PhD Research Project

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The nocebo phenomenom and non-specific medicine side effects

Institution:

University College London

Dept/School/Faculty:

UCL School of Pharmacy

PhD Supervisor:

Prof Rob Horne

Application Deadline:

No more applications being accepted

Funding Availability:

Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

PhD Research Project

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Patients often report adverse events (side effects) from pharmaceutical medicines. Such symptoms can impact on patients' quality of life and willingness to persit with treatment. New evidence suggests that, while some adverse events are specifiacally associated with the pharmacological action of the medicine, others may be arising due to non-specific nocebo effects. Thus, some non-specific adverse events may be influenced by potentially-modifiable factors such as beliefs and cognitive processes. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of these factors in adverse events.

Main methods and techniques to be employed:
Collection and analysis of cross-sectional and/or prospective longitudinal data on side effect reports and putative potentially modifiable factors (e.g. beliefs, cognitions) from a range of patient groups (gastroenterology, neurological, drug trial participants), when controlling for physiological and clinical factors. Experimental methods to investigate the impact of modifying putative potentially modifiable factors on expectations of adverse medicine events in healthy analogue samples.