Our Research

Psychotropic medications play a central role in the treatment of mental disorders. While many patients benefit from these treatments, lack of efficacy and clinically significant adverse effects remain common. These challenges affect not only patients, but also their families and society

Our overarching research strategy is to contribute to the development of future healthcare services and to strengthen the knowledge base for improved pharmacological treatment of mental disorders. Through translational research, we aim to enhance medical treatment and address critical knowledge gaps. Our goal is for precision medicine and personalized pharmacotherapy to become an integral part of clinical practice within mental health care.

We are an active research group comprising experienced researchers, PhD candidates, and master’s students. Our combined expertise spans clinical pharmacology, chemistry, pharmacy, biomedical laboratory science, molecular biology, and psychiatry. Together with a strong level of engagement across disciplines, this contributes to a dynamic and academically robust research environment.

A user representative from Mental Health Norway actively participates in our research projects. The user perspective contributes to relevant project development and dissemination of research findings, and regular meetings are held to discuss results and new research ideas.

In addition, we have an adcisory group comprising members with experience from research, civic engagement, and user organizations. The group meets regularly and provides guidance, particularly in relation to projects focusing on pharmacological treatment of older patients.

We participate in national and international research consortia that bring together expertise across disiplines, institutions, and countries. These collaborations enable the sharing of data, methods, and resources, and provide accesss to a broader knowledge base than individual research groups can achieve alone.

Through these consortia, we contribute to the generation of new insights, enhance the quality of research and help ensure that research findings have a greater impact on clinical practice. Collaboration is a key driver for advancin the field.

Educational activities for healthcare professionals constitute a central strategy for disseminating and implementing our research. For two decades, we have organized annual courses in psychopharmacology for psychiatrists and general practitioners. The topic of the courses changes from year to year, but all are related to pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders and are providing up‑to‑date knowledge in a practical and clinically applicable format. We also provide teaching in psychopharmacology for physicians in specialist training in psychiatry and clinical pharmacology.

Another key strategy is the development of solutions that integrate research‑based knowledge into clinical decision‑making processes. We were the first in Norway to establish CYP enzyme genotyping as a tool for personalized dosing of psychotropic medications and other drugs. To enable reuse of test results, we have, in collaboration with national health authorities, contributed to the development of digital solutions that make genetic information available through the patient’s Kjernejournal (‘core health record’). This strengthens clinical decision support for medication selection and promotes more precise and personalized treatment.

Finally, an important outreaching strategy is to collaborate with our user representative in disseminating popularized information from our research directly to patients and patient organizations. However, this part of our strategy requires further development to achieve lasting success.