Jonathan Roiser

Information page and curriculum vitae

Prof Jonathan Roiser

Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health

Neuroscience and Mental Health Group Leader

j.roiser@ucl.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 20 7679 1170

Jonathan Roiser's full research profile on UCL Profiles
John Roiser

Current Research and Interests

Our aim is to in understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychiatric symptoms. We utilise experimental techniques drawn from cognitive psychology, functional neuroimaging, psychopharmacology, computational modelling and genetics, both in patient groups and healthy volunteers. Currently a major focus of our laboratory is investigating changes in reward and punishment processing and decision-making in depression, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Prof. Roiser also directs the UCL-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience and the UCL Four-Year PhD Programme in Mental Health. Researchers interested in carrying out postdoctoral or PhD projects in Prof. Roiser’s lab can contact him directly.

General Information

Nationality: British

Marital status: Married

Email: j.roiser@ucl.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (20) 7679 1170 (Office)

Employment
Academic faculty (2007-present)

Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health (previously Reader to 2015, Lecturer to 2011); Director Neuroscience and Mental Health Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London

17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AZ, UK

Post-doctoral research fellow (2005-2007)

Raymond Way Research Fellow, Institute of Neurology, UCL

Queen Square House, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK

Funding: Raymond Way Fund, Institute of Neurology and Wellcome Trust

Principal Investigators: Professors EM Joyce and KJ Friston

Pre-doctoral research fellow (2004-2005)

Visiting Fellow, National Institute of Mental Health

Section on Neuroimaging in Mood and Anxiety Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20852-2670, USA 

Funding: Intramural Program, National Institutes of Mental Health

Principal Investigator: Dr WC Drevets

Project title: The effects of mood and tryptophan depletion on the neural correlates of affective shifting in mood disorders

First Advanced Scholar on the NIH-Cambridge Health Science Scholars’ Program

Education and Training
Post-graduate (2001-2005)

PhD: University of Cambridge (Trinity College)

Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK

Funding: Medical Research Council Studentship

Supervisors: Professors BJ Sahakian and TW Robbins

Examiners: Professors BJ Everitt and JWF Deakin

Thesis title: Genetic, neurochemical and cognitive factors in understanding unipolar depression

Elected to Research Scholarship, Trinity College, Cambridge (2001-2004) 

Undergraduate (1998-2001)

B.A. (Hons) Natural Sciences (Experimental Psychology), First Class honours: University of Cambridge (Trinity College)

Department of Experimental Psychology, Downing St, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK       

Project title: Confabulation in Schizophrenia

Project supervisor: Dr RA McCarthy

Examination Prize from Trinity College (2001)

Work experience (1998)

Research Assistant 

Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK

Funding       
Ongoing

Grants 

  • British Academy/Leverhulme Trust: Small Research Grant (Lloyd (PI), Roiser (CI)); “Explore/Exploit Decision-making as a Transdiagnostic Correlate of Mental Health Problems in Adolescence”; 2024-2025; £9,959
  • UCL Grand Challenge on Mental Health and Wellbeing: Pump Priming Award (Roiser (PI) Bernardi (CI)); “Stressful Politics? Understanding Politics as a Stress Factor for Mental Health Problems”; 2024-2025; £24,977
  • Wellcome Trust: Mental Health Award (Pignatelli (PI); Lucantonio, Niyogi, Hata, Mason, Roiser (CIs)); “Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying anergia: a bidirectionally translational approach”; 2025-2030; $6,496,576
  • Wellcome Trust: Mental Health Award (Roiser (PI); Wright, Lewis, Hamer, Carvalho, Howes (CIs)); “The mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effects of physical activity”; 2023-2028; £3,699,108 + £499,403 supplement
  • Wellcome Trust: Discovery Research Platform Award (Callaghan (PI); Bach, Barnes, Burgess, Dekker, Friston, Maguire, Roiser (CIs)); “Discovery Research Platform for Naturalistic Neuroimaging”; 2024-2031; £9,558,000
  • Rosetrees: Major Project Grant (Roiser (PI); Lewis, Hamer (CIs)); “The impact of aerobic exercise on subjective, cognitive and neural measures of motivation”; 2022-2026; £199,689
  • Wellcome Trust: “Mental Health Science PhD Programme” (Roiser (PI); Fearon, Cooper (CIs)); 2019-2029; £5,757,810
  • Leverhulme Trust: “Philip Leverhulme Prize” (PI); 2016-2026; £100,000
  • National Institutes of Health: “UCL-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience” (Roiser PI); 2009-2024; $911,500 (to date)
  • NIHR: Programme Grant (Lewis (PI); Roiser, Robinson, Walters, Marston, Hunter, Freemantle, Chip, Taylor, Chew-Graham, Kessler, Wiles, Lewis, Duffy (CIs)); “Pregabalin For Treatment Resistant Generalized Anxiety Disorder”; 2022-2026; £2,338,213
  • MRC: Project Grant (MacAskill (PI), Roiser (CI)); “Ventral hippocampal control of behavioural flexibility, and its disruption by adolescent social isolation”; 2022-2025; £586,176
  • MRC: Programme Grant (Toledano (PI); Roiser, McIntosh, van Sluijs, Elliott (CIs)): “SCAMP Wave 2”; 2021-2026; £2,449,458
Completed 

