Training and Qualifications

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Qualifications

B.Sc. (1st Class Honours, Med. Sci.) Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh. 1984
M.B., Ch.B. University of Edinburgh. 1987
Ph.D. Neuropharmacology, University of Edinburgh. 1992
M.R.C.Psych. 1995
C.C.S.T. (General Adult Psychiatry) Specialist Training Authority of The Royal Colleges. 1998

M.D. Clinical Psychopharmacology, University of Newcastle. 2004

Training

I entered Medical School at the The University of Edinburgh in 1981. During the academic year 1983/4 I undertook an intercalated degree in the Department of Pharmacology. I studied benzodiazepine and GABA receptor interactions in rat hippocampal membranes using ligand binding techniques [1, 2]. Data from this study was some of the first suggesting a role for [35S]t-butylbicylophosphorothionate (TBPS) in in vitro estimation of benzodiazepine ligand efficacy. I was awarded a First Class Honours B.Sc. degree for this work.

I completed my medical training, obtaining an M.B., Ch.B. degree, in 1987 and undertook pre-registration House Jobs in 1987/88. Subsequently I obtained a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship for four years to investigate 5-HT1A receptor modulation of calcium conductances in the Department of Pharmacology in Edinburgh with Professor John Kelly. This involved whole cell patch clamp recordings from acutely dissociated adult rat raphe serotonergic neurones. I found that 5-HT1A agonists caused an attenuation of high threshold calcium conductance with a slowing of current activation. I used temperature manipulation in a novel fashion to provide information regarding receptor-effector coupling and produced a new model for calcium channel modulation [3, 4, 5].

Having obtained a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology in 1992, I returned to clinical work, training in Psychiatry based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. I passed the M.R.C.Psych. higher professional exams in 1995 and obtained a post as Lecturer (with Honorary Senior Registrar Status) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. While in this post I completed my higher training in General Adult Psychiatry, obtaining my Certificate of Completion of Higher Specialist Training (CCST) in 1998. In addition to my clinical training I developed my research interests particularly involving the role of the serotonergic system in the pathophysiology of depression and the mechanism of action of antidepressants, and the interaction between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the serotonergic system.

In 1999 I obtained a MRC Clinical Scientist Fellowship at Senior Lecturer level with Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist Status in the Department of Psychiatry in Newcastle.

I completed an M.D. in Clinical Psychopharmacology in 2004 at the University of Newcastle. This related to my work developing a method for examining the functional activity of somatodendritic 5-HT1A receptors in man using an EEG technique [18].