Newcastle University

Qualifications

B.Sc. 1984. Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh

M.B., Ch.B. 1987. University of Edinburgh

Ph.D. 1993. Neuropharmacology, University of Edinburgh

M.R.C.Psych. 1995

M.D. 2004. Newcastle University

F.R.C.Psych. 2007

Previous Positions

1988 - 1992: Wellcome Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Pharmacolgy, University of Edinburgh.

1992 - 1994: SHO, Lothian Psychiatric Training Rotation.

1994 - 1995: Registrar, South East Scotland Psychiatric Training Rotation.

1995 - 1999: Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Memberships

Member of the British Medical Association.
Member of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland.
Member of the British Association for Psychopharmacology.
Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Member of the British Neuroscience Association.
Member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Member of the Society for Biological Psychiatry

Roles and Responsabilities

1998 - present:   Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Regional Affective Disorders Service, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust 

2000 – 2003:      Royal College of Psychiatrists, EMI Working Group.

2000 – Present: Executive Committee Member, Special Interest Group in Psychopharmacology, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

2000 - 2006:      Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health (NHS) Trust, Drugs and Therapeutics Committee (Vice-Chairman from 2002 and Chair from 2004).

2001 - 2005:      Newcastle and North Tyneside Health Authority, Protocol Steering Group.

2001 - 2005:      Academic Secretary, Royal College of Psychiatrist, Northern and Yorkshire Division.

2002 - 2005:      Medical Research Council Advisory Board

2002:                  Health Service Ombudsman External Clinical Assessor

2003 - 2004:       Programme Director for Royal College of Psychiatrists Annual Meeting 2004

2004 – 2007:      Elected Council Member, British Association of Psychopharmacology

2005 - 2009:      Academic Secretary, Faculty of General and Community Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists

2007 – 2008:     Chair, Medicines Management Committee, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust

2007 – 2011:     Honorary General Secretary and Education Officer, British Association for Psychopharmacology

2007 – Present: General Adult Psychiatry Higher Training Sub-Committee, Northern Deanery

2007 – Present: Ethics Committee, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University

2007 – Present: Module Organiser, Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychiatric Illness, M.Res. Degree, Newcastle University

2008 – Present: Member, Mental Health Research Network Industry Adoption Committee

2008- Present: Member steering group Prescribing Observatory in Mental Health-UK Lithium audit

2008 – 2009:     Member National Specialist Commissioning Definition Sets Working Group – Lead on Complex and Treatment Refractory Mental Illnesses

2009 – 2010:     Royal College of Psychiatrists representative on a range of NICE HTAs

2010 – 2011:     Member, MRC Panel of Medical Research Foundation's mental Health Clinical research training fellowship programme

2010-Present:  Member, Organising Committee, Royal College of Psychiatrists’ International Congress: Brighton 2011; Liverpool 2012

2010-Present:  Associate Editor, Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology

2011- Present: Member, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Membership Committee 

Research Interests

My interests are in the pathophysiology and treatment of affective disorders. In particular I am interested in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the serotonergic system. I utilise a number of EEG techniques including cognitive event related potential recordings to study the neuropsychological impairment in psychiatric illness. In addition I have developed a putative method for examing serotonergic function in man that has been utilised to study depressed patients and the effects of cortisol on serontonergic function in healthy subjects.

Funding

I have previously been supported through a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship and an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship. I have had grants from the Nuffield Foundation, Newcastle University Hospital Special Trustess and Industry.

