to advance education and research in the science of psychopharmacology for the public benefit

INSIDE 1–2 elections 2 guidelines meeting report 3 summer meeting 3–4 members’ activities 5–6 child and adolescent module 6–7 education events

www.bap.org.uk

The British Association for Psychopharmacology is registered in England as a Private Company No 5866899. Registered Charity No 277825.

continued on page 2

2015 Election for BAP Council Members The following vacancies will arise on Council in July:

Two Elected Council Member posts(Post 5) This post has been vacant since 2014 following Dr Elizabeth Tunbridge’s election to the post of Honorary Treasurer

(Post 6) Dr Mitul Mehta will retire

Council Post 9 was created in 2011 following an election tie and will cease to exist on 28 July 2015.

Nominations are invited from Full, Honorary or Retired Full Members for the above posts and should be supported by two Full, Honorary or Retired Full Members. Separate emails should be sent to Susan Chandler from the Proposer, Seconder and Nominee, to arrive no later than Tuesday 19 May.

Voting will be online via the website only from Wednesday 20 May and will close on Monday 6 July.

The BAP aims to represent the interests of all psychopharmacologists (pre-clinical, clinical and industrial) regardless of gender or ethnic origins. To achieve this it is essential that Council represents all constituents of the BAP. Council asks Members to bear this in mind when making nominations for the election, to ensure a balance of expertise.

NomineesAll nominees must provide a mini-biography and statement of intent by Tuesday 19 May.

Council Members serve a 4-year term.

NEWSLETTERMarch 2014

British Association for Psychopharmacology36 Cambridge Place Hills Road Cambridge CB2 1NS

01223 358 395

Executive Officer Susan Chandler • susan@bap.org.uk

Assistant to the Executive Officer Lynne Harmer • lynne@bap.org.uk

Online Resources and Communications Developer Sarah Channing-Wright • sarah@bap.org.uk

For m @BAPsych

BritishAssociationforPsychopharmacology

/company/britishassociationforpsychopharmacology

+BapOrgUk

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Council Meetings3 each year: March (London, full day), July (Sunday morning in association with the Summer Meeting), October/November (London, full afternoon).

ExpensesCouncil Members do not receive payment for anything they do for the BAP. BAP will reimburse standard travel expenses and hotel accommodation if Council members are unable to cover these from an alternative source.

The following procedure will be implemented if necessary:

a) In the event of no nomination/s being received by the closing date, the Nominations Sub-Committee should find at least one person to be asked to put their name forward

b) Council members will be informed if no nominations have been received by the deadline and, if they wish, give names of people whom they consider suitable for the Nominations Sub-Committee to consider

c) The Nominations Sub-Committee will comprise the current Past-President, President, President-elect and one of the Secretaries

continued from page 1

A list of current officers and council members is available on the website at www.bap.org.uk/council

BAP guidelines on the management of weight gain and metabolic disturbances associated with psychosis and antipsychotic drug treatment Meeting report by Gavin Reynolds

BAP held a meeting on 16th January 2015 in London aimed at developing “BAP guidelines on the management of weight gain and metabolic disturbances associated with psychosis and antipsychotic drug treatment” following a proposal from Gavin Reynolds, Stephen Cooper and Thomas Barnes. This was essentially a scoping meeting to collect information and opinion for a draft consensus statement and to that end brought together representatives from a variety of interested sectors as well as expertise from within BAP.

After an introduction from Thomas Barnes, Paula Reid (ReThink) and David Shiers (carer and GP) provided valuable insight into the impact of metabolic disturbances in schizophrenia. Liz England, from the RCGP, discussed the primary care approach to assessment and intervention of cardiovascular risk in schizophrenia, and Jo Smith, a clinical psychologist from Worcester, gave practical examples of dietary and lifestyle intervention. David Osborn (UCL) and

Adrian Heald (Manchester) discussed assessment and intervention in cardiovascular risk in schizophrenia, while Richard Holt (U Southampton) described how the NICE diabetes guidelines might be applied in schizophrenia. Gavin Reynolds reviewed the biological and pharmacological basis for metabolic problems in schizophrenia, while various intervention approaches were reviewed by other BAP members: Olga McGowan (exercise and diet), Maxine Patel (switching antipsychotics), Peter Haddad (aripiprazole), Carol Paton (metformin) and Stephen Cooper (other pharmacotherapeutic add-on strategies). Stephen Cooper and Thomas Barnes discussed current NICE guidance and described the findings from the POMH and the National Audit of Schizophrenia.

