King's College London

About us

The Addictions Department, also known as the National Addiction Centre (NAC), is one of the most productive addictions research groups in Europe. We represent an important area of health-related study as the Addictions Clinical Academic Group (CAG) within King’s Health Partners, and form one of the core areas of the Academic Health Science Centre that brings together university partners King’s College London with the NHS from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’. RAND Europe rated our work on Substance Abuse Research as leading in the field.

The Addictions department at King’s College London is based at Denmark Hill in London, but for this role, the appointed person would be based at the University of Hull. However, the role involves closely working with team members based in London.

www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/research/groups/centre-for-addiction-and-mental-health-research

About the role

We would like to appoint a Research Assistant to play a key role within a newly NIHR funded project. The research focuses on the development, evaluation and testing of a Virtual Reality-enhanced Cue Exposure Treatment integrated with a wearable device to address craving, prevent relapse and improve treatment outcomes of people with cocaine dependence.

A key challenge in helping people to recover from cocaine addiction (or dependence) is their craving for the drug that can be triggered by ‘cues’ in their environment, such as situations or objects, which remind them of the pleasurable effects of cocaine. This process is known as ‘classical conditioning’ and the aim of this study is to reduce the risk of relapse to cocaine through use of novel technologies to reduce craving.

What we plan to study

Cocaine craving, and relapse to cocaine use are associated with physical changes to the body that can be measured. We are planning to ask individuals to wear a novel watch-like device that can measures physical changes to cues in their everyday environment. With this technology we will be able to identify in real time when they experience an episode of craving or start using cocaine again, to understand what real-life situations or circumstances have triggered these events, and allow us to provide support remotely when we detect they encounter situations that increase their risk of relapse. We will test the ability of technology-enhanced CET to reduce craving and relapse to cocaine use, compared to people receiving usual care

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This research is a collaboration involving five UK universities led from the Addictions Department at King’s College London (KCL), the University of Kent, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Hull, University of Birmingham, and University of Southampton.

The person appointed will be employed by the Addictions Department at King’s College London (KCL) and will report to Professor Paolo Deluca (Lead applicant) but will be based at the University of Hull and work closely with Professor Tom Phillips. The person appointed will also be working closely with the Project Manger Dr Eileen Brobbin, who is based at King’s College London but will also involve in person meetings between Eileen and the appointed person for training.

The successful candidate will have a good understanding of addictive behaviours, experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research in clinical settings, and data collection and recruitment. Having conducted research using wearable devices and/or virtual reality will be an asset.

You will also have established research skills relevant to this work. You should be a clear and balanced communicator and committed to equality, diversity and inclusion principles. The successful appointee will be expected to be reliable and efficient and also to have good inter-personal as well as organisational skills.

This is a full-time post and you will be offered a fixed term contract of two years.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. An Undergraduate and/or Masters degree in a related area, including relevant training in research methods
2. Experience of quantitative or qualitative research methods
3. A good understanding of methods in addiction research
4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to adapt communication to the situation
5. Excellent time management skills with the ability to multitask and prioritise and complete work within deadlines. A proven ability to coordinate and deliver projects
6. Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
7. A commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity for staff and students

Desirable criteria

1. Experience working with vulnerable people
2. Experience of conducting research in clinical settings
3. Experience of coordinating research trials in NHS settings
4. Experience of conducting qualitative interviews
5. Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearances.

We are hoping to hold in person interviews on Wednesday 4th December in Hull.