David Nutt - Imperial College

The goal of the dept is to pioneer research into neuro-psychiatric disorders merging pharmacological approaches with state-of-the-art imaging techniques. The particular emphasis is on brain disorders such as addiction dementia schizophrenia and affective disorders. Recent discoveries include clarifying the role of dopamine in both schizophrenia and opioid addiction -the discovery of an antagonist of the memory-blocking properties of alcohol - showing opioid receptors are involved in alcohol as well as heroin dependence and developing new potential PET tracers for studying noradrenaline and imidazoline receptors in conditions such as depression and dementias. There are close links with the MRC CSC where DJN and ALH have conducted PET imaging studies for many years and also with the GSK Clinical Imaging Centre, which is collocated in the Burlington-Danes building alongside the dept. DJN leads an international consortium underthe EuroBioFund program that is seeking new PET tracers to allow measurement of endogenous neurotransmitter release in the human brain.