One observation, in what was generally considered an extremely valuable first meeting, was that despite many small studies of interventions for weight gain and other metabolic disturbances, both lifestyle and pharmacological, there is a paucity of evidence for effects beyond short-term trials. Despite a lack of clarity for clinicians in the absence of a strong evidence base, there was substantial optimism that BAP guidelines would provide valuable support in managing these major limitations of current antipsychotic treatment.

The outcome of this meeting will eventually be reported in the consensus statement currently being prepared, and some relevant background will be presented in a Special Session at the Summer Meeting in Bristol.

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Val Curran and David Nutt

Drugs Live on Channel 4

Val and David joins Jon Snow and Christian Jessen in a live experiment looking at the effects of two forms of cannabis on the brain.

3rd March 2015

Hisham Ziauddeen

BBC Horizons – What’s the right diet for you?

Hisham appears in episode 2 of What’s The Right Diet For You? on BBC2 with Dr Chris van Tulleken and Prof. Tanya Byron.

18th February 2015

Highlights2015 Guest Lecture to be presented by Elizabeth Binder from Emory University

Clinical Masterclass led by Stephen Stahl

Pre-Clinical Workshop: A new 3Rs challenge for animal research in psychiatry: Reproducibility, relevance, reverse translatability

9 invited symposia covering cutting-edge clinical and non-clinical psychopharmacology

Conference Dinner at Bristol Grammar School including presentation of the 2015 Prizes and Awards

2015summermeeting

School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UKSunday 26th to Wednesday 29th July 2015

For full details of the meeting go to www.bap.org.uk/summermeeting2015

Abstract Submissions: 27 March

Undergraduate Abstract Submissions: 24 April

Early Bird Registration: 8 June

Members’ ActivitiesA showcase for the media and public engagement activities of BAP members.

Following are some of the latest members’ activities over the past few months. All members’ activities, with links, can be found at www.bap.org.uk/members

Val Curran and Tom Freeman

BBC Radio 4 PM: Cannabis Science (00:33:00)

Val and Tom talk to the Radio 4 PM show about the science of cannabis. Val Curran in a live debate (00:31:00).

18th February 2015

Ciara McCabe

Can your food control you?

Ciara talks to BBC Radio Berkshire (02:13:33) about food cravings, related to the Science Museum ‘Cravings’ exhibition.

13th February 2015

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Jo Neill and Peter Haddad

Reassembling the Self

Jo and Peter are involved with an art exhibition showcasing two artists with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

6th February 2015

Andrew Mayers

Nap time for university students

Andrew talks to The Telegraph about student sleep.

3rd February 2015

Naomi Fineberg

Hertford Theatre – Obsessions and Compulsions

Naomi joined BBC Radio Four’s Inside Science presenter Dr Adam Rutherford and David Adam, OCD sufferer and author of The Man Who Couldn’t Stop, talking about strange thoughts and weird behaviour.

29th January 2015

Andrew Mayers

Should we be worried about the rise of antidepressants?

Andrew talks to The Independent about the use of antidepressants.

6th January 2015

Have you recently engaged with the public in science via the media or public events?

As you may be aware, both the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust advocate engagement with the public regarding scientific and medical research, and BAP is keen for members to engage with the media, so that we can share our important research findings with the public, including enthusiastic students and trainees.

We would like to invite you to share your most recent media activities with us, so that we can disseminate them to the public through our website and social media.

In particular we are looking for media articles, video interviews, podcasts, websites and blogs.

Please send any links or other engagement with the media to Sarah Channing-Wright (sarah@bap.org.uk).

Hip Hop Psych at Bedford PrisonOn Tuesday, January 20th, 2015, Hip Hop Psych delivered an interactive talk at HM Prison in Bedford, England. “HHP Mixtape 2: Resilience in Lyrics of Hip-Hop” was received by 15 men who imbued the talk with their personal narratives and anecdotes. Using science and hip-hop, Dr. Sule and Dr. Inkster drew attention to how to relate, cope, and conquer stress. HHP drew on concepts of stress inoculation, cognitive reframing, and epigenetics to provide scientific frameworks for understanding resilience. They paralleled the concepts by dissecting lyrics from Maino, Eminem, J Flexx, and Wu Tang Clan. And like any good work of artistry, each person related to the lyrics differently that together, painted a nuanced understanding of drugs, pressure, and challenge.

