Prince of Wales International Centre for Research into Schizophrenia and Depression

The Prince of Wales International Centre for SANE Research (POWIC) in Oxford houses investigations into finding the causes of and better treatment for serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression.

POWIC was built with donations from Nicholas and Matti Egon from the Xylas shipping family, the late King of Saudi Arabia Fahd bin Abdel Aziz Al-Said, Keeper of the Two Holy Mosques, and His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei. The building was formally opened by SANE’s Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales in February 2003, although the scientific programme had been running for the previous nine years. Support for POWIC was encouraged by SANE's founder and chief executive Marjorie Wallace (SANE) CBE.

Prior to the formation of SANE in 1986 there was a considerable paucity of research interest in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. One of the charity’s endeavours has been to initiate and fund research into the causes and treatments of mental illness.

In order to focus research efforts, SANE established POWIC in conjunction with the research psychiatrist Professor Tim Crow.

Professor Crow was appointed the honorary scientific director of SANE based at the Department of Psychiatry at Warneford Hospital, part of Oxford University. SANE successfully raised £3.5 million to establish a new centre on the Warneford Hospital site. The specially designed and purpose built centre includes office and laboratory space, as well as conference and library facilities.

The aims The aims of POWIC are:

The research

Professor Crow has been studying schizophrenia for over 20 years, and he and his research group have been developing and researching a specific hypothesis about the origins of psychosis - that it is associated with the unique human capacity for language.

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