests and targeting the key mechanisms that underpin mental health in children and young people.

The Paul Foundation’s generous gift will fund key areas of research, as well as the training and development of future leaders in the field. It will also enable the permanent endowment of two professorships to lead the center as it grows.

Mental health problems in children and young people are common and seemingly on the rise – an NHS survey in 2023 found that one in five had a likely mental health condition, an increase from one in nine in 2017.

The Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research aims to contribute to a reversal of this trend by developing psychological approaches that can be applied by families, in schools, and across society to promote good mental health and to prevent and intervene early in addressing emerging problems.

Researchers from the center will work closely with children and young people, caregivers, policymakers, and health and education practitioners to ensure that these approaches have a positive impact on both policy and practice.

They will be based in the Life and Mind Building, the university’s state-of-the-art bioscience facility, due to open this autumn. The Paul Foundation will fund an experimental classroom space within the building to enhance the center’s work.

Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said, ‘The Paul Foundation’s landmark gift will bring some of the brightest minds together to find solutions to debilitating mental health conditions among children and young people. I look forward to witnessing the centre’s achievements, and I am confident that the new approaches developed there will make a significant difference to future generations.’

The Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research will build on the achievements of the Emerging Minds research network (2018-22) and the Oxford Psychological Interventions in Children and Adolescents (TOPIC) research group. Both have been led by Cathy Creswell, FMedSci, Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology and an expert in anxiety disorders in children and young people.

Professor Creswell, who works across the Departments of Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology, said, ‘We are incredibly grateful for this gift from The Paul Foundation in support of our commitment to have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people.

The new Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research will accelerate and strengthen research-driven change in child and adolescent mental health, including the development and delivery of effective new therapies and approaches for children and their families, schools, and communities.’

Previous support from The Paul Foundation for Professor Creswell’s work and her research group has already had a positive impact on children’s and young people’s mental health, providing the basis for establishing the new center.

In 2022, the foundation funded evaluations of the implementation of two internet-based therapies: Online Support and Intervention for Child Anxiety (OSI), for children aged 5 to 12, and Online Social Anxiety Cognitive Therapy for Adolescents (OSCA), tailored for those aged 11 to 18. Both OSI and OSCA were subsequently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for use in the NHS.

In 2023, a further gift from The Paul Foundation allowed Oxford to deepen its research focus on how autistic children and young people can use their strengths in everyday life, with support from families, teachers, and mental health professionals, to promote good mental health and well-being.

Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of Oxford’s Medical Sciences Division, added, ‘Working in partnership with The Paul Foundation over the last three years has enabled us to advance research that is already making a real difference to children and young people in the UK and across the world.

The establishment of the centre ensures this ambitious and essential work continues to develop and broaden its reach in the longer term.’

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation is chaired by Jane Hamlyn, who is a member of the Hamlyn family and the daughter of the founder, Paul Hamlyn.

Another family member, Michael Hamlyn, also serves as a trustee on the board.

The remaining trustees are a diverse group of individuals from outside the family, selected for their expertise in various relevant fields.