Dr Chesney started his clinical training in psychiatry as an Academic Clinical Fellow at the Maudsley Hospital and IoPPN in 2016. In 2020, he was awarded a Doctoral Research Fellowship by the NIHR to study the acute effect of high doses of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in people with schizophrenia. After completing his PhD in 2023, he was awarded an Academic Clinical Lectureship in General Psychiatry and Addictions.

He has had a significant role in several experimental medicine studies and clinical trials, including:

• THC & CBD in healthy volunteers, cannabis use disorder, and schizophrenia
• Clinical trials of CBD for people with psychosis
• Phase 1 clinical trials of novel formulations of cannabidiol and naloxone
• The effect of intravenous diamorphine on respiratory depression in people with opiate dependence

Research Interests:

• Addiction comorbidity in schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders
• Cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system
• Cannabis withdrawal syndrome
• Psychopharmacology
• Clinical trials
• Drug development and novel formulations

Dr Chesney collaborates with Dr Marta Di Forti and Professor Robin Murray (cannabis and psychosis), Professor Philip McGuire (University of Oxford; clinical trials of CBD and psychotic disorders); and Professor John Strang (diamorphine and naloxone).