We believe a broad-based approach to creating a mentally healthy, nurturing environment is what’s needed to help young people prepare for their futures.
Our Team
Professor Adam R Winstock
MBBS, BSc, MSc, MRCP, MRCPsych, FAChAM, MD
Course Developer and Primary Trainer
Adam is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Specialist. He is an Honorary Clinical Professor at University College London. He is an accomplished educator, public speaker, and internationally recognized expert in the areas of young people, drugs and nightlife. He has published over 150 research papers and book chapters and has been delivering training to clinicians, law enforcement and hospitality staff for over 20 years. He is also a member of Drug Science Expert Committee. His practical, engaging and highly evaluated sessions have focused on raising drug awareness and recognising and responding to risks associated with their use.
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Adam trained as a physician before training in psychiatry and addictions at The Maudsley and Institute of Psychiatry. He is an active clinician, researcher and trainer. He is an internationally recognised expert in drugs, mental health, nightlife and harm reduction. He has published over 150 academic papers and regularly presents his work at international conferences and forums. He founded the Global Drug Survey, which runs the world’s largest drug survey in 2011. He founded Staying Safer in 2022 to build capacity within treatment services, help people in drug treatment optimise health outcomes and ensure those who chose to use drugs have access to meaningful information to help them stay safe and happy.
Jason Kew
Course Consultant and Trainer
Jason is a retired senior Police Officer and advocate for civil liberties, harm reduction and the appropriate implementation of laws to keep the public safe from harm. He has led the development of number of innovative drug strategies to reduce the risks of harm. He has expertise in violence reduction, drug diversion schemes and licensing and has worked with national police groups on innovative approaches to risk reduction.
He regularly sits on panels of events where he shares his knowledge on evidence based drug diversion, and on emerging schemes in the UK, such as at a recent side event held by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
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In Jason’s time as a police officer, he came to understand the unintended consequences and subsequent damage caused by marginalisation and inequality within the justice system, and became a passionate advocate for challenging stigma and diverting people away from the criminal justice system. He helped to develop the Thames Valley drug diversion scheme, which enables everyone found with controlled drugs an assessment of their use and education/harm reduction without the need for arrest, interview nor admission of guilt. This scheme has been a catalyst for health based drug interventions across the UK and further afield, also leading to policy changes within education to negate the need for exclusions. The diversion scheme harmonises with a whole system approach to engage all communities.
He was recently commended for his work by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and notably this award acknowledges Jason’s leadership in changing the culture of those in law enforcement to see that a health based approach to those who use drugs is more effective than arrest to achieve a reduction in use.
Dr Alex Aldridge
Course Consultant and Trainer
Alex is a lecturer at Birkbeck University and has just completed her PhD in drugs and sex. Offering extensive experience in social media and expertise in delivering sexual consent courses at schools and universities, Alex has an ability and the expertise to communicate with young people in areas where other presenters may find it hard to achieve their natural authenticity and relevance.
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Dr. Alex Aldridge is a highly accomplished researcher in the field of drugs and sex, with a Ph.D. from Royal Holloway, University of London, whose work focuses on understanding the intersection of drug use and sexual behaviour, and the implications for public health and policy.
Dr. Aldridge has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, with research widely cited by scholars and policymakers alike. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Aldridge has presented findings at conferences and workshops, with contributions to the field of drugs and sex recognised and featured in the media, including interviews with BBC News and The Guardian.
Professor Julia Buxton
Course Consultant and Trainer
Julia is British Academy Global Professor in Criminology at the University of Manchester. Her research and publications focus on the development impacts of drug policy enforcement in the Global South; women in illicit drug markets, and the changing South/North dynamics of the international drug trade.
Dr Will Lawn
Course Consultant and Trainer
Will is a lecturer in the Psychology Department at King's College London. He's an expert in cannabis and psychopharmacology research. His special interests include cannabis use disorder, the consequences of cannabis use during adolescence, the use of tech to reduce opioid overdose deaths, and experimental lab studies testing the acute effects of recreational drugs.
Dr Will Floodgate
Course Consultant and Trainer
Will is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Manchester. He completed his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2018 for which he examined the reorientation toward recovery in British drug policy and its impact on drug treatment providers and service users. He has also published in the areas of Image and Performance Enhancing Drug (IPED) use and cannabis regulation. More recently, he has led on an evaluation of the Staying Safe Programme pilots at the University of Manchester and the University of South Wales as part of a NIHR £5m innovation fund.
Dr Sharon Cox
Course Consultant and Trainer
Sharon is a Principal Research Fellow in the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at UCL's Department of Behavioural Science and Health. For nearly 20 years, she has been studying the psychology of addictive behaviours, specifically around tobacco, nicotine and alcohol use. Her main research interest is tobacco-related health inequalities, she has a special interest in understanding the relationships between social determinants of health and smoking. She uses observational and experimental studies to highlight inequalities in smoking, and designs clinical trials and other pragmatic studies to help people quit. She lead a programme of work on smoking and health inequalities at UCL and also lead several studies which aim to reduce smoking amongst people experiencing homelessness. Sharon is also involved in range of studies which assess the impact of nicotine product policies and their impact on population level smoking.
