Professor Daniel Freeman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, is a virtual reality pioneer and clinical psychologist. His career story features in the first episode of the new Medical Research Council's 2019 'career inspirations' podcast series.
MRC talks is a podcast telling the stories of inspiring scientists working to improve lives through medical research.
In this first episode, Debs Barber, MRC science content officer, talks to Professor Daniel Freeman about his career.
"I have dedicated my career to clinical research. The focus has been threefold: to understand what causes mental health disorders, to use that knowledge to develop better treatments, and to consider how treatment innovations will get to patients. The inspiration for many of the ideas has come from time spent listening, talking, and trying things out with individuals who have psychosis. There then follows an endeavour to test empirically that our insights are correct and that innovations – such as automating the delivery of psychological therapy using virtual reality – really do help patients."
The new series will feature 12 scientists, all working in different areas of medical research. Each episode, publishing on the first Wednesday of every month, will see a scientist share their career highlights, what makes them tick and their advice for forging a career in medical research.
Part of UK Research and Innovation, the MRC has been funding research dedicated to improving human health since 1913.
To Listen