Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has received research grant funding from the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes for Heath Research (CIHR), the National Institutes of Health (USA), and numerous other funding agencies.

Professor Young was recently ranked as one of the world's leading scientific minds in the field of Psychiatry and Psychology, according to the 2014 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list. In all of science, a total of over 3,000 researchers worldwide earned this distinction and the academics listed rank among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, a mark of exceptional impact.

Professor Young is a member of several editorial boards and is a member of numerous professional and scientific societies. He is immediate Past-President of the International Society for Affective Disorders, President of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and the immediate past Chair of the Special Committee for Psychopharmacology of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Prof Young is also a Trustee of the patient and family charity Bipolar UK. The national charity dedicated to supporting individuals with the much misunderstood and devastating condition of bipolar, their families and carers. Prof Young is a trustee of The Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU), an independent academic unit internationally respected for its work in Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacoepidemiology, Risk Management and Training Services for over 30 years.