Guy Jones
Course Consultant and Trainer
Guy has been involved in drug science since 2010 and uses his background in chemistry to support the integration of science and technology with harm reduction.
Through his work drug checking with The Loop, Psycare UK and running Reagent Tests UK, he has built up considerable expertise on drugs and drug related emergencies.
Dr Caroline S Copeland
Course Consultant and Trainer
Dr Caroline Copeland is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology & Toxicology at King's College London, and the Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM). Her research aims to improve the healthcare strategy for people who use drugs via three main themes: 1. The signal detection of emerging trends in the illicit drug market; 2. The evaluation of drug policy; 3. The identification of innovative public health strategies targeting the population of people who use drugs. She uses an integrated approach combining pharmacoepidemiology techniques with in vitro and in vivo reverse pharmacology experiments to achieve this aim.
Dr Claire Smiles
Course Consultant and Trainer
Dr Claire Smiles recently obtained at PhD at Newcastle University where she researched the reproductive health and sexual wellbeing of women who use drugs. Claire began working in this sector in 2011, where she was the first intern at Global Drug Survey, working alongside Prof. Adam Winstock to deliver the biggest survey of people who use drugs. Claire also has a background in practice where she worked in variety of roles in drug and alcohol services in the North East and London alongside Public Health and NHS partners for a number of years. Claire is currently working on a portfolio of work predominantly focused on women who use drugs and their families, including wellbeing, sexual health, family planning, VAWG, trauma and relationships.
Roz Gittins
Course Consultant and Trainer
Roz Gittins is the Chief Pharmacy Officer and Deputy Registrar for the General Pharmaceutical Council. She is also a National Clinical Advisor for the UK Addiction Healthcare Mission. As a registered pharmacist she also has experience of working in NHS mental health and acute secondary care and in other settings such as community pharmacy, academia, and secure services. Roz is the Immediate Past President of the international College of Mental Health Pharmacy and has been a member of various panels and committees including Drug Science’s Scientific Committee, NICE and the Medicines Ethics and Practice Advisory Panel. She has acted as an expert advisor for various organisations and contributed to online resources, national publications, book chapters and primary research, with a particular interest in the misuse of over the counter and prescription medication.
Elysia O’Neill & Della Claydon
Course Consultants and Trainers
Elysia O’Neill and Della Claydon are Co-Founders of The Egalitarian, a social enterprise tackling injustice and inequality in the student community and nighttime economy. Their Safe Place Project raises awareness of important, usually hidden issues that are rife in our society and promote effective allyship to encourage and educate everyone on how we can help each other and prevent harm. They focus on harm prevention with victim-led initiatives, and particularly specialise in anti-spiking, anti-sexual violence and inclusivity for all.
Professor Gail Gilchrist
Course Consultant and Trainer
Gail Gilchrist is a Professor in Addictions Healthcare Research at the National Addiction Centre, King's College London. Gail has been a substance use researcher for almost 30 years in the UK, Europe and Australia. Her research focuses on the role of substance use in intimate partner violence and developing and testing the ADVANCE-D Programme to reduce intimate partner violence in the context of substance use.
Dr Rayyan Zafar
Course Consultant and Trainer
Dr. Zafar has previously completed undergraduate studies in BSc Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University (1st Class Hons), an MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry from Kings College London, IOPPN (Distinction) and a Ph.D. in Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College after being awarded the Medical Research Council Doctoral Training 4 year fellowship (MRC DTP) from 2019-2023. As a member of the Centre for Psychedelic Research and Neuropsychopharmacology group, his work focuses on multimodal neuroimaging investigations to investigate reward system dysfunction and develop novel therapeutics in substance use and behavioural addictions.
Gay Men’s Health Collective - Patriic Gayle
Course Consultant and Trainer
The Gay Men's Health Collective is a volunteer led health and wellbeing project for gay men and bisexual men with support for the wider LGBT+ community. Through MENRUS.CO.UK, short films and safer chemsex packs, GMHC promotes health, sexual health and well-being; aims to prevent HIV, HCV, and other STIs, and reduce harms from recreational drug use. We are the very definition of awesomeness on toast.
Course Advisory Group
Professor David Nutt, Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology
Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College LondonProfessor Robert West, Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at University College London
Professor Judith Aldridge, Professor of Criminology University of Manchester and ACMD member
Professor Katy Holloway, Professor of Criminology at the University of South Wales
Hanna Head, SSDP Lead and PhD candidate and drug policy expert
Dr Will Floodgate, Is a lecturer at University of Manchester
Liz Cheesbrough, Director at The Good Side; youth, mental health, media and culture change specialist
Stephen Cutter, Solicitor Release
Contact
We look forward to hearing from you and answering any questions you might have about our comprehensive offering.
Professor Adam R Winstock
Consultant Psychiatrist,
Addiction Medicine Specialist
Founder, Staying Safer Ltd
adam@stayingsafer.com