School of Health & Wellbeing

Dr Samuel Leighton

  • Affiliate (School of Health & Wellbeing)

email: Samuel.Leighton@gla.systa-s.com

Clarice Pears Building, 90 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8TB

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204

Biography

Dr Samuel Leighton is a Consultant General Adult Psychiatrist at Leverndale Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, specialising in psychosis and severe mental illness. He holds membership of both the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) and the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP(UK)), reflecting his dual training and commitment to excellence in both medicine and psychiatry. His clinical practice spans early intervention in psychosis and the management of complex mental and physical comorbidity.

Dr Leighton is recognised for advancing clinical prediction modelling, machine learning, and causal inference in psychiatry. His research career began with creating digital tools, including creating NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s "GP Antibiotics" mobile app, and developing expertise in statistical programming. He has since contributed a series of high‑impact first‑author publications across major journals such as Molecular Psychiatry, The British Journal of Psychiatry, The Lancet Digital Health, Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, and Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. He is a strong supporter of open-access research and always publishes all his analytical code online.

His early work demonstrated that chemokine CXCL8 distinguishes between depressed and non‑depressed individuals. This was followed by the first external validation study predicting outcomes in first‑episode psychosis, which generated international collaboration. Working with colleagues across Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Copenhagen, he helped develop validated prediction models for multiple domains of psychosis recovery. His Chief Scientist Office–funded Clinical Academic PhD Fellowship further produced leading studies on prediction in psychosis, methodological appraisal of existing models, and the association between delirium and later dementia risk.

Dr Leighton’s work has influenced Scottish Government policy on Early Intervention in Psychosis outcome measures in pathfinder sites across Scotland, and he continues to contribute nationally through Healthcare Improvement Scotland. He co‑authored a book chapter on AI‑driven clinical decision support systems and is an active contributor in the emerging field of causal prediction modelling, with perspective pieces and methodological articles shaping debate around actionability in precision psychiatry. Locally he works closely with Dr Fani Deligianni in the School of Computing Science. He also collaborates widely across the UK and internationally including with Dr Rajeev Krishnadas' group at the University of Cambridge and the Causality in Healthcare AI Hub led by Prof Sotos Tsaftaris at the University of Edinburgh. He regularly supervises doctoral, medical, and undergraduate research students.

Alongside his academic and clinical commitments, Dr Leighton co‑founded Ben Èideann Ltd, producers of internationally distributed Kosher Scotch whisky, reflecting his wider interest in technology, entrepreneurship, and the practical translation of ideas into real‑world impact. He also serves as a Director of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to historical research, heritage preservation, and community engagement.

Research interests

Causal prediction and precision psychiatry
Developing fully actionable clinical prediction models that identify intervenable causal factors to support personalised treatment decisions in psychosis and severe mental illness. This includes methodological innovation using causal mediation, counterfactual prediction, and modern evaluation frameworks. 

Psychosis-related cardiometabolic risk
Investigating mechanisms and prevention of antipsychotic-induced obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation, and developing tools to target interventions to individuals at highest risk at the right time. 

Machine learning and clinical prediction modelling
Designing, validating, and critically evaluating multivariable prediction models for outcomes such as remission, recovery, and quality of life in first‑episode psychosis. Particular interests include methodological rigour, reproducibility, and external validation across diverse cohorts. 

Target Trial Emulation and real-world evidence
Applying causal methods such as Target Trial Emulation to routinely collected healthcare data to examine real-world treatment effects relevant to psychiatry, especially for cardiometabolic interventions in psychosis. 

Digital health and medical AI implementation
Translating research into clinical tools, including development of mobile apps and contributions to medical‑device–regulated prediction systems. Strong commitment to open science, transparent modelling, and safe deployment of clinical decision support software. 

Big‑data psychiatry and long‑term outcomes
Using electronic health records and population-scale datasets to investigate trajectories of severe mental illness, including cognitive decline and dementia risk following delirium and psychosis. 

Research culture, teaching, and mentorship
Supporting the research community through supervision of doctoral and undergraduate students, mentoring early‑career clinicians, delivering workshops on prediction modelling and machine learning, and peer reviewing for leading journals. 

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2026 | 2025 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010
Number of items: 17.

2026

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Leong, I Lam, Machlanski, Damian, Perry, Benjamin I., Tsaftaris, Sotirios A., Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017, Lawrie, Stephen M. and Krishnadas, Rajeev ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894 (2026) Antipsychotic-induced weight gain in psychosis – a causal mediation analysis and feasibility study of casual actionable prediction model development using counterfactuals to target obesity. British Journal of Psychiatry, (Accepted for Publication)

2025

Krishnadas, Rajeev, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 and Jones, Peter B. (2025) Precision psychiatry: thinking beyond simple prediction models – enhancing causal predictions. British Journal of Psychiatry, 226(3), pp. 184-188. (doi: 10.1192/bjp.2024.258) (PMID:39810474)

