Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke is one of four UK psychologists among 76 distinguished scientists and scholars to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of his work on ADHD and related neurodevelopmental disorders. Edmund is Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience in the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. He is an ACAMH Board Member and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Of his election, Martin Pratt, Chief Executive of ACAMH, said, “We’re delighted that Professor Sonuga-Barke has been elected a fellow of the British Academy. He greatly deserves this honour after years of working towards the advancement of child and adolescent mental health, including significant success for the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry with the publishing of important and high quality papers recently leading to the journal being ranked first in Developmental Psychology internationally.”
Professor Sonuga-Barke, who is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said, “I feel very blessed to be selected by my peers into such a distinguished and celebrated fellowship. I dedicate it to my family and to all my teachers, mentors, students and colleagues – without their inspiration and support this could not have happened. My hope is that this recognition will better enable my colleagues and me to work to raise awareness of, and address, the needs of children with mental health problems and developmental disabilities. Our work in promoting evidence-based and science-driven practice at the JCPP, in particular, and ACAMH more generally will be central to achieving this. More generally, I hope in some small way to play my part in promoting the civilising influence of the scholarly values of the British Academy on the life of the nation especially during this time of upheaval, when the integrity and clarity of the arguments scholars and scientists put forward has never been more important. It remains our duty to ask difficult questions of society without fear or favour.”
Find out more about how Professor Edmund Sonuga Barke’s career developed in this interview.