Grants 

  • DHSC/UKRI COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative (Toledano (PI); Roiser, Nicholls, Ward (CIs)); “SCAMP-COVID19: a school-based cohort study of COVID-19 secondary impacts on mental health”; 2021-2022; £306,681
  • Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (PI): “Neural and cognitive mechanisms in depression”; 2014-2021; £1,054,139
  • Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Independent Investigator Award (PI): “Neural mechanisms mediating non-invasive brain stimulation treatment in depression”; 2014-2016; $99,669
  • British Academy Research Development Award (PI): “Neural mechanisms of the optimism bias: a computational approach to resilience and decision-making”; 2010-2011; £110,213
  • MRC New Investigator Research Grant (PI): “Habenula Function in Major Depression”; 2010-2013; £476,770
  • ESRC/NSPCC Research Grant (McCrory (PI); Roiser, Viding, Pingualt (CIs)): “Latent vulnerability, childhood maltreatment and mental health: Advancing theory and practice”; 2017-2021; £723,656
  • MRC Research Grant (Elliott (PI); Roiser, Sahakian, Robbins, Mehta (CIs)): “Developing a test battery for evaluating treatment effects on emotional, motivational and social function in neuropsychiatry”; 2012-2014; £341,947 

Fellowship and studentship sponsorship

  • MRC CASE Studentship (to Anahita Talwar); 2018-2022; ~£100,000 (supervisor)
  • Wellcome Trust and NIH Four-year PhD Studentship (to Anahit Mkrtchian); 2016-2022; £87,000 (supervisor)
  • BRC Bridging Fellowship (to Vincent Valton); 2020-2022; ~£100,000 (supervisor)
  • Wellcome Trust and NIH Four-year PhD Studentship (to Ioannis Sarigiannidis); 2015-2019; £120,000 (supervisor)
  • MRC Career Development Award (to Oliver Robinson): “Tuning the neural circuitry of affective bias in depression”; 2013-2018; £816,904 (mentor)
  • Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarship (to Alena Sim): “The role of emotion in economic decision-making and its neural computations”; 2013; £1,520 (supervisor)
  • UCL Grand Challenges (internal): Three-year PhD studentship (to Caroline Charpentier), 2012-2015; £81,000 (supervisor)
  • Wellcome Trust and NIH Four-year PhD Studentship (to Níall Lally); 2011-2015; £70,000 (supervisor)
Publications

Google Scholar bibliometrics: h-index 78; 21,872 citations (June 2025). 

For a full publication list see: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/9631-jonathan-roiser/publications

Awards and Fellowships 
  • UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Award (2025)
  • International Biomedical Research Alliance Distinguished Alumni Award (2023)
  • British Council UK-Israel Science Lectureship Grant (2018)
  • Royal Society ‘Week in Westminster’ Pairing Scheme (2015)
  • Philip Leverhulme Prize (2015)
  • Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator (2013-2021)
  • British Association for Psychopharmacology, Psychopharmacology Award (2013)
  • British Psychological Society, Spearman Medal (2013)
  • Schizophrenia International Research Conference, Travel Bursary (2010)
  • World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, Travel Bursary (2009)
  • Society of Biological Psychiatry, Travel Bursary (2008)
  • Elected to Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (2008)
  • Brain Travel Award to attend Society for Biological Psychiatry Annual meeting (2008)
  • British Association for Psychopharmacology Lilly Fellowship (abstract prize) (2006)
  • Human Brain Mapping Travel Award (abstract prize) (2006)
  • Brain Travel Award to attend Human Brain Mapping Annual meeting (2006)
  • Trinity College Travel Award to attend the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (2001)
  • MRC PhD studentship (2001-2004)
  • Elected to Research Scholarship, Trinity College, Cambridge (2001-2004)
  • Examination prize, Trinity College, Cambridge (2001)
Knowledge Transfer
  • Principal Consultant for Cambridge Cognition Ltd (2009-2019)
  • Consultant for GE Healthcare (2018-2019)
  • Consultant for Takeda (2016-2017)
Teaching, Leadership and Service
  • UCL Grand Challenge in Mental Health and Wellbeing Pump Priming Grants Committee, Co-Chair (2024-)
  • Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Winter School, Chair (2023)
  • Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Biannual Meeting Committee (2022)
  • UCL NIHR Biomedical Research Council, Mental Health Theme, Computational Psychiatry Advisory Board (2023-)
  • eLife Senior Editor in Neuroscience (2022-present)
  • DoBAt trial steering committee (2019-present)
  • UCL Doctoral School Funded Doctoral Training Entities Committee (2020-present)
  • UCL Life and Medical Sciences Postgraduate Research Committee (2020-present)
  • UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science, Founder & Director (2019-2029)
  • UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Deputy Director (2019-2024)
  • UCL Cognitive Neuroscience MSc, Exam Board Chair (2019-present)
  • UCL Mental Health Strategy Working Group, Deputy Chair (2017-2019)
  • UCL Bogue Fellowship committee (2017-present)
  • Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally study, Edinburgh; Scientific Advisor (2014-2020)
  • Research Council of Norway Grant Panel Member, Psychology and Psychiatry committee (chair 2016; panel member 2013-2014, 2019-2020)0)
  • e-Life Board of Reviewing Editors member (2020-present)
  • Royal Society Open Science Associate Editor for Psychology (2015-2021)
  • Neuroimage: Clinical Section Editor for Psychiatry (2015-2020)
  • Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences Editorial Board (2015-present)
  • UCL 4-year MRC PhD Programme in Mental Health, Founder and Director (2011-2019)
  • UCL Faculty of Life Sciences/Brain Sciences Postgraduate Tutor (Taught) (2009-2013)
  • UCL Early Career Neuroscience Forum Steering Group (2010-2013)
  • UCL-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience, Founder and Director (2009-present)
  • UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Deputy Departmental Graduate Tutor (2008-2011)
  • Member of UK Neuroinformatics Node Steering Committee (2008-2013)
  • MSc student personal tutor in the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (2008-present)
  • Undergraduate and MSc lectures in the UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (2007-present)
  • Seminar leader in the UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (2007-present)