Our team
Celia Morgan, Academic Lead
I am interested in the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain and behaviour. My research has concentrated on examining both the positive and negative effects of recreational drugs on cognition. Through behavioural and neuroimaging studies, I have investigated the chronic effects of relatively new substances such as ketamine, MDMA and mephedrone. My work also has focused on what makes individuals vulnerable to the harmful effects of certain substances, like cannabis. More recently, I have begun to investigate the potentially therapeutic sides of controlled substances in clinical trials aimed at the treatment of addiction.
Molly Carlyle, PhD student
Molly has recently graduated from University of Exeter with the Sage Award for her undergraduate project and the Dean’s list for her degree result. She is fascinated by addiction and her PhD concerns the role of pro-social and pro-cognitive factors in addiction treatment.
Laura Goodsir, PhD student
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Will Lawn, Post-doctoral researcher
I am a post-doctoral researcher and team lead for the KARE trial in London. I recently completed my PhD on reward processing in cigarette and cannabis users. This work has investigated the motivation for, pleasure taken from and learning about drug and non-drug rewards (e.g. chocolate, music, money) in dependent and non-dependent cigarette and cannabis users. I have used a variety of techniques during my PhD including behavioural analysis, fMRI, eye-tracking and pharmacological manipulation. I have also worked with Dr. Adam Winstock on his Global Drug Survey data, investigating use of novel psychoactive substances, and spent time with Dr. Gill Bedi at Columbia University, working with crack cocaine users.
Beth Marsh, Research Assistant
Beth works as a research assistant on the compassion focused therapy for heroin use project. She has recently completed her PWP training to practise low intensity psychological therapies, as well as completing her undergraduate degree at University of Exeter in Applied Psychology.
Amy McAndrew, Associate Research Fellow
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher and team lead for the KARE trial in Exeter. Previous to this I completed a PhD at the University of Exeter investigating the mechanisms involved in basic Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. I obtained a first class Psychology undergraduate degree as well as a Distinction in the Psychological Research Methods Masters here at Exeter.
Helen Rockliff, Post-doctoral researcher
Helen is a post-doctoral researcher working on a study of compassion focused therapy in addiction. Helen read medical sciences at the University of Birmingham. She then specialized in researching biological responses to compassionate emotions, aided by the pursuit of a masters degree in neuroimaging (FMRI scanning) at Aston University. After looking into the effects of the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin on peoples’ responses to receiving compassion at Southampton University, she completed her PhD exploring stress and emotion during in vitro fertilisation treatment at University of Bristol.
Dr Tobias Stevens, Post-doctoral researcher
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher examining the effects of cannabinoids on learning and reward processing. I first studied clinical neuropsychology at the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands where I worked in a rehabilitation centre for patients with severe brain damage. I moved to the University of Exeter to do a PhD in cognitive neuroscience with Prof. Stephen Monsell and Dr. Aureliu Lavric. This research looked at cortical regions involved in top-down control during task-switching. I used TMS in combination with fMRI and quantitative meta-analysis to manipulate the preparation effect in cued task-switching paradigms. I then worked on a post-doc with Fred Verbruggen looking at inhibition in gambling.
