About
My primary research interests are of the neuropsychopharmacology of motivated behaviours (eating, drinking, drug taking), sensory/affective neuroscience, and the link between microbiomes and well-being
I am the current research lead for the 'Substance use, misuse and dependence' research group, and I am module co-ordinator on a 3rd year undergraduate psychology module entitled 'Psychoactive substances'. I research all aspects of substance use - neurobiological harms, harm reduction, interventions for problematic substance use - as well as potential therapeutic effects of psychoactive substances. I also have a keen interest in understanding the mechanisms by which pharmaceutical drugs can modify eating behaviour.
I also co-lead the 'Unilever - Brain and Behaviour collaboration' - which is a longstanding collaborative partnership between Unilever R&D and our group of neuroscience researchers in the Brain and Behaviour labs. We work collaboratively with Unilever across a range of sensory/affective neuroscience projects, as well as investigating links between microbiomes and well-being.
I have expertise in several neuroimaging methods (fNIRS, EEG, fMRI) and use these methods across the range of research interests outlined above.