About Orchard OCD
We built a community of interdisciplinary professionals and work with them closely to progress together in developing new and better treatments for patients suffering from OCD.
Our Vision
is a world where all patients suffering from OCD receive effective treatment for their condition.
Our Mission
is to build that world by advancing collaborative translational research and driving the quest for new and better treatments for OCD.
Our Goals
We have a three-pillar approach,
1. Research (fund and run clinical trials)
2. Hubs (OCD research database and repository)
3. Dissemination (awareness campaigns and conferences)
Our Team
Ilenia is the Consultant Psychiatrist and clinical lead for the National Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Unit at South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust. She has extensive experience treating and researching OCD and related disorders.
Chiara Toschi is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where she studies the neural circuits underlying decision-making. Her research is driven by a deep passion for mental health and a desire to understand the brain mechanisms behind maladaptive behaviours. This work became profoundly personal to her during the pandemic, when she developed OCD. Despite having encountered the condition in her academic work, it wasn’t until her own lived experience that she truly began to understand its complexity and impact. This experience has fuelled her commitment to bridging the gap between research and real-world understanding, with the hope of contributing to better awareness, treatment, and care for OCD and related conditions.
Katherine is a comms strategist and mental health advocate, currently working for the University of Cambridge. She has lived with OCD since studying at university, but has only recently begun formal treatment for it.
Ana Maria is a cognitive neuroscientist, passionate about understanding the causes of OCD and developing personalised treatments. She works part-time as Fundraising and Communications Officer at Orchard and part-time as an OCD researcher, joining patient involvement and academic work. Ana Maria is always open to new research ideas, so do contact her!
Pete started out as a business writer and editor before moving into healthcare communications and later the tech start-up world. He was a founding team member of Raremark (Xperiome) and held numerous roles in its journey from rare disease start-up to scale-up. Pete lives with several chronic conditions, including lifelong undiagnosed OCD.
Margherita works for Orchard OCD and manages their communications and fundraising. She experienced severe OCD during her adolescence and young adulthood. She is passionate about Orchard’s work to collaborate closely with interdisciplinary professionals and progress in developing new and better treatments for patients suffering from OCD. If you have any communications or fundraising queries, please email her at margherita@orchardocd.org
Nick is a serial social entrepreneur with 15+ years experience in medical charities. Most recently, he founded and led a successful consortium developing a treatment for Black Bone Disease, an ultra rare genetic disease affecting his children. Nick is also an OCD patient.
Sean Fletcher has been broadcasting on the BBC, ITV and Sky for more than 15 years. His journalism includes the Panorama investigation, Kids in Crisis, which asked whether the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are fit for purpose. He also presents on Countryfile, Inside Out and Good Morning Britain. Sean’s son has OCD.
Naomi is a consultant psychiatrist with 20+ years experience in systematic investigation and treatment of OCD. Naomi serves on the UK’s NICE Guidelines Committee for OCD. She is also running an OCD specialist centre at the Hertfordshire Partnerships Mental Health Trust, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.
The Work We Do
Psilocybin: According to a research project in 2006, psilocybin has been reported to significantly reduce OCD symptoms in OCD patients. Despite positive results, no further research has been carried out due to lack of funding.
Orchard collaborated with Professor David Nutt, Imperial College London, and Professor Naomi Fineberg, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, to run a pilot clinical trial using psilocybin to treat OCD. We raised £60,000 from a crowdfunding campaign in 2020 which was match funded by a foundation. The study has now started and will last 18 months, recruiting and following up 15 patients.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS): We received funding for our second research project in September 2020. Research at the University of Hertfordshire involves working on a promising new treatment that involves passing a small, almost imperceptible electric current into brain areas connected to OCD.
Patients’ Involvement in Medical Research
At Orchard OCD, we recognise that the advancement of medical research, particularly in the field of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), requires more than just scientific rigour – it demands the inclusion of those directly impacted by the condition. Founded by and led by individuals with OCD, our organisation is uniquely positioned to understand the profound importance of involving people with lived experience in the research process. We see these individuals not merely as participants but as invaluable partners whose insights are crucial for driving research towards outcomes that genuinely matter to those affected.
Our commitment to patient involvement is woven into every stage of our research endeavours, from the initial conceptualisation of study designs to the final analysis and dissemination of findings. By engaging those with firsthand experience of OCD, we ensure that our research transcends theoretical exploration and is deeply rooted in the practical realities of living with the disorder. This approach helps us identify and prioritise the most pressing challenges faced by the OCD community, enabling us to focus on solutions that can make a tangible difference.
Furthermore, involving patients in research fosters a sense of empowerment and ownership within the OCD community, as their voices and experiences directly influence the direction and relevance of the studies. This collaborative model not only enriches the research but also builds a stronger, more informed community that is actively engaged in the quest for better understanding and treatment of OCD.
Through this inclusive and patient-centred approach, Orchard OCD is dedicated to making a lasting and meaningful impact on the field, ultimately striving to improve the lives of those affected by OCD. We believe that by working together with the OCD community, we can uncover insights that lead to a deeper understanding of the condition and, ultimately, more effective treatments.
