Monday 10 May 2004 09:08
NEW FORESIGHT PROJECT ON BRAIN SCIENCE, ADDICTION AND DRUGS
Identifying the addiction genes, new treatments for addiction, and the possibility of individually tailored drugs are
just a few of the issues a new Foresight project announced today will be investigating.
The Brain science, addiction and drugs project will look 20 years ahead at the possible opportunities and risks arising
from rapid advances in brain science and drugs. It will cover topics such as:
* the impact of drugs on the individual and society;
* our understanding of addiction and how it might develop;
* possible future addictive drugs and behaviours; and
* possible future treatments for addiction.
Lead Minister for this project, Health Minister, Lord Warner said:
"Developments in this cutting edge field of brain science have brought many benefits and opportunities but new advances
also create new risks, dilemmas and problems.'
'This project will try to identify the opportunities and risks, and plan for
approaches to different types of addiction including drugs, in the future."
Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, who is leading the project said:
"Over the next 20 years the genetic causes of addiction will become clearer, medical treatments could be tailored to
suit an individual's addiction risk, and brain enhancing drugs could become more widely used.
"This project will investigate the impact these and other developments could have in the future on both individuals and
society as a whole."
Three leading academics have recently been appointed to provide the detailed scientific input to the project. They are
Professor David Nutt, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Bristol, Professor Trevor Robbins, head of
the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Cambridge, and Professor Gerry Stimson, a public health
sociologist at Imperial College, London.
The project will bring together Government, industry, academia, research funders, health professionals and others to
inform long-term strategic planning.
The outcomes of the project will be presented in summer 2005.
Notes to Editors
1. The Brain Science, Addiction and Drugs project is part of the Foresight programme, managed by the Office of Science
and Technology within the Department of Trade and Industry.
2. The Foresight programme looks beyond normal planning timescales to identify potential opportunities from new science
and technologies. It produces challenging visions of the future to ensure effective strategies now. It brings together
scientists, technologists, businesses and consumers to discuss the future.
3. More details on Foresight and the Brain Science, Addiction and Drugs project can be found at
http://www.foresight.gov.uk
Biographical Details
Professor David Nutt - Professor of Psychopharmacology, and Head of the Clinical Medicine Department, University of
Bristol. He set up the Psychopharmacology Unit in Bristol in 1988. The Unit is an interdisciplinary research grouping
spanning the department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology. He is currently a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse
of Drugs (ACMD), the Chair of the Technical Committee of the ACMD, the committee on Safety of Medicines, and the MRC
Neuroscience Advisory Board.
Professor Trevor Robbins - Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Director of
Medical Research Council Centre for Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience. Chairman and a Council member of the MRC's
Neuroscience Board and a former President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. His published works are
Psychology for Medicine (1988), Seminars in the Neurosciences: milestones in dopamine research (1992), The Prefrontal
Cortex (1998) and Disorders of Brain and Mind (2003).
Professor Gerry Stimson - public health sociologist at the Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, Imperial
College. He established (in 1990) and directs The Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour. In 1997, he
established the Department of Social Science and Medicine. He has over 30 years experience of research on drug and
alcohol problems, and more recently on sexual health. He has played a major role in the international development,
evaluation and promotion of harm reduction as a response to drug use.
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