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ARC Outreach Alliance: Young People's Open Minds in Northwest London

An influential children and young people’s mental health network and research group

Northwest London has a high mental health burden compared to other areas in England. There is ample adult mental health research, however, this is not the case for children and young people.  As a result, there is urgent need for community-led mental health research within the catchment area, and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaborative Northwest London (ARC NWL) is helping to meet this need and achieve parity with other comparable networks. 

ARC Outreach Alliance (AOA) is a research group and mental health network based at Imperial College London. It was established in 2021 to meet the aim of bringing together researchers, practitioners, health professionals, charities, local authorities, members of the public who share the interest of wanting to help shape mental health research and provide opportunities to collaborate on children and young people’s mental health initiatives in Northwest London.

A quarterly publication that provides an overview of our research and network activities. 

Read our latest issue below.

Our award-winning Young People's Advisory Group (YPAG) members have produced an impactful short film about their lived mental health experiences, to highlight the importance of supporting research and campaigning for the improvement of mental health services for children and young people, particularly in Northwest London



Open  to everyone with a vested interest in the mental health of children and young people and it takes less than 5-minutes to join! 

AOA Mental Health Infrastructure (Research Group and Network) Leads

Principal Investigator

Dasha Nicholls, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry -Imperial College London,  NIHR BRC-funded researcher and ARC Northwest London Multimorbidity & Mental Health Theme Lead

Co-Principal Investigator

Shamini Gnani, General Practioner, Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow - Imperial College London, NIHR ARC NWL funded researcher and ARC Northwest London Child Population Health Theme Lead

Co-Principal Investigator

Dougal Hargreaves Paediatrician, Senior Lecturer in Child Public Health - Imperial College London, Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser - Department for Education, ARC Northwest London Child Population Health Theme

Network registration privacy notice

Personal data submitted through this form are collected by Imperial College London. The purpose of collecting these data, including names, email addresses and registration information, is to inform and manage communications for the ARC Outreach Alliance, led by Imperial College London and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research ARC for North West London (NIHR ARC NWL).

The NIHR ARC NWL is funded by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and data submitted through this form will be shared with the NIHR for funding management purposes.

The NIHR privacy policy includes further information including ways in which NIHR may use your data, NIHR contact details, and details on your individual rights regarding how your data are used. Your data will not be used for purposes other than that set out in this notice and not be retained for any other purpose. If at any point you would like this information to be removed please contact aoa@imperial.ac.uk. The NIHR may retain information collected in this form under public interest.