SURE

I am a multidisciplinary behavioural scientist. I gained an undergraduate Masters degree in Pharmacology from the University of Bath in 2005. This included a research placement at the Human Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Surrey. In 2013, I completed a PhD in addiction research supervised by Dr Anne Jackson, Professor Paul Gard (University of Brighton) and Professor Jennifer Rusted (University of Sussex). Individuals with substance use disorders tend to compulsively use drugs despite awareness of the negative consequences of doing so (e.g. health and financial costs). This made me question whether impaired processing of negative consequences was a feature of addiction. I explored this and related questions during my PhD using tobacco smoking as a model addictive behaviour. After my PhD, I completed postdoctoral positions in the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln and in the Translational Addiction Research Laboratory at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. At Lincoln, I worked with Dr Kyla Pennington to investigate the physiological and cognitive impact of experiencing early life stress, a risk factor for addiction and other mental health conditions. In Toronto, I worked with Dr Bernard Le Foll on several basic science (e.g. imaging and behavioural genetic) and intervention (e.g. RCT) studies in populations with tobacco, cannabis and opioid use disorder. I started as a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sunderland in 2021. My broad research interests are in the application of biological, cognitive, health and experimental psychology to help understand and treat addiction. More specifically I am interested in biopsychosocial predictors of drug use, relapse and intervention efficacy. I am interested in the translation of laboratory-based research findings to real-life settings to improve addiction-related outcomes, understanding the links between substance use and physical or mental health comorbidity, and I have developing interests in behavioural addictions (e.g. gambling) and negative lifestyle behaviours (e.g. overeating).