UEA’s grant and funding success – March 2026

By: Communications

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Improving mental health among UK adolescents through a school-based sleep intervention

UEA project leads: Dr Faith Orchard and Prof Niall Broomfield

Partners: Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Health Innovation Kent Surrey and Sussex, The Charlie Waller Trust

UEA researchers have been awarded £200,000 to prepare to test the efficacy and scalable delivery of a school-based sleep intervention for adolescent mental health.

Led by Dr Faith Orchard (PSY) and Professor Niall Broomfield (MED), the work is funded by the Wellcome Trust, with Co-Investigators from UEA, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and The Charlie Waller Trust, plus implementation partners across the UK.

Depression and anxiety are major mental health challenges for young people, and sleep disturbances are an established risk factor. Sleep interventions can improve mental health but remain largely inaccessible.

This project will establish how a sleep intervention can be delivered at scale through Mental Health Support Teams in schools.

Sedation from antipsychotics

UEA project lead: Dr Sarah Reeve

Partners: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

NIHR have awarded a £600,000 Advanced Clinical Academic Fellowship to Dr Sarah Reeve (MED), a Clinical Psychologist and Research Lecturer, for research on sedation from antipsychotic medication.

Chronic sedation is a common issue for patients prescribed antipsychotics to treat illnesses such as schizophrenia. It can lead patients to stop taking their medication, risking relapse and, for those who keep taking the medication, it can impact their functioning and recovery.

Sedation is often overlooked in mental health services, and there are limited options for its management.

This three-year award will improve NHS care via better measurement and understanding of sedation and its impact. Lived experience and clinical perspectives will be integrated throughout to maximise the relevance of the research.

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