Position Towards Animal Research
Orchard OCD fully endorses the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) position statement regarding the use of animals in research. As an organisation dedicated to improving patient lives and outcomes through rigorous research, we recognise the importance of employing various research methods, including the use of animals when necessary. All research approaches, including those involving animals, are vital in advancing our understanding and treatment of severe health conditions.
We take the decision to fund medical research very seriously. We are committed to conducting high-quality research that is ethically justified, well-designed, and subject to rigorous expert review. The welfare of animals involved in research is of the utmost importance to us, and we fund only research adhering to high animal welfare standards, ensuring appropriate housing conditions and well-trained animal technologists.
When funding animal research, we are guided by the principles of reduction, replacement, and refinement (3Rs), which are fundamental to humane animal research. We expect our applicants to actively employ these principles to improve animal welfare. Additionally, we are committed to openness and transparency, recognising that not everyone may be comfortable with the use of animals in research. We continuously review our funding practices and engage with the scientific community to promote better practices and the development of alternatives to animal research. We will fund animal research only if no valid alternative is pursuable.
By endorsing the AMRC position statement, Orchard OCD aligns itself with the highest animal welfare and scientific integrity standards and reaffirms its commitment to conducting responsible and impactful research.
Scientific Advisory Board
Dr Lynne Drummond is an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at SW London and St George’s NHS Trust and Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. She has worked in the area of OCD, anxiety, and mental health over the past 4 decades as both a clinician and researcher. Publishing well over 100 articles in the academic press. In addition, she has written 4 best-selling books on CBT and OCD. Passionate about public education about mental health, she has made many TV and radio appearances as well as published in the lay press. Her new book “Everything You Want to Know About OCD” which includes a large section on self-help was published by Cambridge University Press in July 2022.
Dr. Jim Hagan is a Senior Research Fellow in Neurosciences at Sosei-Heptares, working on drug discovery programmes for neuropsychiatric indications. Previously, he was the CEO at GMEC, a not-for-profit company formed by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial College, UCL, King’s College London and Queen Mary College London to foster biomedical translational research. He was Vice President and Head of Biology in the Psychiatry Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery at GSK.
Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez is assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Science at Stanford University, School of Medicine. She utilises her training as a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and clinical researcher to innovate rapid-acting treatments to relieve the suffering of patients with severe mental illnesses, including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. More about Carolyn. Rodriguez Lab.
Prof Trevor Robbins is a professor of cognitive neuroscience with an international reputation in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience and psychopharmacology. He is Director of the University of Cambridge’s Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI) and is leading a multi-million-pound research study into the neuroscience of OCD.
Dr. Susanne Ahmari is assistant professor of Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh, and Director of the Translational OCD Laboratory. Dr. Ahmari’s research program integrates basic neuroscience approaches and cutting-edge technology in animal models with clinical and post-mortem studies of OCD patients. Her ultimate goal is to identify molecular, cellular, and circuit-level changes that underlie the onset and persistence of abnormal repetitive and compulsive behaviors, and use this information to develop neuroscientifically-based treatments for OCD and other related disorders. More about Susanne.
Dr. Sabine Bahn is a practising psychiatrist, Chair in Neurotechnology and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research at Cambridge University. Her main research interests are to understand the molecular basis of neuropsychiatric disorders and develop novel diagnostics and therapeutics for psychiatric disorders, with a focus on schizophrenia and mood disorders. Sabine has published over 200 research articles and has co-founded 2 spin-out companies. Since 2015, Sabine has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. She is also fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. More about Sabine. Bahn Lab.
Orchard’s Peer Review Process
At Orchard OCD, we are committed to a robust peer review process that aligns with the AMRC’s principles of expert review. We aim to ensure that the research applications we assess for funding undergo a rigorous and fair evaluation. Here is the peer review process that Orchard OCD follows:
- Proportionality: our review process seeks to be appropriate for the scale and significance of the research award. The expertise we seek to review applications aims to be as best as possible to provide relevant and effective evaluations. In cases where expertise is lacking in specific areas or for substantial funding requests, we will seek additional external expert reviews.
- Independence: we consider the advice provided by experts who are independent of Orchard OCD’s staff and trustees. This ensures an unbiased evaluation of research applications.
- Diversity: we actively seek recommendations from a diverse range of experts who possess relevant knowledge or experience. We aim to include experts who reflect various perspectives and stakeholder views, and we also consider diversity regarding gender, ethnicity, and other relevant factors.
- Rotation: Orchard OCD is committed to implementing a rotation system to involve different experts in the decision-making process regarding research funding. This practice allows for the inclusion of fresh ideas and new perspectives, ensuring that a wide range of voices is considered. However, we recognise that the pool of experts specialising in OCD is more limited compared to other psychiatric conditions. Consequently, it is only sometimes possible to completely renew the composition of our research review committee(s). To address this, we are fortunate to have OCD world-leading experts who serve as an “ever-green” point of reference for our charity. Their ongoing involvement provides invaluable continuity and expertise, helping to guide our research strategy with their deep understanding of the field. While we strive to periodically review and update our committee composition, these experts remain a steadfast and essential component of our research review process.
