Beyond the Medicine: An NIHR-Funded Pharmacist Bridging Research and Mental Health Care
Nik Nikolic, Principal Pharmacist and Advanced Clinical Practitioner, NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow
"I trained as a pharmacist and spent much of my early career in specialist and senior mental health pharmacy roles across several NHS trusts, before moving into clinical leadership within Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust's Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Service. I am also regional Clinical Lead for the programme across Kent, Surrey and Sussex through NHS England Improvement.
I trained as an independent prescriber and completed a Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice, becoming Principal Pharmacist, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, and later Consultant Clinical Lead, for the EIP Service.
A research project examining undiagnosed neurodivergence in people with First Episode Psychosis reshaped the direction of my career and became the foundation for the PhD I am currently undertaking, funded through an NIHR Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship.
The research: 80%
My doctoral research, based at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, examines how neurodivergent traits, including autism and ADHD, co-occur in people who have experienced a First Episode of Psychosis, a mixed-methods study running across five NHS trusts.
This currently involves screening and consenting participants and extracting further data from clinical records. The Patient and Public Involvement work is a genuine partnership: I am working with our Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) on a co-produced paper reflecting on that process, and every LEAP member involved has agreed to be a co-author.
I also teach on the Postgraduate course in psychiatry training at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and, as a credentialed member of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy, on their Psych 1 course for pharmacists and prescribers that are new to mental health.
Publication is a core part of this work, generating empirical evidence to improve outcomes for people who have experienced psychosis, destigmatising psychosis, while highlighting the differences neurodivergence can bring to presentation and care. My particular interests are clozapine eligibility and transdiagnostic frameworks.
I am excited to be presenting this work on First Episode Psychosis and neurodivergence at the World Congress of Psychiatry in Stockholm later this month.
The clinical work: 20%
Clinical time is limited while the PhD remains my focus, but I continue to play an active role in the Neurodevelopmental Service, attending its weekly multidisciplinary team meetings and undertaking autism assessments for individuals referred to the service with a history of First Episode Psychosis - the very same overlap my research is examining."