The Team
Innovation happens when diverse disciplines converge. That is why our dedicated multi-disciplinary team has expertise spanning research, policy, technology, management, finance and growth.
David Badcock
CEO
David Badcock has held strategic positions in the substance misuse treatment sector for over 15 years. During this time he has met and worked with thousands of individuals who have turned their lives around to lead healthy, successful lives free from the burden of drug and alcohol addiction.
Dr. Anne Schlag
Head of research
Dr Anne Katrin Schlag is Research Manager of DrugScience and Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London. She completed her graduate studies and PhD in Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Following this, she worked as senior lecturer at King’s College London where she was also co-director of AQUAMAX, an EU-wide study investigating public and media perceptions of aquaculture. Her expertise ranges across the spectrum of science and policy making, including risk perception, risk management and risk communication, mental models and social representations.
Anne Katrin has a keen interest in the social, ethical and moral dimensions of national and international drug policies and related regulatory challenges. Her current research focuses on medical cannabis and on the application of the MCDA approach to drug regulation, together with Prof David Nutt and Prof Larry Phillips.
James Bunn
Communications Manager
James Bunn is the Communications Manager for Drug Science. After studying Law at university, he became aware of the injustice and inadequacy of the laws that govern drug policy in the UK. He has worked for multiple charities and Not-for-profit organisations in this field, including Release, The Beckley Foundation, The Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Talking Drugs. He is interested in the therapeutic use of psychedelics, harm reduction, and the dissemination of accurate information relating to psychoactive substances.
Rayyan Zafar
Honorary Research Assistant
Rayyan Zafar is an Medical Research Council PhD student studying at Imperial College London in the centre for Neuropsychopharmacology under the supervision of Professor David Nutt. His PhD focuses on the application of multi-modal neuroimaging to understand addictions such as gambling and alcoholism. He has a keen interest in psychopharmacology and particularly how addictions could be treated with psychedelics. Additionally, Rayyan’s current research with Drug science focuses on medical cannabis to treat epilepsy, together with Dr Anne Schlag and Prof David Nutt.
Dr. Pallab Seth
Managing editor Drug Science Journal
Dr Pallab Seth is currently Managing Editor for Drug Science, Policy and Law and Journal of Psychopharmacology with Prof David J Nutt (Editor-in-Chief) in the Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College. He joined Imperial in 2006. He has Postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Professor Kenneth J Smith and Professor Sandra E File at King’s College London.
Twenty21 Team
Project Twenty21 is committed to scientific excellence and the development of independent scientific evidence. It is supported by a scientific oversight board, a Drug Science Twenty21 team and patient representatives.
Amelia Middlemiss
Project Twenty21 DIRECTOR
Amelia gained a Masters in Psychological Research Methods and taught Sport Psychology as well as working with competitive athletes and the Navy. After University Amelia spent 17 years in Pharmaceutical Sales, where her knowledge and skills were developed around the medical and health industry; working alongside GP’s, specialists, and commissioning bodies. This role provided insight into the needs of the health service – to help patients take a role in reducing their health harms; also providing insight into patient’s needs – when often trying to understand complex medical topics.
More recent roles Amelia has undertaken are; Clinical Advisor around Medical Cannabis, AHSN Primary Care Demonstrator Site Programme Manager, Project Manager for the Reducing Harm from Alcohol programme at the Wessex AHSN; focusing on alcohol related liver disease and the creation of alcohol harm identification patient materials, secondary care audit tools and staff and patient training materials.
Dr. Chloe Sakal
Project Twenty21 Clinical Lead
Having gained a BSc in neuroscience, Dr Chloe Sakal went on to study medicine and qualify as a psychiatrist, working in a variety of community and inpatient settings with particular attention to substance misuse. She has a keen interest in the psychopharmacology and the potential for the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs in treating a wide range of psychiatric disorders. She is a study doctor for the UKs first MDMA-assisted psychotherapy trial looking at the safety and tolerability of its use in the treatment of alcoholism. Alongside this, she also campaigns for and provides progressive harm reduction strategies for recreational drug use, including work within drug testing services in Bristol and at festivals.
Prof. Michael Lynskey
Data analyst
Prof. Michael Lynskey is an epidemiologist and addiction researcher who has held academic appointments in New Zealand, where he’s from, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. His research largely focuses on the onset and escalation of drug use during adolescence and he has worked on multiple longitudinal studies examining the assessment of drug related problems and their associations with mental health. Given rapid changes occurring in the regulation of cannabis use and supply, he is increasingly interested in studying policy approaches to cannabis.
Dr. David Horn
Process & Develoment Lead
David is formerly a UK surgeon, now for 15 years a senior Business Management Consultant operating within the medical sector. He is exceptionally qualified and has wide experience within both clinical and management settings across the UK NHS, including NHS Acute Trusts and NHS Commissioners (CCG). His expertise spans medical business start-ups, business case development, Transformational Change, Clinical Process Redesign, and performance management within the NHS.
Independent Advisors
We collaborate with independent advisors to help us to deliver the best source of evidence-based drug information which is free from commercial and political experiences.
Dr. Dani Gordon
Medical cannabis advisor
Dr Gordon is a double board-certified medical doctor and international leading expert in both CBD and clinical cannabis medicine, after treating thousands of patients in Canada in a referral complex chronic disease practice. Dr Gordon trained the UK’s first cannabis medicine specialist physicians and is a founding member and vice-chair of the UK Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS).
Anna Rickman
Marketing Advisor
Anna has held executive positions in the public sector, social enterprise, impact-driven venture capital and startups. She cares deeply about increasing access to effective mental health interventions, pursuing this actively as the co-founder and COO of Wavepaths, a startup providing music both for and music as psychedelic therapy. Previously, she held the position of CMO of Drug Science and is honoured to continue to support the cause as an independent advisor. Her deep passion for her work derives from her own journeys through trauma-informed psychotherapy and psychedelic therapies. In her free time, she enjoys yoga and Muay Thai, and has spent many months fighter training in Thailand. She received her MA in Literae Humaniores from Oxford University.
Mark Mathias
Commercial Advisor
Mark joined Arbor Ventures in 2013, having been involved with managing investments and businesses for most of his working life. In 2003 Mark started his own fund management business in a joint venture with Dawnay Day. The business grew to be the leading commodities fund manager and won awards for Best Commodities Fund Manager and Best Structured Products Provider in the UK. It was an innovator and a market leader in its chosen product areas. It also turned profitable and cash positive in year two. Along the way, he has started up a home care business, and run a training business. He is currently on the board of a number of investment funds, mainly focused on Africa.