2022

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Herron, James W. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-4255, Jackson, Eric, Sheridan, Matthew, Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017 and Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2022) Delirium and the risk of developing dementia: a cohort study of 12 949 patients. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 93(8), pp. 822-827. (doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-328903) (PMID:35606105) (PMCID:PMC9304115)

Lee, Rebecca, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Thomas, Lucretia, Gkoutos, Georgios V., Wood, Stephen J., Fenton, Sarah-Jane H., Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017, Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 and Mallikarjun, Pavan K. (2022) Prediction models in first-episode psychosis: systematic review and critical appraisal. British Journal of Psychiatry, 220(SI4), pp. 179-191. (doi: 10.1192/bjp.2021.219) (PMID:35067242)

2021

Griffiths, S. L. et al. (2021) Structure and stability of symptoms in first episode psychosis: a longitudinal network approach. Translational Psychiatry, 11, 567. (doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01687-y)

Leighton, S. P. et al. (2021) Development and validation of a non-remission risk prediction model in first episode psychosis: an analysis of two longitudinal studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, 2(1), sgab041. (doi: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab041) (PMID:34568827) (PMCID:PMC8458108)

2020

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Birchwood, Max and Mallikarjun, Pavan K. (2020) Prognostic models in first-episode psychosis – Authors' reply. Lancet Digital Health, 2(2), e61. (doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30238-9)

2019

Leighton, S. P. et al. (2019) Development and validation of multivariable prediction models of remission, recovery, and quality of life outcomes in people with first episode psychosis: a machine learning approach. Lancet Digital Health, 1(6), e261-e270. (doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30121-9)

Lyall, Laura M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7216-1434, Cullen, Breda ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7259-9505, Lyall, Donald M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3850-1487, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Siebert, Stefan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1802-7311, Smith, Daniel J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2267-1951 and Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2019) The associations between self-reported depression, self-reported chronic inflammatory conditions and cognitive abilities in UK Biobank. European Psychiatry, 60, pp. 63-70. (doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.05.007) (PMID:31158611) (PMCID:PMC6669333)

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Krishnadas, Rajeev ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894, Chung, Kelly, Blair, Alison, Brown, Susie, Clark, Suzy, Sowerbutts, Kathryn, Schwannauer, Matthias, Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 and Gumley, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8888-938X (2019) Predicting one-year outcome in first episode psychosis using machine learning. PLoS ONE, 14(3), e0212846. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212846) (PMID:30845268) (PMCID:PMC6405084)

2018

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Nerurkar, L., Krishnadas, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894, Johnman, C., Graham, G.J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7801-204X and Cavanagh, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2018) Chemokines in depression in health and in inflammatory illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 23(1), pp. 48-58. (doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.205) (PMID:29133955) (PMCID:PMC5754468)

2013

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 (2013) Regulation is needed to support the development of health IT. British Medical Journal, 347, f5593. (doi: 10.1136/bmj.f5593) (PMID:24048305)

2012

Leighton, Samuel Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Baxter, Derek Ronald and Morrison, Elaine (2012) Images in medicine: A slate grey rash. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 88(1041), pp. 427-428. (doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-130822) (PMID:22652699)

Morgan, Kevin, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 and Millar, Robert P. (2012) Probing the GnRH receptor agonist binding site identifies methylated triptorelin as a new anti-proliferative agent. Journal of Molecular Biochemistry, 1(2), pp. 86-98.

2011

Morgan, Kevin, Stavrou, Emmanouil, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Miller, Nicola, Sellar, Robin and Millar, Robert P. (2011) Elevated GnRH receptor expression plus GnRH agonist treatment inhibits the growth of a subset of papillomavirus 18-immortalized human prostate cells. Prostate, 71(9), pp. 915-928. (doi: 10.1002/pros.21308) (PMID:21541969)

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Gordon, C. and Shand, A. (2011) Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury: Clopidogrel, turkey and a red herring? BMJ Case Reports, 2011(4), 0120113776. (doi: 10.1136/bcr.01.2011.3776) (PMID:22700934) (PMCID:PMC3079450)

2010

Velu, P.P., Hor, K., Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Yeoh, S.E. and Duxbury, M. (2010) Cost–utility and value‐of‐information analysis of early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis (Br J Surg 2010; 97: 210–219). British Journal of Surgery, 97(7), pp. 1146-1151. (doi: 10.1002/bjs.7169) (PMID:20632291)

This list was generated on Sat Jan 31 00:06:39 2026 GMT.
Jump to: Articles
Number of items: 17.

