NCMD Research Seminar Series 5th December 2025

Presenter: Prof Mike Browning, Professor of Computational Psychiatry, University of Oxford

The Effect of Pramipexole in Treatment Resistant Depression: Results of the Pax-D Study

In this talk I will present the results of a recently completed RCT, the PAX-D study, which examined the effectiveness and tolerability of pramipexole augmentation in patients with treatment resistant depression. The study was run in 8 sites across England (including Newcastle). Patients were
randomised to receive 1 year’s treatment with pramipexole or placebo.

CNTW were a site for the PAX-D study and many of our colleagues have contributed to the completion of this impactful and clinically relevant trial.

I am a Professor of Computational Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. I am a consultant psychiatrist and run a research-focussed clinic for people with difficult to treat depression in Oxford. I am chair of the UK-wide Mood Disorder group of the Translational Research Collaboration, and of the Mental Health Mission. My research explores the mechanisms underlying mood disorders and their treatments. I also run large scale randomised controlled clinical trials of novel interventions.