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Research interests
My interests are in healthy behaviour change with a focus on tobacco and alcohol use. I use a wide range of experimental techniques including eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and naturalistic field studies. The work conducted during my PhD (completed in 2014) was some of the first to use cognitive neuroscience techniques to examine the effectiveness of plain packaging for tobacco products. I have recently been awarded a New Investigator Award from ESRC to develop this experimental work and examine how positive (efficacy) messages can optimise tobacco health warnings among daily cigarette smokers.
Public and policy engagement is an important aspect of my work. My research on plain packaging contributed to UK and worldwide policy debates on this issue and I was awarded an ESRC Outstanding Engagement Award for this work. In addition to running public engagement events at festivals and other public events, I regularly blog about research for the Mental Elf site and have also blogged for the Guardian. I am currently working with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) as an Academic Fellow to write a POST-note on the impact of industry on public health policy.
I can supervise students interested in healthy behaviour change. Primarily, my work focuses on tobacco and alcohol use, but I'm also interested in research on illicit drug use and on strategies to promote physical activity. Here's a list of some current projects I'm working on with students:
- Alcohol
- Examining the effects of choice architecture interventions on drinking behaviour;
- The effects of alcohol labelling (units, calories and health warnings) on drinking behaviour;
- The impact of alcohol-free beer on drinking behaviour;
- Nicotine and tobacco
- The role of efficacy messaging for increasing adaptive responses to tobacco health warnings among adolescents and adults;
- Misinformation surrounding e-cigarettes and other tobacco harm reduction products;
- Illicit drugs
- Harm reduction approaches for illicit drug use among students;
- The cognitive effects of 'party drugs' among students.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
The ‘RESPECT’ Study – Reducing stigma towards people with issues related to drug use
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/05/2023 to 31/01/2026
Developing a Research Project and Creative Tool to Explore Peer Perceptions of Cannabis Use
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Description
Our overall aim is to develop a research project that creatively explores the impact that presentation and perception of cannabis use has on individual attitudes towards drug use.
Through Ideas Exchange…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
07/02/2019 to 31/07/2019
Eye-tracking to evaluate Colombian tobacco control policies
Principal Investigator
Description
Smoking causes 13% of adult deaths in Colombia. Before introducing new tobacco control measures,
including larger health warnings and standardised packaging, Colombian policymakers require local evidence of their effectiveness. We will…Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
12/11/2018 to 31/07/2019
Developing Effective Tobacco Control Measures in Colombia
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/03/2018 to 31/07/2018
Smoking kills, but you can quit: Threat and efficacy messaging to prevent tobacco smoking among adults and adolescents
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/12/2017 to 30/04/2020
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
01/01/2023Effects of media representations of drug related deaths on public stigma and support for harm reduction
International Journal of Drug Policy
How does the phrasing of house edge information affect gamblers’ perceptions and level of understanding? A Registered Report
Addiction Research and Theory
Impacts of EU Tobacco Products Directive regulations on use of e-cigarettes in adolescents in Great Britain
Public Health Research
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
“They’re doing it anyway, let’s have a conversation about it”
Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy