This article's objective was to test the public policy hypothesis that the introduction of high-output researchers into the mental health academic leadership at the University of the West Indies (UWI) did not alter the mental health research publication output at the UWI. The research activity at the Faculty of Medical Sciences Annual Research Conference, UWI, and the annual Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC) conference was reviewed for the period 1995–2005, which represented a period before and after the appointment of three high output researchers to senior leadership positions at the St. Augustine and Mona campuses of the UWI in the period 1999–2000. There was an exponential increase in research activity, thus disproving the null hypothesis (Mann Whitney U; p<0.01).