- Impartiality: we developed and routinely adhere to a Conflicts-Of-Interest (COI) Policy specific to research funding. This policy clearly outlines the types of conflicts that may arise and specifies the actions conflicted experts should take to avoid influencing funding decisions.
- Transparency: Orchard OCD is committed to transparency in our research funding decisions. We published our research strategy and expert review process online, allowing external audiences to understand our rigorous methods. We also disclose the names of the experts involved in the decision-making process, recognising their valuable contributions. Additionally, we will transparently communicate our approach to using animals in research, considering the 3Rs (reduction, replacement, and refinement) through expert review.
By implementing the above peer review process, Orchard OCD seeks to uphold the highest evaluation, integrity, and transparency standards in its research funding decisions. This process will ensure we effectively identify and support impactful research projects aligning with our mission of advancing understanding and treating OCD.
Our Supporters
We have been awarded £10,000 from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme to fund part of our OCD video series. We are filming this series in 2023. A huge thank you to the National Lottery for making this happen.
We are pleased to have received funding from the Hospital Saturday Fund towards our OCD patient registry. The Hospital Saturday Fund is a registered charity whose aims are to provide assistance for registered health charities, hospices, medical organisations and individuals with a medical condition or disability.
We are thankful to Faiz for his continuous help and suggestions. Faiz’s background is in medical research and the pharmaceutical sector. He has practical experience of launching and publicising the work of non-profit organisations, especially in the field of healthcare and education. Faiz has a PhD. in Immunopharmacology from St. Thomas’ Hospital London.
We are pleased to be part of the Cambridge Social Ventures programme in the Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/social-innovation/cambridge-social-ventures/
Orchard OCD is very pleased to be receiving funding from the Bally's Foundation for a two-year project to build an international registry of OCD patients. Registries are crucially important for medical research as they can accelerate recruitment into clinical trials of potential treatments and increase our understanding of a disorder such as OCD by asking patients to report their symptoms and current treatments. The Bally's Foundation was founded in February 2020 and is funded by the Gamesys Group; the funds come from both corporate contributions and employee initiatives. The main focus of the Bally's Foundation is to preserve and protect the wellbeing of individuals suffering from mental health issues. They do this through providing grants and funding to organisations who care for these individuals directly, as well as those who focus on research in the mental health field.
Caffeine created our name, brand identity, look and feel advised on strategy and positioning. We are infinitely grateful to Ged, Andy and the team at Caffeine for their incredible creativity and strategic knowledge. Caffeine is set up to work with leaders helping them grow brands, business and people fast. Their latest book for leaders ‘Superfast – How to Lead at Speed’ is out now. We highly recommend it.
We are grateful to Chas, David and Garth, our web developers, for their excellent work, continuous advice and support. www.chameleonstudios.co.uk
We thank Hogan Lovells for their help with our registration process with the Charity Commission. www.hoganlovells.com
We are grateful to Jamie, who designed our first logo for our initial name the ‘OCD Research Partnership’. www.pixellove.com
Our Volunteers
Tracy works in local government in a strategy and policy team. She has lived with OCD for over 30 years and continues to learn about how this can impact life, and how it can be tackled, from her own experiences and those of other people. Tracy wants to support the work to find new treatments and make them accessible so that OCD doesn’t get in the way of people living their lives fully.
Sheena is a music specialist, working with children who have learning and communication difficulties. She is also a mother of two daughters and a son. One of her daughters has had OCD for 20 years. Having witnessed how destructive and debilitating OCD can be, Sheena is keen to support research into new and effective treatments, and to help promote a greater understanding of OCD.
Jordan first started experiencing the symptoms of OCD at 19 and had a long and difficult road to recovery. He hopes to help make this road an easier and shorter one for those with OCD by volunteering with Orchard OCD, thereby supporting research into new and better treatments.
Yasmin is a therapeutic counsellor with an interest in delivering and developing evidence-based psychological interventions for anxiety and OCD-related disorders. She has suffered with OCD for most of her life but has found the therapeutic help she has received from others, particularly in the form of talking therapies, invaluable and life-changing. Yasmin wishes to help fellow OCD sufferers in whatever small way she can.
Lynn is a mother of twin daughters, Charlotte and Samantha (aged 29), mental health counsellor and author of Hope with Eating Disorders 2nd edition, Hope with OCD, Hope with Depression, Hope with Anxiety (to be published 19th November 2020) and Fundamentals: A Guide for Parents, Teachers and Carers on Mental Health and Self-Esteem. Samantha is a published poet (Hope through Poetry, to be published 8th October 2020) and a drama graduate, having suffered from mental illness herself, she is now an advocate for mental health and recovery. Charlotte is Samantha’s twin, and PA for Lynn Crilly, she is passionate about raising awareness about mental illness and talking openly about the struggle of being a sibling of someone suffering.
commercial Partner. This means the studies that we fund may be eligible to access the NIHR
Study Support Service which is provided by the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
