RESEARCH PROFILE
One of Europe’s leading research centresWe are one of the most productive addictions research groups in Europe. We represent one of the chosen areas of important health-related study as the newly created Addictions Clinical Academic Group (CAG) within King’s Health Partners, and form one of the core areas of the Academic Health Science Centre that brings together university partners King’s College London with the NHS from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital, and Guy’s and St Thomas’. Substance Use Disorders is one of the main themes of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health which is based at the Institute of Psychiatry.
Forty years of research excellence
The emphasis of our research is on ‘what works’ in the prevention and treatment of substance-related problems: the NAC represents a network of clinicians, researchers and clinical teachers who have a shared commitment to excellence in prevention and treatment work, and to supporting and strengthening national and international endeavours in this field. Over the last 40 years, the NAC has developed a body of research evidence that has informed the evidence base for the UK treatment system and the development of new treatment services for alcohol, smoking and drug problems. This work ranges from trials of new therapies and preventative treatments to studies seeking to understand the genetic and biological basis of addictive behaviour.
Partners
We work closely with the Addictions Directorate of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) to improve understanding of addiction to drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and to develop effective preventative and treatment interventions. Much of this research is carried out with the help of people with addictions who have been referred for treatment to services run by SLaM’s Addictions Directorate and is partly supported by the charity Action on Addiction, the only independent UK research charity dedicated to seeking new ways to prevent and treat nicotine, alcohol and drug abuse. Action on Addiction also funds research fellows who are based within the Addictions Department.
Annual Research Income
Approximately 1.2 million.
Number of Staff and Students
40 academic and research staff.
Recent Publications
- Drug Policy and the Public Good: Evidence for effective interventions. The Lancet, 2012
- Supervised injectable heroin or injectable methadone versus optimised oral methadone as treatment for chronic heroin addicts in Englandafter persistent failure in orthodox treatment (RIOTT): a randomised trial. The Lancet, 2010
- Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary care: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol. BMC Public Health, 2009
- Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of stepped care intervention for alcohol use disorders in primary care: a pilot study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 2009
- Effectiveness of community treatments for heroin and crack cocaine addiction inEngland: a prospective, in-treatment cohort study. The Lancet, 2009
- Overdose training and take-home naloxone for opiate users: prospective cohort study of impact on knowledge and attitudes and subsequent management of overdoses. Addiction, 2008
Recent Projects
- Contingency management in addiction treatment (CONMAN). This programme of research consists of 5 linked studies which aim to develop a UK Evidence Base for Contingency Management in Addiction Treatment and is funded for 5 years by the NIHR.
- Naltrexone Enhanced Addiction Treatment trial (NEAT). This is a three-year, NIHR funded three centre, phase III randomised, placebo controlled clinical trial of extended-release and oral naltrexone pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder relapse prevention.
- SIPS. Funded by the Department of Health and focussed upon hazardous drinkers, this research aims to identify the best screening methods, brief intervention techniques, and methods of implementation, that are the most appropriate, acceptable and cost effective across three health and social care settings: Primary Health Care (PHC), Accident & Emergency Departments (AED) and Criminal Justice Services (CJS).
- Miferpistone. Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism and cognition in alcohol dependence and is funded for 5 years by the MRC.
- Prison setting evaluation research. There are two ongoing projects in this area: An MRC funded study of post-release opioid overdose prevention using naloxone and evaluation of opioid substitution therapy funded by the Department of Health.
- Addiction Recovery Clinic (ARC). The ARC is a three-year, adaptive randomised controlled trial of methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone pharmacotherapies with personalised behavioural interventions funded by Action on Addiction.
- SIPS Jnr. Developing and evaluating interventions for adolescent alcohol use disorders presenting through emergency departments and is funded for 5 years by the NIHR.
- Preventure. A prevention programme which aims to reduce risk taking behaviour in young people by targeting anxiety sensitivity, sensation seeking, negative thinking and impulsivity which are known risk factors for early onset substance misuse
- HSD-1. Importance of 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD-1) in the consequences of chronic alcohol consumption and is funded for 3 years by the MRC.
- ACTAD. A randomised control trial to determine the effectiveness of Assertive Community Treatment for the treatment of alcohol dependence compared with standard treatment and is funded for 3 years by the Department of Health.
Partner Organisations
- South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital.
