Professor Peter W Halligan awarded CBE
The BPS Fellow and Former Chief Scientific Adviser for the Welsh Government has been recognised for services to neuropsychology research and science in government
04 May 2023
Professor Halligan is an internationally recognised psychologist and neuroscientist who, with Professor Anthony David, played a pioneering role in establishing cognitive neuropsychiatry as a vibrant subdiscipline within the cognitive neurosciences.
He began working as a research psychologist at the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre in Oxford with Professor Barbara Wilson, and later as a research fellow with Professor John C Marshall at the Department of Clinical Neurology at Oxford University.
Relevant publications during this period included developing new commercial clinical tests for spatial inattention and somatosensory loss and evaluating the neuropsychological outcomes of coronary artery bypass surgery.
He later joined the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford as a senior research fellow, before moving in 2000 to Cardiff University to work with Professor Hadyn Ellis. This led to several new collaborative multidisciplinary research studies including researching the cognitive processes involved in supernumerary phantom limbs, reduplication, somatoparaphrenia, false beliefs (delusions), hysterical conversion, phantom limbs, and the use of hypnotic suggestion to create clinically informed analogues for established structural and functional neuropsychological/ psychiatric disorders.
In 2003, he secured one of the largest investments from the Office for Science and Technology to establish Cardiff University's Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), the first and largest multimodality imaging facility in Wales. In 2011, as Chair and Academic lead of the Welsh Crucible - a unique, all Wales staff leadership programme for early career researchers, his team won the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to UK HE Leadership Development.
At Cardiff University he played a key role in the delivering several major research developments before being appointed chief executive of the Learned Society of Wales in 2014 and Chief Scientific Adviser for the Welsh Government in 2018. Professor Halligan is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and was awarded our Spearman Medal for outstanding research published in 1993, and the Presidents' Award for outstanding contributions to psychology in 2005.
Since 1987, Professor Halligan has published more than 250 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books across a range of subject areas spanning neuro-cognitive and health care sciences. Several of his papers appeared in top rank journals in psychology, psychiatry and medicine including Nature Lancet, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, and Trends in Cognitive Science.
His research work has also been reported widely in the national and international media including New York Times, The Times Higher, The Economist, New Scientist, Guardian, Western Mail, BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, and BBC Radio 4.
Commenting on the award of his CBE, Professor Halligan said:
"I am surprised but pleased about this award which recognises not just my work, but the fantastic team and colleagues with whom I have had the privilege of working and collaborating with over many years."