Throughout the talk, the energy was high and encouraged a dynamic exchange of ideas. Slides of the brain, synaptic clefts, and adrenal glands completed faces of ODB, GZA, and RZA. Life stories by audience members were shared enthusiastically, and even the most complex scientific terms were met with nodding heads. The excitements peaked when two inmates free –styled. The flow and bars were fresh, filled with salient moments describing hope and resistance. And once again, Dr. Sule and Dr. Inkster demonstrated the golden thread of connectivity between hip-hop and mental health. Feelings of inspiration and hope were evident by the end. “I’m out in two weeks, and I'll be getting in touch,” one exclaimed.

Anjana Bala BA/ Human Biology Stanford University/ Class of 2014

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Online CPD ResourceChild and Adolescent Psychopharmacology There is a real dearth of high quality professional development/education available around the use of psychotropics in children and adolescents. This is evidenced by the fact that the BAP face to face Certificate in Psychopharmacology module in this area is always one of the first to sell out and has been run twice last year. This level of demand is a challenge for me as Director of Education for BAP. It is therefore with immense pleasure to report the launch of the Child and Adolescent module of the BAP on-line CPD resource, led by Dr David Coghill from the University of Dundee. Dr Coghill is an internationally recognised leader in the area of child and adolescent psychopharmacology and he has helped bring together a first class resource that I am sure will be great practical value to prescribers.

The on-line module is divided into a number of topics presented by international leaders in the field. Each topic includes a general introduction, a review of the evidence for positive and negative effects of the various psychotropics used as well as clinical recommendations. Currently there are four topics available on line.

Dr Coghill himself deals with two of these: the management of depression in children and adolescents and then the use of medications to treat early onset anxiety and OCD. In the first of these Dr Cohill describes the evidence based use of medications as a part of a comprehensive treat plan for the management of depressive disorders in children and adolescents. He covers issues including diagnostic criteria, developmental variability, prevalence, and initial treatment, clinical trial evidence supporting the use of medication. There are also sections on the management of treatment resistant depression in children and adolescents as well as a discussion of adverse events of medication with a particular focus on the important issue of SSRI related suicidality. Dr Coghill’s topic on anxiety disorders and OCD similarly considers prevalence, comorbidity and clinical course of these conditions prior to providing describing a pragmatic approach incorporating medication into the wider management of these conditions in children and adolescents.

The module breaks new ground including the first non-UK based psychiatrist to present a topic, Dr Carmen Moreno from the Complutense University School of Medicine, Madrid, who discusses the treatment of

bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. She describes the clinical characteristics of paediatric bipolar disorder and its psychopharmacological treatment with antipsychotics, lithium, and mood stabilizers. The topic also includes the important issues of how to measure response and monitoring treatment efficacy as well as adverse events.

Dr Samuele Cortese from the University of Southampton presents the important topic of management of adverse effects of ADHD drugs. This complements the existing module related to adult ADHD in the on-line resource. Dr Cortese presents the recommendations on the management of adverse events during pharmacological treatment of ADHD provided by the European ADHD Guidelines Group (EAGG), covering monitoring and management strategies of loss of appetite and growth delay, cardiovascular risks, sleep disturbance, tics, substance misuse/abuse, seizures, suicidal thoughts/behaviours and psychotic symptoms.

In addition a number of other topics are currently in production. These include Dr Sarah Seth on the clinical use of ADHD drugs in children and adolescents; Dr Jan Buitelaar on the controversial topic of medication treatments for conduct disorder ; Dr Emily Simonoff on the use of medication in autism spectrum disorders; Drs Valsamma Eapen and Mary Robertson discuss pharmacological approaches to the management of tics and Tourette’s; and Dr Celso Arango considers the evidence and practical implications of treating schizophrenia and psychosis.

I believe that this module is a very important and significant advance in the coverage of the BAP’s on-line CPD resource making it truly a comprehensive source of up-to-date clinically practical information for prescribers working across the full range of mental health problems.

