PhD Research Project

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Utlising the placebo effect to maximise perceived benefits from medicines

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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The placebo effect is a psychobiological phenomenom in which patients report positive effects from pharmacologically inert substances. This project will investigate whether similar, potentially-modifiable factors (e.g. beliefs about the medicine, anticipation) which have been implicated in the placebo effect, influence the perception of benefit from active medicines.

Main methods and techniques ot be employed:
Collection and analysis of cross-sectional and/or prospective longitudinal data on reported medicine benefits 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 benefit from medicine in healthy analogue samples.