KEY FACTS
Student destinations
Psychiatrists or psychologists within the NHS, academic careers in substance misuse research, health services management.
Head of group/division
Professor John Strang
Duration
Three years FT; six years PT. Accelerated PT rates available - email
iop.educationsupport@kcl.ac.uk for further information. Registration is carried out at four points in the year: October, January, April and July.
Denmark Hill Campus, based at the National Addiction Centre.
Year of entry 2013
Offered by
Institute of Psychiatry
Addictions Department
Closing date
January Entry - Application Deadline October.
April entry - Application Deadline January.
July entry - Application Deadline April.
October entry - Application Deadline July.
Intake
Please contact for details.
Fees
CONTACTS
Contact information
Ms Pat OHara, Senior Administrator, 020 7848 0727
Dr Bob Patton, Research Facilitator, 020 7848 0449
Dr John Marsden, PhD Admissions Tutor
Email
Website
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
The Addictions Department, also known as the National Addiction Centre (NAC), is one of Europe’s leading research centres in addiction science. We represent one of the chosen areas of important health-related study as the newly created Addictions Clinical Academic Group (CAG) within King’s Health Partners, and form one of the core areas of the Academic Health Science Centre that brings together university partners King’s College London with the NHS from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital, and Guy’s and St Thomas’. Substance Use Disorders is one of the main themes of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health which is based at the Instituteof Psychiatry.
The emphasis of our research is on ‘what works’ in the prevention and treatment of substance-related problems: the NAC represents a network of clinicians, researchers and clinical teachers who have a shared commitment to excellence in prevention and treatment work, and to supporting and strengthening national and international endeavours in this field. Over the last 40 years, the NAC has developed a body of research evidence that has informed the evidence base for theUK treatment system and development of new treatment services for alcohol, smoking and drug problems. This work ranges from trials of new therapies and preventative treatments to studies seeking to understand the genetic and biological basis of addictive behaviour.
PhD projects are available in areas related to the development and evaluation of new treatments for alcohol, smoking and drug problems and includes studies seeking to understand the underlying psychological and biological bases and change processes of addictive behaviours, as well as policy-driven and workforce development projects and treatment trials.
Professor John Strang who heads the Department is one of theUK’s leading experts in addiction and one of only six Addiction Research scientists outsideNorth Americawho is listed in http://www.isihighlycited.com.
Staff interests associated with the research programme and its research groups
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Novel substances of abuse (eg mephedrone), dance drug epidemiological studies, cannabis use disorders, assesssment of patient knowledge and understanding of treatment interventions and diversion of opioid pharmacotherapies
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020 7848 0207
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Alcohol screening and brief interventions
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The development of alcohol and substance misuse in adolescence, comorbidity of substance misuse and psychological symptoms. Exploring mechanisms of risk using multivariate longitudinal, cognitive and behavioural genetic approaches.
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Alcohol, epidemiology of alcohol misuse, randomised control trials
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0207 848 0817
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Smoking cessation. Tobacco research. Addiction psychology.
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020 7848 0440
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Professor Emeritus of Addiction Behaviour
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020 7848 0853
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I specialise in mental health service research, which in itself looks at the development and evaluation of services for people with mental health and addictions problems. My particular interest is in accessing service user views and their involvement to gain a wider picture of the impact and effectiveness of health services and practices involved in health care provision. I am particularly interested in the use of qualitative methodology to achieve these aims. Projects I am involved in include, evaluation of inpatient alternatives to hospital for people with acute mental health problems; implementation of the recovery model in mental health services; the role of therapeutic relationships in health care provision and innovation on inpatient wards. I currently manage a randomised controlled trial of assertive community treatment for people with alcohol dependence.
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The behavioural analysis of drug dependence has been Ian Stolerman’s major research activity. He has studied a variety of drugs including opiates, psychomotor stimulants, benzodiazepines and alcohol but is best known for research on nicotine dependence on which he has worked for over 30 years. In early studies he obtained evidence that people smoked tobacco to obtain the effects of nicotine and that nicotine was an addictive drug. Subsequent work examined the receptor mechanisms and brain sites through which nicotine acts to bring about dependence and the neurotransmitters involved in mediating its actions downstream from nicotinic receptors. Recent studies have focused on (1) the abiliy of nicotine to enhance cognition in an animal model for assessing attention and (2) on the effects of prenatal exposure to nicotine on the maturation and development of the offspring and on their behaviour during adolescence and adulthood. Another important line of work led to advances in drug discrimination methodology and the first systematic studies of the discrimination of abused drug mixtures.
