Psychopharmacology and Addiction Research Centre (PARC)
The Psychopharmacology and Addiction Research Centre (PARC) investigates the impact of drugs acutely and chronically on the human brain and behaviour. We use a range of approaches to tackle questions and develop new treatments for addiction. Our translational methods aim to see new pharmacotherapies right through from bench to bedside.
Affiliated with the world-leading Mood Disorders Centre, we are interested in co-morbidity between substance abuse and mood disorders. As psychopharmacologists amongst psychologists, we are also investigating synergistic uses of pharmacological and psychological therapies. We collaborate with medical professionals including anaesthetists and psychiatrists from the Royal Devon and Exeter Partnership Trust.
In this section
Centre staff
Our Psychopharmacology and Addiction research involves staff and postgraduate students within the department, as well as academic staff from other institutions. More information about the research specialisms, publications and projects of our staff can be found within their individual profile pages.
Centre staff list
About our research and facilities
We specialise in a number of key areas of research:
- Psychopharmcology
- Neuroimaging
- EEG
- Sleep studies
- Naturalistic studies
- Clinical Trials
Facilities
We have 2 dedicated labs in our research centre at the University’s St Luke’s campus. We conduct studies in the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research facility which is a purpose built testing centre part of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
We have access to the psychophysiological recording equipment and virtual reality suite in the Mood Disorders Centre along with a 1.5T MRI scanner within the University of Exeter Medical School.
Research projects
Our staff are involved in a diverse range of innovative collaborative projects, a selection of which are listed below.
Ketamine for reduction of Alcoholic Relapse (KARE)
Principal Investigator (PI): Professor Celia Morgan
Co-Investigators: Professor Val Curran and Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes
Collaborators: Prof Evgeny Krupitsky (St Petersburg University), Prof Ismene Petrakis (Yale University), and Dr James Stone (Institute of Psychiatry)
In the UK alone, nearly 9% of men and 4% of women today meet criteria for alcohol dependence - in all approximately 3.9 million British adults. Abstinence is key to allow recovery of physical and mental health as well as quality of life, but treatment for alcohol dependence is associated with high relapse rates of around 50% at 3 months, 70% at 6 months. Despite the huge burden on the NHS and UK economy, treating alcohol dependence and prolonging abstinence remains an unmet need. We are testing a novel pharmacological treatment for alcoholism, combined with psychological therapy, which we hope to be effective in reducing relapse in alcohol dependence. The findings would have broad application given the worldwide prevalence of alcoholism and associated medical, psychological and social problems.
Find out more on the Ketamine for reduction of Alcoholic Relapse (KARE) webpage
Cannabinoids in the treatment of addiction
Principal Investigator (PI): Professor Val Curran
Co-Investigator: Professor Celia Morgan
Collaborator: Dr Paul Morrison, IoP
This project was funded by a £1.3million grant from the Medical Research Council.
More people are dependent on cannabis than any other illicit drug – at least 18 million worldwide. In Europe, 1% of all adults and nearly 2% of 14-17 year olds are addicted to cannabis. Rates of cannabis dependence have increased markedly over recent years alongside changes in the ingredients of cannabis available on the. Among UK first-time drug treatment clients, cannabis is now the primary addiction in 28% of those entering drug treatment, second only to heroin (41%).
The demand for cannabis treatment has more than doubled since 2001 (UNODC World Drug Report 2010). At present, clinicians rely on psychological treatments which have very limited effectiveness. If we found a safe, effective medicine this could improve treatment in a similar way that various medicines have improved rates of stopping tobacco use. It would also impact on educational/vocational achievement and illegal behaviour, and reduce young people’s risks of cannabis-associated mental health problems (e.g. schizophrenia, depression).
This project will first determine which dose of a novel pharmacological treatment is best in treating cannabis dependence before fully evaluating its efficacy.
We are inviting participants to take part who are at least 16 years old, meet clinical criteria for cannabis dependence and would like to stop using the drug.
Acute effects of alcohol on memory
Principal Investigator's (PI's): Professor Celia Morgan and Dr Nicolas Dumay
We are investigating the impact of acute doses of alcohol on different types of memory and hangover symptoms with industry collaborators SCRAM Systems (Denver, US) and Intelclinic (San Francisco, US).
Meeting Addiction with Kindness: Compassion focused therapy in heroin users
Principal Investigator's (PI's): Professor Celia Morgan, Rachel Edwards (RISE), and Lucie Hartley (EDP)
In a project co-created with local drug services we are piloting the use of compassion focused therapy in individuals who have been prescribed methadone for over 5 years.
