We interview Dr Tom Freeman, the latest addition to the SSA’s board of trustees, about his work at Bath University on cannabis units and on having a positive impact on people who use drugs.
Welcome to the SSA Tom, what motivated you to apply to be a trustee of the SSA? And now you’ve been appointed, what responsibilities and tasks do you expect to carry out?
The SSA plays such an important role in helping to progress peoples’ careers in addiction. Some examples of this are funding for PhD studentships, post-doctoral transitional support, and academic fellowships. I was fortunate to have been funded as an SSA academic fellow myself and I experienced the benefits this had on my own career. I am very grateful for the support I received, and this motivated me to become more involved with the SSA to help support others within the field. So far my role as trustee has been really interesting and varied. I’ve joined panels for existing schemes such as the SSA Annual Conference and the Fred Yates Prize and I’ve planned new initiatives such as a part-funding scheme for PhD studentships. As a trustee I get to work with a brilliant team of people from a range of backgrounds, who all share a passion for the field of addiction.
Do you have any advice for other people thinking about becoming a trustee for the SSA or another charity in the field?
My advice for anyone who is considering this would be to apply! We are really lucky to have charities like as the SSA and we need people to help them to continue the important work that they do. I find the work rewarding and I’m sure that other people would too. If someone was unsure about the role or wanted an informal discussion about it, I’d advise them to contact trustees to find out more.
We use state-of-the-art experimental, epidemiological and clinical methods to produce evidence that is both robust and relevant for people and society.
One of your many roles at the moment is Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group (AIM) at the University of Bath. What does your research group aim to do, and what projects are you currently working on?
Our research aims to positively impact those suffering from substance use and mental health disorders. We have a multidisciplinary team which bridges the Psychology and Pharmacy & Pharmacology departments here at the University of Bath. We use state-of-the-art experimental, epidemiological and clinical methods to produce evidence that is both robust and relevant for people and society. An example of one of the projects we are currently working on is a standard dose for cannabis, the “standard THC unit” which is similar to standard units for alcohol. We hope that this work will ultimately help people who use cannabis to minimise their risk of experiencing adverse health outcomes such as addiction.
In addition to your work with AIM, you are a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath, Senior Editor for Addiction journal, and now of course a trustee for the SSA. Can you tell us about some of the key milestones in your academic career to date, and what you have learned along the way?
Some of my key milestones were getting my first position as a research assistant, achieving PhD funding, submitting my PhD (that was a big achievement!), and securing my first post doc. During these stages, I learned that collaborative work within a supportive team is a great recipe for success. I was lucky to spend this time working at the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit with Prof Val Curran, who was an excellent role model and mentor.
During my postdoc, funding for the project I was employed on was unexpectedly withdrawn. This was a difficult time for me. I had to work really hard with limited time to seek funding to continue my career in addictions with great uncertainty. I know that many other people experience problems with the uncertainty of this career stage and we need to do more to help retain these people in the field. I was very fortunate to receive some funding at this stage which included an SSA academic fellowship working with Professor Michael Lynskey at King’s College London. This was a really important milestone for me. It helped me to develop my independence and vision for how my work could influence the field.
Developing my own international network of collaborators was really important at this stage, and I found that major meetings such as Lisbon Addictions were a great place to do this. After this I was able to secure an open-ended contract as Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath. This was another major milestone that allowed me to start building my own research team, consolidating my research programme and to do what I enjoy most – supporting PhD students and early career researchers.
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