• McAllister-Williams RH, Stevens L, Jones B, Cromarty R, Firth H, Robinson LJ, Gallagher P. Effects of the Oral Contraceptive Pill on Executive Function and Working Memory. In: Biological Psychiatry: 66th Annual Meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. 2011, San Francisco, California, USA: Elsevier Inc.
• Alhaj HA, Selman M, Jervis V, Rodgers J, Barton S, McAllister-Williams RH. Over-generalisation of Autobiographical Memory in Healthy Subjects with a Family History of Depression Following Low-Dose Acute Tryptophan Depletion. 2011.
• McAllister-Williams R. Review: clinically important differences between antidepressants. Evidence-Based Mental Health 2009, 12(4), 107.
• Alhaj HA, McAllister-Williams RH. DHEA improves recollection and mood in healthy young men: an electrophysiological study. In: International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004, Paris, France: Cambridge University Press.
• Alhaj HA, McAllister-Williams RH. Effects of DHEA on neuropsychological function, mood and salivary cortisol in healthy young men. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2004, Harrogate, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Electrophysiological examination of frontal and temporal function during performance of episodic memory tasks. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2004, Harrogate, UK: Sage Publications Ltd..
• McAllister-Williams RH, Marsh VR, Massey AE. Increased sensitivity of somatodendritic 5-HT1A autoreceptors in depression. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2004, Harrogate, UK: Sage Publications Ltd..
• Hsu FC, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH. Does hypercortisolaemia causes anterior cingulate cortex dysfunction in healthy volunteers? An event-related potential. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2003, Cambridge, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
• Alhaj HA, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH. Event-related brain potentials investigation of the effects of four-day, high-dose course of cortisol on the neural correlates of episodic memory. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2003, Cambridge, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
• Fairchild GF, Massey AE, Hsu FC, McAllister-Williams RH. Repeated cortisol administration attenuates 5-HT1A autoreceptor function in humans. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2003, Cambridge, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Lockett J. The effect of cortisol administration on the brain potential correlates of false memory in healthy volunteers. In: Biological Psychiatry: 58th Annual Convention and Scientific Program of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. 2003, San Francisco, California, USA: Elsevier Inc.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Garside MJ, Hsu FC. The effect of cortisol on the neural correlates of neuropsychological function [abstract]. Biological Psychiatry 2002, 51(8 (s)), 190S-191S abstract no. 554.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Ferrier IN. Rapid tranquillisation: time for a reappraisal of options for parenteral therapy. British Journal of Psychiatry 2002, 180(6), 485-489.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Young AH, Menkes DB. Antidepressant response reversed by interferon [5]. British Journal of Psychiatry 2000, 176, 93.
• McAllister-Williams R, Rugg M. Effects of repeated cortisol administration on brain potential correlates of episodic memory retrieval. Psychopharmacology 2002,160 1 74-83.
• Alhaj HA, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH. Effects of DHEA administration on episodic memory, cortisol and mood in healthy young men: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Psychopharmacology 2006, 188(4), 541-551.
• Alhaj HA, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH. A study of the neural correlates of episodic memory and HPA axis status in drug-free depressed patients and healthy controls. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2007, 41(3-4), 295-304.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Massey AE, Fairchild G. Repeated cortisol administration attenuates the EEG response to buspirone in healthy volunteers: Evidence for desensitization of the 5-HT1A autoreceptor. Journal of Psychopharmacology 2007, 21(8), 826-832.
• Gallagher P, Leitch MM, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH, Young AH. Assessing cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in saliva: Effects of collection method. Journal of Psychopharmacology 2006, 20(5), 643-649.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Duloxetine in the management of depression. Future Neurology 2006,1 6 713-720.
• Young AH, Cookson J, Elliott B, Hellewell JSE, McAllister-Williams RH, Newham J, Ogilvie A, Scott J, Tyrer S, Turner M. Managing the aftermath of mania - Newcastle, 2 September 2005: Consensus Meeting Statement. 2006, Newcastle University: Journal of Psychopharmacology, Sage Publications.
• McAllister-Williams RH. NICE guidelines for the management of depression. British Journal of Hospital Medicine 2006. London, UK: Mark Allen Publishing Ltd., 67(2), 60-61.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Foran K, Forrest S, Ingram G, McMahon L, Taylor M, Rajwal M, Cornwall L. NICE guidelines on antidepressants. British Journal of General Practice 2006, 56(531), 798-800.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Relapse prevention in bipolar disorder: A critical review of current guidelines. Journal of Psychopharmacology 2006, 20(2), 12-16.
• Mackin P, McAllister-Williams H. Fronto-temporal dementia: remembering images from the past. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2005,1 3 281-283.
