I have a special interest in helping patients and their families with illnesses where depression, anxiety, alcohol or substance misuse are the main feature. My long term interest in the biological basis of psychiatric disorders is balanced by an awareness that successful treatment requires an understanding of the whole person and that every patient is an individual.

I have a diverse portfolio of professional interests: I am currently a Visiting Senior Lecturer in Psychopharmacology at the University of Bath and an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist in Substance Misuse. Alongside this, I am Medical Director of a local third sector NHS provider where I am the consultant for the Primary Care Opioid Analgesic Dependency Pilot Service and Research Director for a Clinical Research Organisation. I have previously been a consultant in the now closed regional NHS Psychopharmacology Unit, working with patients with difficult-to-treat anxiety and depression. In 2015, I was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) – this is awarded as a mark of distinction and recognition of contributions to psychiatry - and am the Regional Speciality Adviser for the College.

I have always been fascinated by and engaged in research and teaching looking at the role and actions of the drugs used in psychiatry and how they can be improved. This was one of the reasons for being awarded a prestigious national HEFCE “New Blood” Clinical Senior Lectureship. Part of my research carried out at the Psychopharmacology Unit of Bristol Medical School and the MRC Cyclotron Unit at Hammersmith Hospital led to a research doctorate (MD) in the brain imaging of mental health disorders. I continue to teach and be involved in research – in 2017, I gave presentations in the UK, including on the national BAP Anxiety Disorders course and abroad (France, Spain, Portugal and Australia).