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Research into impaired cognitive performance related to drug misuse began at Edge Hill University (EHU) in 1998. It has predominantly concentrated upon impairments related to use of the illegal drug `ecstasy' (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine: MDMA), although some has focussed upon cannabis related impairments in order to identify which of these drugs was related to a specific performance decrement. The impacts presented arise from contributions to policy development through the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the consultation response team of the British Psychological Society (BPS), media debate drawing upon our research, and through informing the design of a drug use prevention campaign.
Our research on cannabis, ketamine and MDMA (ecstasy) has used pioneering methods to provide a unique new evidence-base on which illegal drugs can be evaluated. This work has influenced government policy and legal proceedings in the UK and abroad. We have engaged widely with drug users, other members of the public, drug services and the media to disseminate our findings widely, and increase public knowledge of the topic. Our research on the effects of recreational drug use thus has changed national and international media discourse about this topic, and has increased public awareness and engagement.
UEL's Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Research Group (DABRG) was the first UK group to demonstrate that regular smoking can cause stress and depression. This work has had - and continues to have - a significant impact on public awareness and understanding of the effects of smoking on mood and cognition. Input into the Department of Health Consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control has directly fed into UK Tobacco Control Policy. More recent research on electronic cigarettes has informed public health professionals, smokers and users about the nature and effects of e-cigarette use. In particular, the work has underpinned the development and delivery of new and improved evidence-based information resources for use by these stakeholders. It has also delivered commercial benefits for e-cigarette manufacturers, whose marketing strategies, lobbying activities and preparations for regulatory control have been directly informed by this work.
The Emotional Test Battery (ETB) was developed by Goodwin, Harmer and others in Oxford from 1998 onwards. Notably, a person's performance on the ETB is sensitive to single doses of antidepressant drugs, even in healthy subjects, and without any change in mood. The ETB has played a key role in the success of P1Vital, a Clinical Research Organisation for experimental medicine, set up in 2004. The ETB has been responsible for ~60% of its business since 2008, worth over £9.5M and with 10 jobs created. Through P1Vital, the ETB has become a key part of the testing process for new antidepressants for several pharmaceutical companies, allowing substantial cost and time savings. For one antidepressant, the ETB results changed understanding of how the drug worked, and shaped its marketing.
Epilepsy, a condition that affects ca. 1% of the world's population, has severe clinical consequences; people with epilepsy (PWE) and poorly controlled seizures exhibit nearly an order of magnitude increase in premature death relative to the general population. About one-third of PWE do not benefit from treatment with currently approved medicines. Although historical evidence has suggested that cannabis might be useful in the control of epilepsy, work initiated by Drs Ben Whalley and Gary Stephens at University of Reading revealed that non-psychoactive components of cannabis can control epileptic seizures in animal models. This finding has led to a funded collaboration of ca £1.4M with GW Pharmaceuticals (UK) and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals (Japan) to establish a case for translation of two such components, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidavarin (CBDV), to human clinical drug trials. In particular, Reading research has resulted in GW trialling CBD (Phase 2, 50 participants, design stage) for a new indication of epilepsy treatment. A Phase 1 trial for CBDV (20 participants) began in July 2013, with a Phase 2 trial to begin immediately after successful completion of Phase 1. Results from the use of CBD on an open-label basis have shown major quality-of-life improvements for the patients concerned.
University of Bristol research has led to a marked and persisting reduction in the number of cot deaths (sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS). The dramatic 67% fall from 1988 to 1992 in England and Wales resulted from the identification of risks associated with putting babies to sleep face-down (prone). Nationally, death rates have more than halved again (54% fall) between from 1992 and 2011, with an estimated additional 1025 lives saved between 2008 and 2011, after two studies conducted in 1993-6 and 2003-6 identified further contributory risk factors. Tens of thousands of SIDS deaths worldwide have been prevented thanks to the team's research, international collaboration and development of risk-reduction recommendations.