King's College London

The ADHD Remote Technology study of cardiometabolic risk factors and medication adherence (ART-CARMA) project, led by Kuntsi with Dobson and funded by a large (>€1.5 million) grant from the European Commission, launched in April 2021. The team at King’s works closely with a second data collection team in Barcelona, led by Professor Toni Ramos-Quiroga.

ART-CARMA forms a part of TIMESPAN, a five-year-long, collaborative and multidisciplinary research programme with 17 partner institutions across Europe and the world, including academia, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patients and care providers (with total funding of €6 million across the sites).

We will recruit 300 adults from adult ADHD clinic waiting lists and monitor them remotely over a period of 12 months that starts from pre-treatment initiation. ART-CARMA aims to obtain real-world data from the patient’s daily life on the extent to which ADHD medication treatment and physical activity, individually and jointly, may influence cardiometabolic risks in adults with ADHD.

Our second main aim is to obtain valuable real-world data from the patient’s daily life on adherence to pharmacological treatment and its predictors and correlates. The long-term goal is to use these data to improve the management of cardiometabolic disease in adults with ADHD, and to improve ADHD medication treatment adherence and the personalisation of treatment.

ART-CARMA passive and active monitoring

In ART-CARMA we use a wide range of active and passive monitoring measures. The wearable device in this project is the new EmbracePlus, developed by the SME partner Empatica.

External Team Members

Collaborating Adult ADHD Clinics:

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (Dr Susie Whitwell), Government of Jersey Adult Mental Health Services (Dr Ulrich Muller-Sedgwick, Dr Jane Sedgwick-Muller), Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (Dr Loshini Moodley), Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (Dr Baxi Sinha), Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (Dr Rajesh Nair), South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (Dr Olimpia Belea) & East London NHS Foundation Trust (Dr Rahul Bhattacharya)

Fundacio Hospital Universitari Vall D’Hebron, Barcelona:

Professor Toni Ramos-Quiroga, Dr Marta Ribases, Carolina Ramos, Dr Maria Soler, Dr Andreea Ciudin, Dr Ignacio Ferreira, Raquel Ibarz, Pol Ibañez Jimenez

Other Partners and Members of Advisory Boards in TIMESPAN, including:

Andrea Bilbow (Chief Executive of UK ADHD Information and Support Service, ADDISS, and Vice President of ADHD Europe), Euan Woodward (Executive Director, The European Association for the Study of Obesity), Empatica, Concentris, Professor Henrik Larsson (co-ordinator of TIMESPAN; Orebro University and Karolinska Institute), Professor Chris Hollis (University of Nottingham and NIHR MindTech MedTech Co-operative)