Addiction research

Research in this area focuses on identifying patterns and consequences of substance use and antisocial behaviour - including both high-risk and population based approaches to the prevention of substance use and antisocial behaviour. 

The key themes are:

Trajectories and consequences - alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis - in adolescents and young people utilising ALSPAC - including the association between cannabis and schizophrenia; trajectories of tobacco use Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group; multiple risk behaviour DECIPHER; and the association between adolescent alcohol use and harm in young adults NIHR School of Public Health Research.

Epidemiology and prevention of consequences of heroin and injecting drug use - including modelling and assessing rick of Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B and HIV (Infection and Immunity); assessing natural history and mortality risk through analysis of Edinburgh Addiction Cohort and record linkage with other administrative cohorts; and Multiple Parameter Evidence Synthesis of drug related crime. 

Our work also contributes to two MRC Addiction Research Clusters.