Joe Schofield (MPH, PG Dip)

Research Assistant: Drugs Research Network for Scotland

Biography

Background

My background is in NHS Public Health service provision, policy development, commissioning and evaluation across England and Scotland, focussing on sexual health, blood-borne viruses (HIV, viral hepatitis) and addiction.  I have been working as an academic drugs researcher since 2017 with roles including Research Assistant, Research Fellow, and National Research Coordinator of the Drugs Research Network for Scotland (DRNS).  I worked as a consultant for the Global Hepatitis Team at the World Health Organisation and helped co-organise the World Hepatitis Summit in Glasgow, 2015.

I joined University of Edinburgh in August 2023, continuing to support DRNS' knowledge exchange activities and am working with colleagues across Scotland and internationally to securing grant income for new research projects.  I am currently seeking funding to commence a PhD at the University in 2024.

Qualifications

MSc Applied Statistics in Health Sciences Strathclyde University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics (current)

Masters in Public Health (Distinction) University of Stirling, Faculty of Health and Sports Science (2018-20)

Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health (Merit) University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (2012-17)

Postgraduate Diploma in Health Service Management (Distinction) Greenwich School of Management (2006)

BA(Hons.) Critical Social Theory and Communication Studies (First Class) Nottingham Trent University (1988-91)

Responsibilities & affiliations

Royal Statistical Society Fellow (2017-current) and committee member of Emerging Applications section (2020-2022)

Society for the Study of Addiction Member (2017-current)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

No

Research summary

My research and knowledge exchange interests include:

  • public health-informed approaches to understanding socioeconomic patterns of drug use
  • unequal distribution of drug-related harms including overdose and drug-related deaths
  • provision of evidence-based, person-centred treatment, care and recovery support
  • meaninful involvement of people with lived / living experience of drug use in the design and delivery of policy, practice and research.

Current research interests

The epidemiology of substance use and associated harms in Scotland, especially poly-drug use involving opioids and benzodiazepines. The accessibility, acceptability and effectiveness of treatment/recovery interventions and services. The meaningful involvement of people with lived and living experience of drug use in policy, practice and research. The implementation of addiction interventions and services: what works, for whom, and in what circumstances. Identifying and supporting people most at risk of overdose and drug-related death.

Past research interests

Previous grant income and research projects I served as co-investigator or principal investigator include: Updating our understanding of Scottish substance use prescribers’ practices and views on the management of benzodiazepine dependence. Scottish Government £10,130 (May-Aug 2023) Developing an Intervention to Manage Benzodiazepine Dependence and High-Risk Use in the Context of Escalating Drug Related Deaths: A feasibility study Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate £393,983 (May 2021-Apr 2023) Researching and developing key components of a new Scottish Drug Checking service. Scottish Government. £300,081 (Nov 2020-Oct 2022) Overdose detection and responder alert technologies: transforming preventative care for those most at risk of drug-related death. Scottish Government. £59,978 (Nov 2020-Apr 2022) Testing blood oxygen monitoring among people who use drugs to promote awareness of respiratory and cardiac health. Scottish Government. £14,291 (Nov 2020-Apr 2021) A System Approach to Exploring Syndemic Health and Social Condition Clustering Among Individuals Who Experience A Drug Related Death: Developmental Work For Co-Produced Interventions. Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government. £263,084 (Nov 2020-Jun 2023) Ambulance Call-Outs to Drug Overdoses in Scotland: Patterns and Practice. Scottish Government. £99,996 (Sep 2020-Feb 2022) Exploring the utility and safety of benzodiazepine prescribing among people receiving Opiate Replacement Therapy in Scotland: a multicentre retrospective cohort study. Scottish Government. £82,450 (Sep 2020-Dec 2021) Feasibility and acceptability of an overdose prevention intervention delivered by Community Pharmacists for patients prescribed opioids for chronic non cancer pain. Scottish Government. £59,960 (Sep 2020-Nov 2021) Exploring The Potential Of Long-Acting Buprenorphine In People Who Use Drugs And Are Homeless. Camurus AB Pharmaceuticals. £48,836. (Jul 2020-May 2021) Understanding the health impacts of social responses to Covid-19 on people who use drugs in Scotland. Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government. £28,533 (May 2020-Nov 2020) Governing parental opioid use: a relational ethnography. Economic and Social Research Council. £1,780,625. (Jan 2020-Apr 2023)

Current project grants

Updating our understanding of Scottish substance use prescribers’ practices and views on the management of benzodiazepine dependence. Scottish Government £10,130 (May-Aug 2023)

Past project grants

Developing an Intervention to Manage Benzodiazepine Dependence and High-Risk Use in the Context of Escalating Drug Related Deaths: A feasibility study Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate £393,983 (May 2021-Apr 2023)
Researching and developing key components of a new Scottish Drug Checking service. Scottish Government. £300,081 (Nov 2020-Oct 2022)
Overdose detection and responder alert technologies: transforming preventative care for those most at risk of drug-related death. Scottish Government. £59,978 (Nov 2020-Apr 2022)
Testing blood oxygen monitoring among people who use drugs to promote awareness of respiratory and cardiac health. Scottish Government. £14,291 (Nov 2020-Apr 2021)
A System Approach to Exploring Syndemic Health and Social Condition Clustering Among Individuals Who Experience A Drug Related Death: Developmental Work For Co-Produced Interventions. Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government. £263,084 (Nov 2020-Jun 2023)
Ambulance Call-Outs to Drug Overdoses in Scotland: Patterns and Practice. Scottish Government. £99,996 (Sep 2020-Feb 2022)
Exploring the utility and safety of benzodiazepine prescribing among people receiving Opiate Replacement Therapy in Scotland: a multicentre retrospective cohort study. Scottish Government. £82,450 (Sep 2020-Dec 2021)
Feasibility and acceptability of an overdose prevention intervention delivered by Community Pharmacists for patients prescribed opioids for chronic non cancer pain. Scottish Government. £59,960 (Sep 2020-Nov 2021)
Exploring The Potential Of Long-Acting Buprenorphine In People Who Use Drugs And Are Homeless. Camurus AB Pharmaceuticals. £48,836. (Jul 2020-May 2021)
Understanding the health impacts of social responses to Covid-19 on people who use drugs in Scotland. Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government. £28,533 (May 2020-Nov 2020)
Governing parental opioid use: a relational ethnography. Economic and Social Research Council. £1,780,625. (Jan 2020-Apr 2023)

Organiser

Drugs Research Network for Scotland:

  • End of Phase Showcase Event (2023)
  • Complex lives and complex systems: Untangling the complexity through drugs research (2022)
  • Annual conference (2021)

Royal Statistical Society (2021) Manchester.  Chair and co-organiser of the "Emerging Applications Section" special interest group session.

World Hepatitis Summit (2015) Glasgow.  Co-organiser as consultant with Global Hepatitis Programme, World Health Organisation.

Participant

LxAddictions: 3rd European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (2019) Lisbon, Portugal

Futurize: The futures of addiction (2019) Barcelona, Spain.

Society for the Study of Addiction (2019 and 2020) Newcastle, UK

XIII International AIDS Conference (2000) Durban, South Africa

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