Prof David Kessler

David Kessler is a Professor in Primary Care in Population Health Sciences at Bristol Medical School. He has a first degree in English Literature and worked with single homeless alcoholic men before going to medical school at St Bartholomew’s in London. He is trained as a psychiatrist and is a member of both the Royal College of Psychiatrists as well the Royal College of General Practitioners.

He was a partner in an urban Bristol general practice from 1991to 2021. He came into research quite late, writing his first paper in 1999.

He was awarded his MD in 2003 and now spends most of his time in the University. He still teaches medical students and supervises PhDs and post-docs.. He has sat on NIHR grant awarding bodies and been a member of a NICE guidelines development group.

His research has always grown out of clinical questions, and his central interest is the improvement of care for those with depression and anxiety. However, he has also developed  other interests, including research into the treatment of anxiety in autistic people and people with bipolar depression. There are two particular areas where he is research active. The first is increasing access to psychotherapy, using online therapy. The second is improving outcomes for people with treatment resistant depression.