Articles

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Leong, I Lam, Machlanski, Damian, Perry, Benjamin I., Tsaftaris, Sotirios A., Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017, Lawrie, Stephen M. and Krishnadas, Rajeev ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894 (2026) Antipsychotic-induced weight gain in psychosis – a causal mediation analysis and feasibility study of casual actionable prediction model development using counterfactuals to target obesity. British Journal of Psychiatry, (Accepted for Publication)

Krishnadas, Rajeev, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 and Jones, Peter B. (2025) Precision psychiatry: thinking beyond simple prediction models – enhancing causal predictions. British Journal of Psychiatry, 226(3), pp. 184-188. (doi: 10.1192/bjp.2024.258) (PMID:39810474)

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Herron, James W. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-4255, Jackson, Eric, Sheridan, Matthew, Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017 and Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2022) Delirium and the risk of developing dementia: a cohort study of 12 949 patients. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 93(8), pp. 822-827. (doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-328903) (PMID:35606105) (PMCID:PMC9304115)

Lee, Rebecca, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Thomas, Lucretia, Gkoutos, Georgios V., Wood, Stephen J., Fenton, Sarah-Jane H., Deligianni, Fani ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-5017, Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 and Mallikarjun, Pavan K. (2022) Prediction models in first-episode psychosis: systematic review and critical appraisal. British Journal of Psychiatry, 220(SI4), pp. 179-191. (doi: 10.1192/bjp.2021.219) (PMID:35067242)

Griffiths, S. L. et al. (2021) Structure and stability of symptoms in first episode psychosis: a longitudinal network approach. Translational Psychiatry, 11, 567. (doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01687-y)

Leighton, S. P. et al. (2021) Development and validation of a non-remission risk prediction model in first episode psychosis: an analysis of two longitudinal studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, 2(1), sgab041. (doi: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab041) (PMID:34568827) (PMCID:PMC8458108)

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Birchwood, Max and Mallikarjun, Pavan K. (2020) Prognostic models in first-episode psychosis – Authors' reply. Lancet Digital Health, 2(2), e61. (doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30238-9)

Leighton, S. P. et al. (2019) Development and validation of multivariable prediction models of remission, recovery, and quality of life outcomes in people with first episode psychosis: a machine learning approach. Lancet Digital Health, 1(6), e261-e270. (doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30121-9)

Lyall, Laura M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7216-1434, Cullen, Breda ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7259-9505, Lyall, Donald M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3850-1487, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Siebert, Stefan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1802-7311, Smith, Daniel J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2267-1951 and Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2019) The associations between self-reported depression, self-reported chronic inflammatory conditions and cognitive abilities in UK Biobank. European Psychiatry, 60, pp. 63-70. (doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.05.007) (PMID:31158611) (PMCID:PMC6669333)

Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Krishnadas, Rajeev ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894, Chung, Kelly, Blair, Alison, Brown, Susie, Clark, Suzy, Sowerbutts, Kathryn, Schwannauer, Matthias, Cavanagh, Jonathan ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 and Gumley, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8888-938X (2019) Predicting one-year outcome in first episode psychosis using machine learning. PLoS ONE, 14(3), e0212846. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212846) (PMID:30845268) (PMCID:PMC6405084)

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Nerurkar, L., Krishnadas, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-5894, Johnman, C., Graham, G.J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7801-204X and Cavanagh, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-8050 (2018) Chemokines in depression in health and in inflammatory illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 23(1), pp. 48-58. (doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.205) (PMID:29133955) (PMCID:PMC5754468)

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 (2013) Regulation is needed to support the development of health IT. British Medical Journal, 347, f5593. (doi: 10.1136/bmj.f5593) (PMID:24048305)

Leighton, Samuel Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Baxter, Derek Ronald and Morrison, Elaine (2012) Images in medicine: A slate grey rash. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 88(1041), pp. 427-428. (doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-130822) (PMID:22652699)

Morgan, Kevin, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204 and Millar, Robert P. (2012) Probing the GnRH receptor agonist binding site identifies methylated triptorelin as a new anti-proliferative agent. Journal of Molecular Biochemistry, 1(2), pp. 86-98.

Morgan, Kevin, Stavrou, Emmanouil, Leighton, Samuel P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Miller, Nicola, Sellar, Robin and Millar, Robert P. (2011) Elevated GnRH receptor expression plus GnRH agonist treatment inhibits the growth of a subset of papillomavirus 18-immortalized human prostate cells. Prostate, 71(9), pp. 915-928. (doi: 10.1002/pros.21308) (PMID:21541969)

Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Gordon, C. and Shand, A. (2011) Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury: Clopidogrel, turkey and a red herring? BMJ Case Reports, 2011(4), 0120113776. (doi: 10.1136/bcr.01.2011.3776) (PMID:22700934) (PMCID:PMC3079450)

Velu, P.P., Hor, K., Leighton, S.P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-4204, Yeoh, S.E. and Duxbury, M. (2010) Cost–utility and value‐of‐information analysis of early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis (Br J Surg 2010; 97: 210–219). British Journal of Surgery, 97(7), pp. 1146-1151. (doi: 10.1002/bjs.7169) (PMID:20632291)

This list was generated on Sat Jan 31 00:06:39 2026 GMT.

Grants

Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.

  • CSO clinical training grant - psychotic disorders
    Chief Scientist Office
    2019 - 2022
     

Supervision

I welcome enquiries from prospective MSc and doctoral students interested in projects on risk prediction and causal machine learning in severe mental illness. My current research focuses on obesity and cardiometabolic disease in psychosis, and I am keen to support students wishing to develop skills in prediction modelling, causal inference, and the application of advanced analytical methods to clinically meaningful problems in psychiatry.


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