About us - Institute of Mental Health

CANDAL brings together academics, healthcare professionals, charities and lived experience experts with an interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Tourette syndrome (TS).

Director for the Centre for ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (CANDAL) is Dr Maddie Groom.

Our aim is to bring together key stakeholders to explore and address the key challenges in this field, and to develop and conduct scientific research that seeks to improve the lives of those affected by these conditions.

CANDAL’s core aims are to:

Engage in world leading research into the causes, mechanisms, course, recognition and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan
Translate research findings into clinical practice to improve recognition, diagnosis and treatment outcomes
Support clinical innovations, including the development and evaluation of new healthcare technologies for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders
Strengthen links and the exchange of ideas and knowledge between researchers, healthcare practitioners and service users/ members of the public
Foster and enhance collaborations including with industry

Scroll down for the latest CANDAL news, events and more.

The Centre aims to bring together clinicians, service users and academics with an interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and Tourette’s Syndrome.

An illustration of a yellow head against a blue background

Experts from our Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (CANDAL) are warning that far from being over diagnosed, people with ADHD are waiting too long for assessment, support and treatment.

Read more on our news page.

CANDAL director Dr Maddie Groom appeared on BBC Radio Nottingham this week, as part of their week-long ADHD coverage.

Congratulations to Dr Blandine French who has been awarded a new investigator grant to continue her pioneering research into neurodiversity diagnosis.

Following the success of last year's seminar series, we're hosting a second series of events in June and July 2022, with our speakers from a range of backgrounds sharing their research and experience.

For Tourettes Awareness Month we’ve put together some of our current research into tics and Tourettes, highlighting the difficulties people face when trying to access care and treatment for this often misunderstood condition.

Dr Maddie Groom has been working with a team of researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, investigating remote measurement technology in ADHD. Read the story in full here.

The Centre for ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (CANDAL) is holding three seminars this summer - watch the recordings of each event here.

Nottingham is one of the highest ranking cities for expertise in ADHD outside London, thanks to the work of CANDAL colleagues.

Congratulations to Dr Blandine French, Dr Camilla Babbage and Dr Kareem Khan, who graduated this week following the successful completion of their PhDs.

Dr Bahar Tuncgenc, a Research Fellow in the University of Nottingham's School of Psychology and member of CANDAL, has recently published a new study exploring why people are more likely to follow Covid-19 safety rules, if their think their friends and family are also doing it.

A paper has been published in the JMIR Medical Education journal evaluating a new online tool developed by Dr Blandine French (CANDAL) et al. The paper’s findings, “Evaluation of a Web-Based ADHD Awareness Training in Primary Care: Pilot Randomized Control Trial with Nested Interview”, have also been turned into a video abstract explaining more about this highly successful learning tool which has already been adopted by the Royal College of Physicians. Read more: http://adhdinfo.org.uk/

A survey of parents’ experience of home schooling during COVID-19 was launched in May 2020. The survey was part of an international study led by collaborators in Sweden and Germany. Dr Maddie Groom, Associate Director of CANDAL and Associate Professor in Applied Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience is the lead collaborator for the UK.

A new survey of parents’ experiences of home schooling during COVID-19 has just launched. This is part of an international study led by collaborators in Sweden and Germany. Dr Maddie Groom, from CANDAL/University of Nottingham Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, is the UK lead collaborator.

Dr Maddie Groom has been awarded a grant of just over £42,000 to conduct an 18-month study investigating the brain mechanisms behind attention and concentration in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A new paper has been published by Alessio Bellato and colleagues from the Institute of Mental Health in the special issue 'New Advances in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)' of the journal 'Brain Sciences'.

Congratulations to Alessio Bellato for passing his PhD. Alessio is a member of CANDAL and works as a Teaching Associate for the MSc Mental Health: Research and Practice (University of Nottingham).

The Medical Research Council have awarded a grant of £527,000 to Professor Stephen Jackson (University of Nottingham School of Psychology), Professor Georgina Jackson (Institute of Mental Health/University of Nottingham School of Medicine), and Matthew Brookes, Penny Gowland, and Richard Bowtell (all University of Nottingham School of Physics and Astronomy) to develop novel neuroimaging approaches to investigate the functional anatomy and physical processes that contribute to the urge to tic in Tourette Syndrome.

The online intervention PhD student, Blandine French, has been developing has now been officially adopted by the Royal College of General Practitioners, as part of their online Mental health toolkit.

A new systematic review written by members of CANDAL has been published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews January 2020 issue.

Dr Elizabeth Liddle, Associate Professor in Translational Mental Health and Member of CANDAL gave her expert reaction to a recently published study.

Our Centre for ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (CANDAL) held its 6th annual conference on Wednesday 26th June 2019.

To view a short video on Understanding ADHD click read more.

The fifth conference of the Centre for ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan (CANDAL) was held on 16^th May 2018.

A major research project from Aarhus University and the Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Risskov, in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen, University of Nottingham (CANDAL, Institute of Mental Health) and Kings College London has been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Lady wearing a brain scanner — Photo courtesy of the Wellcome Trust

At the upcoming Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018, researchers from The University of Nottingham and University College London will be presenting a new, prototype quantum brain scanner that can measure ‘brain waves’ with unprecedented accuracy.

CANDAL is unique because unlike other research groups that typically focus on a single disorder either in children or adults, this centre studies these conditions in combination and across the lifespan.

Research carried out by Professor David Daley, director of CANDAL, has been featured in a new report published by the think tank Demos and highlighted in the national media.

The Institute has brought together researchers, clinicians and people with lived experience of ADHD to help promote better understanding of the condition at its annual engagement conference.

Young children with mild attention problems can go unnoticed at primary school and fall behind their peers academically, according to research involving CANDAL.

The Online Remote Behavioural Treatment for Tics study (‘ORBIT’ for short) is a four-year project funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment.

To view a video showing some of the research activities conducted at the Mind and Brain Lab (Institute of Mental Health), including the use of electroencephalography and eye-tracking click read more.