Hamish McAllister-Williams Director of Education

Image by Krzysztof Szkurlatowski; 12frames.eu

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Education EventsCertificate in Clinical Psychopharmacology

OverviewPsychopharmacology is the single most commonly used treatment modality in psychiatry. It is vital we use drugs to their optimal effect – matching our choices and regimes to the needs and symptoms of patients whilst minimising side effects and avoiding adverse interactions with other drugs. New drugs and new ways of using old ones regularly appear. With ever increasing demands on our professional time it is difficult to keep up to date. This programme for CPD in state-of-the-art psychopharmacology is tailored to emphasise practical everyday problems encountered by all prescribing psychiatrists.

Forthcoming Modules

Schizophrenia 7th May 2015 – 8th May 2015

Manchester

Drug Treatments in Affective Disorders

17th September 2015 – 18th September 2015

Newcastle

Drug Treatments in Old Age Psychiatry

22nd October 2015 – 23rd October 2015

Newcastle

Anxiety Disorders21st January 2016 – 22nd January 2016

Bristol

Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology

March 2016 Nottingham

Content includes:lectures, workshops, discussion sessions

Registration fees£350 per 1.5 day module

To book a place go to www.bap.org.uk/certificate

Child and Adolescent Topics Now OnlineTopics currently available include:

Anxiety Disorders and OCD – Clinical Issues added 05/1/2015

Depression in Children and Adolescents added 05/1/2015

Managing adverse effects of ADHD drugs added 05/1/2015

Bipolar disorder in childhood – Clinical issues added 05/2/2015

Other new topics now available

General Psychopharmacology:Pharmacokinetics, added 10/2/2015

Old Age Module:Treatment of late onset schizophrenia , added 03/3/2015

Updated Topics

Substance Misuse:Pharmacological management of comorbidity, updated 18/2/2015

Schizophrenia:First episode, acute psychosis, relapse prevention, updated 16/2/2015

MQ: Transforming Mental HealthThe MQ 2015 Fellows Programme supports the best and brightest early career researchers who are asking challenging questions that will contribute to transformative advances in mental health research. The Programme is open to applicants from all scientific disciplines and around the world.

The 2015 MQ Fellows Programme will provide up to £75,000, per year for three years, or up to £225,000 in total funding.

April 16th 2015 (17:00 BST) Stage 1 Statement of Intent application deadline

For more details please go to www.joinmq.org/research/pages/apply

Email: grants@joinmq.org

Website: www.joinMQ.org

Phone: +44 (0)300 030 8100

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Masterclasses in clinical Psychopharmacology

OverviewThe Masterclasses are held over three consecutive days, twice a year. You can register for one, two or all three days, depending on your needs and interests. The full three day package is intended to provide a state-of-the-art update in psychopharmacology for clinicians.

Content includes: ʍ a review of the basic pharmacology

of the relevant drugs

ʍ the clinical use of those drugs

ʍ discussions around relevant BAP and NICE guidelines

ʍ questions and discussion with the speakers

Forthcoming modulesDay A Schizophrenia

Substance Misuse

25th Nov 2015

Hallam Conference Centre44 Hallam StreetLondon W1W 6JJ

Day B BipolarPerinatalADHD

26th Nov 2015

Day C DepressionAnxiety Sleep

27th Nov 2015

Registration fees£310 per day

£840 for all three days

To book a place go to www.bap.org.uk/masterclasses

ONLINE CPD RESOURCEA high quality, up-to-date resource taught by top experts in their field

Reviews of recent psychopharmacology papers,

regularly updated

PLUSMultiple Choice Questions,

printable certificate on completion and reading lists

Schizophrenia Substance Misuse Including Comorbidity

Bipolar Disorder Perinatal Disorders

ADHD Focussing On Adult Depression

Anxiety Disorders Sleep

Old AgeChild and Adolescent *

General Psychopharmacology

* MCQs not currently available for this module

For more information and to subscribe go to www.bap.org.uk/onlinecpd

£120 per year

non-members

£60

per year

members and those who have registered or attended

recent BAP meetings/courses

£45per year

multiple users (10+)

Also available on iPad

For more information or to registeryour interest please contact:t: +44 (0)207 239 0176 e: meetings@bps.ac.uk w: www.bps.ac.uk