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020 7848 0370
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Current research activities:
1. Improving response to alcohol dependence in general hospitals
2. Management of GBL dependence and withdrawal
3. Treatment of opioid dependence, particularly use of injectable treatment
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020 7848 0825
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John Marsden is a clinical research psychologist with a research focus on the study of behavioural and pharmacological therapies for substance use disorders. He has held professional appointments in the addictions field since 1987. He has research interests in treatment systems research, psychometrics, and psychiatric epidemiology. John is the European editor of Addiction. He was a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of drugs (2005-2009) and a founding member of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs.
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020 7848 0830
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Professor John Strang is the Head of the Addictions Department. Interests include Addiction treatment studies, ConMan research programme of contingency management incentives for health in addiction treatments, medication trials, N-ALIVE randomised trial of naloxone to prevent heroin overdose deaths, policy analysis, psychosocial and abstinence recovery trials, RIOTT randomised trial of supervised heroin prescribing, study of overdose deaths and prevention
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020 7848 0438
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Professor of Addiction Psychiatry
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020 3228 1907
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020 7848 0138
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Contingency management, injectable opiates.
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020 7848 0359
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Novel recreational drugs/legal highs, the role of Information and Communication Technologies in drug abuse prevention and treatment, alcohol screening and brief interventions.
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My research interest focus on cognitive and genetic risk factors for substance misuse. Using high risk research designs, I explore the role of specific genetic, temperament and cognitive factors that render certain individuals susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse. This research has implications for the development of novel approaches to treatment and prevention of substance misuse. I am currently investigating the efficacy of interventions targeting known risk factors for substance use disorders and patterns of co-morbidity.
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020 848 0836
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addiction, culture and substance misuse, initiation and maintenance of behaviour change, outcome measurement, psychological impact of trauma and the association between trauma and addictive behaviours
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Applicants should possess a minimum of an upper second class honours degree from a UK university or the overseas equivalent. Applicants whose qualifications have been gained outside the UK will be checked by the Health Schools Admissions Centre to establish equivalency with these standards before an offer is sent and applicants will need to demonstrate at interview that their background and experience, general education and scolarship are appropriate. All applicants need to possess an adequate level of English competence. Please contact King's Health Admissions Team on pg-healthadmissions@kcl.ac.uk for further information.
To apply for graduate study at King's you will need to complete our graduate online application form. Applying online makes applying easier and quicker for you, and means we can receive your application faster and more securely.
King's does not normally accept paper copies of the graduate application form as applications must be made online. However, if you are unable to access the online graduate application form, please contact the relevant admissions/School Office at King's for advice.
Please include your CV plus a two page explanation of your interest and existing knowledge of the addictions field.
Self-funded, unless otherwise indicated. Please see
International Addiction Studies MSc
The advantages of King's for my PhD are obvious, aside from having the leading academics in my particular field (naval history, especially the Laughton Naval History Unit), the War Studies Department has an unrivalled UK and global reputation. It provides the opportunity to interact with students and experts in a wide variety of fields both within and outside of the department. Having read for my MA at King's during 2003-04 I was fortunate enough to obtain an AHRC funded research grant for a PhD here. Although it's far from assured, there is a variety of options for funding available from sources at King's and beyond. My advice would be to apply well in advance as the application process takes far longer than you might anticipate.
Being in London makes life incredibly easy as it gives such easy access to a wealth of libraries, institutions and, vitally for a historian, most of the major archives - not to mention the social life it offers. In my case, an unlimited variety of theatres, galleries, museums and markets.
Although only in my first year, I'm ultimately hoping to pursue a career in academic or research-based work. I'm aiming to get some teaching assistant experience during my next two years here, and the department is very proactive about encouraging students to undertake training courses. When it comes to applying for jobs I feel, based on the experience of peers from my MA course, that the King's College London War Studies name on my CV definitely opens doors in the areas that I'm interested in. Lastly, our newly refurbished department has hugely improved the 'quality of life', and students and staff now rub shoulders much more freely. The excellent views, from the research students' room, of the Thames from Westminster down to HMS Belfast and the City constantly remind me what I'm here to study!