Dr Katie Marwick
Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist with NHS Lothian
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences
- Division of Psychiatry
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
Contact details
- Email: katie.marwick@ed.ac.uk
Background
Dr Katie Marwick is an academic psychiatrist specialising in the intersection of menstrual and mental health across the lifecourse. Clinically, she works in a multidisciplinary premenstrual syndrome clinic and inpatient perinatal psychiatry. Her research addresses the links between the menopause and severe mental illness. She studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh, before training in Psychiatry in south east Scotland. She completed a Wellcome Trust funded PhD via the Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track scheme. Postdoctorally she held a CSO/NES Clinical Lecturer post while completing Higher Training in General Adult Psychiatry. She is currently a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist with NHS Lothian.
Qualifications
MA MBChB MRCPsych PhD
Undergraduate teaching
I created and lead the team that prepares the Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs) in Psychiatry for year 5 medical students.
I am author of a popular undergraduate textbook, "Crash Course in Psychiatry" (4th and 5th editions) and faculty advisor for the 6th edition.
I have supervised honours projects in neuroscience.
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
No
Areas of interest for supervision
I am currently at capacity and not able to take on new PhD students.
Current PhD students supervised
Christina Steyn: Cycles and symptoms: exploring metabolic, menstrual, and circadian contributions to mental illness. Wellcome Trust Translational Neuroscience Doctoral Training Programme.
Haya Deeb: Understanding postpartum psychosis using big data. Mental Health Research UK John Grace QC PhD Scholarship.
Past PhD students supervised
Co-supervisor for an Epilepsy Research UK funded PhD studentship investigating the role of the NMDA receptor GluN2A subunit in childhood-onset epilepsy.
Research summary
My aim is to improve the lives of women with hormone-sensitive severe mental health problems. I am working to understand why bipolar disorder and psychosis are exacerbated perimenstrually, postpartum and perimenopausally, and what can be done about it. I also collaborate with colleagues in other specialties and disciplines to navigate the societal context of women's mental health, and liaise with policy makers to optimise the impact of my research. I work with routinely collected health care records and clinical cohorts.
My over-arching scientific interest is the biological mechanisms by which severe mental disorders arise and are maintained. I use my clinical observations and conversations with people with lived experience to identify key research questions, and in this way recognised the impact of reproductive transitions on women's mental health as a key understudied area with potential high impact for the lives of many. My PhD and early post-doctoral work have given me a strong mechanistic understanding of neuroscience, as I utilised electrophysiology to investigate the functional consequences of disease-associated variants in important neurotransmitter receptors.
Research interests and experience:
- Postpartum psychosis
- Perimenstrual exacerbations of psychiatric disorders
- Perimenopause / menopause and mental health
- Ethnic disparities in mental health
- Bipolar affective disorder
- NMDA receptors
- Electrophysiology
- Data science
In the press
I have provided expert comment on ethnic disparities in perinatal mental health to the Guardian newspaper.
I have provided expert comment on the role of sex hormones in mental health to the Economist
I have been interviewed about the menstrual cycle as a vital sign in mental health assessment for a popular American podcast (due for release August 2025)
https://fertilityfriday.com/category/fertility-friday-podcast/
I was senior author of the first publication using data from Our Future Health, covered in the Guardian and elsewhere
I am a Research Scholar (early adopter) with Our Future Health, featured in their updates to participants
I wrote a Mental Elf Blog critically summarising a key paper on menopause and new onset severe mental illness
Research Scholar - Our Future Health (current)
Emerging Clinical Researcher Committee member - Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland (current)
Expert Reviewer for Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Perinatal Mental Health Guideline 169 (2023)
Contributor to Academy of Medical Sciences response to the Government’s 10-year mental health and wellbeing plan (2022)
Junior Clinical Academic Committee member - British Medical Association (previous)
Elected a Fellow of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland (2025)
University Finalist: 3 Minute Thesis (2016)
Oral Presentation Winner: Edinburgh Neuroscience Day 3 Minute Thesis (2016)
Poster prize winner: Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress (2014)
Oral Presentation Winner: Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland Summer Meeting (2013)
Core Trainee of the Year: Finalist: Royal College of Psychiatrists (2011)
Oral Presentation Winner: Edinburgh Trainee Audit Conference (2011)
Myre Sim Travelling Fellowship (Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh) (2010)
Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences Travel Grant (University of Edinburgh) (2010)
Young Doctor’s Educational Grant (British Geriatrics Society) (2010)
Medical Elective Report Prize Winner: Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2009)
Young Epidemiologist Award 2009: Second Prize (2009)
Most distinguished female undergraduate in Final MB ChB Exams (Dorothy Gilfillan Prize) (2008)
Medical Women's Federation Elective Essay Prize Winner (2008)
Medical Student Bursary (Royal College of Psychiatrists) (2008)
Medical Student Bursary (British Medical and Dental Students’ Trust) (2008)
Essay Prize Winner: Faculty of General and Adult Psychiatry Medical Student Essay Prize (2007)
Geographical Fieldwork Grant (Royal Geographical Society) (2005)
Biodiversity grant (Panton Trust) (2005)