• Massey AE, Marsh VR, McAllister-Williams RH. Lack of effect of tryptophan depletion on the loudness dependency of auditory event related potentials in healthy volunteers. Biological Psychology 2004,65 2 137-145.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Tyrer SP. Antidepressants for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders: The same mechanism of action?. In: Kasper, S., den Boer, J.A., Sitsen, J.M.A, ed. Handbook of Depression and Anxiety: A Biological Approach. New York, USA: Informa Healthcare, 2003, pp.443-456.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Watson S. Bipolar disorder ignored by the Mental Health National Service Framework but not forgotten by the British Association for Psychopharmacology. Journal of Psychopharmacology 2003. ,17 4 7-10.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Leech SN. Dermatological syndromes. In: Haddad, P., Dursun, S., Deakin W, ed. Adverse Syndromes and Psychiatric Drugs: A Clinical Guide. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp.Chapter 16.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Massey AE. EEG effects of buspirone and pindolol: A method of examining 5-HT1A receptor function in humans. Psychopharmacology 2003,166 3 284-293.
• Hsu FC, Garside MJ, Massey AE, McAllister-Williams RH. Effects of a single dose of cortisol on the neural correlates of episodic memory and error processing in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology 2003,167 4 431-442.
• Gallagher P, Massey AE, Young AH, McAllister-Williams RH. Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on executive function in healthy male volunteers. BMC Psychiatry 2003, 3(10), 9.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Ferrier IN. Pharmacological management of unipolar and biploar affective disorder. Psychiatry 2003,5 3 77-85.
• McAllister-Williams R, Massey A, Rugg M. Effects of tryptophan depletion on brain potential correlates of episodic memory retrieval. Psychopharmacology 2002,160 4 434-442.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Mood Disorders. In: Perry, E., Ashton, H.C., Young, A.H, ed. The Neurochemistry of Conciousness. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2002, pp.293-308.
• R. H. McAllister-Williams. Antidepressants for old people - Lack of evidence of efficacy is not evidence of lack of efficacy. British Medical Journal 1999, 319, 850-851.
• R. H. McAllister-Williams, M. S. Man and A. H. Young. Effects of adrenalectomy on 8-OH-DPAT induced hypothermia in mice. Psychopharmacology 1999, 142, 73-77.
• R. J. Porter, R. H. McAllister-Williams, S. Jones and A. H. Young. Effects of dexamethasone on neuroendocrine and psychological responses to L-tryptophan infusion. Psychopharmacology 1999, 143, 64-71.
• R. J. Porter, R. H. McAllister-Wiliams, B. S. Lunn and A. H. Young. 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor function in humans is reduced by acute administration of hydrocortisone. Psychopharmacology 1998, 139, 243-250.
• R. H. McAllister-Williams, I. N. Ferrier and A. H. Young. Mood and neuropsychological function in depression: the role of corticosteroids and serotonin. Psychological Medicine 1998, 28, 573-584.
• R. H. McAllister-Williams and A. H. Young. Pindolol augmentation of antidepressant therapy. British Journal of Psychiatry 1998, 173, 536-537.
• R. H. McAllister-Williams and A. H. Young. Research assessment exercise - Exercise has implications for clinical academic medicine. British Medical Journal 1998, 316, 1744-1744.
• McAllister-Williams R.H. The definition of primary delusions: Confusion in standard texts and amongst clinicians. Psychiatric Bulletin 1997, 21(6), 346-349.
• R. H. McAllisterWilliams and I. N. Ferrier. Neuroleptic prescribing in residents of nursing homes - Dangerous to extrapolate local audit findings. British Medical Journal 1996, 312, 1667-1667.
• Alhaj HA, Selman M, Jervis V, Rodgers J, Barton S, McAllister-Williams RH. Effect of low-dose acute tryptophan depletion on the specificity of autobiographical memory in healthy subjects with a family history of depression. Psychopharmacology 2012, (epub ahead of print).
• Sparshatt A, Baldwin DS, Bazire S, Haddad PM, Weston E, McAllister-Williams RH, Taylor D. A naturalistic evaluation and audit database of agomelatine (NEVADA): Clinical outcome at eighteen months. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2011, Harrogate: Sage Publications Ltd.
• Alhaj H, Wisniewski G, McAllister-Williams RH. The use of the EEG in measuring therapeutic drug action: focus on depression and antidepressants. Journal of Psychopharmacology 2011, 25(9), 1175-1191.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Translating MDD trial-based evidence into clinical practice. In: European Neuropsychopharmacology: 24th Congress Meeting of European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011, Paris, France: Elsevier BV.
• Hsu FC, McAllister-Williams RH. Effects of repeated cortisol administration on the neural correlates of error processing. In: Journal of Psychopharmacology: Summer Meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. 2002, Harrogate: Sage Publications Ltd.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Massey AE. Buspirone and pindolol effects on the EEG frequency spectrum in healthy men. In: Biological Psychiatry. 2001, Elsevier Inc.
• McAllister-Williams RH, Anderson AJ, Young AH. Corticosterone selectively attenuates 8-OH-DPAT-mediated hypothermia in mice. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 2001, 4(1), 1-8.
• Porter RJ, McAllister-Williams RH, Young AH. Acute effects of venlafaxine and paroxetine on serotonergic transmission in human volunteers. Psychopharmacology 1999, 146(2), 194-198.
• Kingdon DG, Solomka B, McAllister-Williams H, Turkington D, Gregoire A, Elnazer H, Thagadur M, Hansen L, Rathod S, Gleeson S, Zoha M, Singh P, Naeem F. Care clusters and mental health Payment by Results. British Journal of Psychiatry 2012, 200(2), 162-162.
• McAllister-Williams RH. Depression: From Psychopathology to Pharmacotherapy. British Journal of Psychiatry 2012, 200(2), 168-168.
• Moriarty A, Anderson K, Gallagher P, McAllister-Williams RH. Neuropsychological effects of sleep disturbance in healthy subjects. In: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry: Association of British Neurologists Annual Meeting. 2012, Gateshead, UK: BMJ Group.