Val Curran is Professor of Psychopharmacology at University College London (UCL) where she established the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit in 1996. She is a founding member of the charity DrugScience, Research Lead at local NHS drug treatment services, and an advisor to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform.
Her research focuses on the short- and long-term effects of psychoactive drugs on mental health, cognition and the brain. It spans drugs used in medical treatments, drugs used recreationally and several drugs (e.g. cannabinoids, ketamine, opiates) used in both contexts. Currently she is running a project exploring whether adolescents differ in their response to THC and CBD in cannabis, both acutely in a lab study and chronically in a longitudinal study spanning 15 months. She is also researching potential medical uses of cannabinoids, including leading an RCT on how CBD combined with psychological therapy may aid the treatment of cannabis use disorder.
