Celebrating Excellence: An interview with Dr Martin Osugo, winner of the Dennis Hill Poster Prize
At the recent SLaM Training Programme Awards, Dr Martin Osugo, Specialist Registrar and researcher at the Trust, received the Dennis Hill Poster Prize for his pioneering work on motivation, reward and treatment effects in schizophrenia.
Here, Martin talks about how, as part of his PhD with King’s, he examined how antipsychotic medications affect motivation, cognition and reward processing.
“By giving these medications to healthy volunteers for a full week — a world first — we uncovered important insights,” he explains. “Healthy people developed similar motivational and expressive difficulties to those seen in schizophrenia. The greater the reduction in reward, the greater the motivational problems.”
And Martin’s findings help deepen understanding of the condition and support improvements in care across the Trust.
Having worked at the Trust for seven years, Martin says the award felt particularly meaningful: “It’s nice to be recognised in the institution for the work you’ve done.”
He also reflected warmly on the Trust’s culture: “I feel at home here. I’ve learned so much and feel valued… this feels like the right place to look after people with schizophrenia, improve treatment, and investigate the condition.”
This sense of belonging and purpose reflects the Trust’s commitment to being a Great Place to Work and Care – fostering an environment where colleagues feel supported to grow, innovate, and make a difference.
Looking ahead, Martin hopes to secure a clinical lectureship at SLaM, providing more protected time for research. “My long-term plan is to develop an integrated community service for people with psychosis - somewhere people want to be, with everything from physical healthcare to employment support in one place.”
A goal which is definitely within reach as Martin was recently also awarded the Rafaelson Young Investigator Award – a global prize from the College of International Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) - which is awarded to three researchers worldwide who are within 10 years of their PhD and is in recognition of outstanding contributions to neuropsychopharmacology research.
Building on these achievements, Martin is continuing follow-up analyses from his major research projects, including work on antipsychotic withdrawal effects and modelling the recovery of cognitive and motivational impairments, and is also organising a symposium at the British Association for Psychopharmacology this summer.
Martin’s achievement is a great example of the talent, curiosity and compassion across our organisation.
