A point-of-care solution for detecting SCRAs
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bath
Department Name: Biology and Biochemistry
Abstract
Our proposal seeks to deliver a healthcare technology that will benefit the most vulnerable in society. Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs, more commonly called Spice) are endemic in UK homeless communities and the prison population. These drugs fall under recent Novel Psychoactive Substance legislation. The challenge with these drugs is that there is no generic point-of-care detection, meaning treatment and harm reduction strategies are essentially impossible. The use of these drugs leads not only to significant adverse health outcomes for users but also major social problems owing the drugs common side effects which can include psychosis and aggression.
Our proposal builds on our recent advances in fluorescence spectral fingerprinting of SCRAs to identify these drugs both in street material and in saliva of users. The proposal covers the full range of activities necessary to deliver the technology to beta testing, including portable device design, analytical software development, chemical fingerprint libraries and the associated community pharmacy practice advice to deploy the technology effectively.
At the end of the award we aim to start a not-for-profit social enterprise to bring the technology to the mainstream. The proposal includes partners from the full range of stakeholders relevant to SCRA use including homeless charities, police forces and prisons and drug testing services. Our proposal leverages the contributions of these partners with a carefully selected interdisciplinary research team (analytical/synthetic chemistry, optics engineering, artificial intelligence, community pharmacy and addiction psychology) that can support and deliver each aspect of the proposal.
We believe the scope and potential of our proposal is truly unique and presents the best chance for tackling SCRA use in the UK and more widely.
Our proposal builds on our recent advances in fluorescence spectral fingerprinting of SCRAs to identify these drugs both in street material and in saliva of users. The proposal covers the full range of activities necessary to deliver the technology to beta testing, including portable device design, analytical software development, chemical fingerprint libraries and the associated community pharmacy practice advice to deploy the technology effectively.
At the end of the award we aim to start a not-for-profit social enterprise to bring the technology to the mainstream. The proposal includes partners from the full range of stakeholders relevant to SCRA use including homeless charities, police forces and prisons and drug testing services. Our proposal leverages the contributions of these partners with a carefully selected interdisciplinary research team (analytical/synthetic chemistry, optics engineering, artificial intelligence, community pharmacy and addiction psychology) that can support and deliver each aspect of the proposal.
We believe the scope and potential of our proposal is truly unique and presents the best chance for tackling SCRA use in the UK and more widely.
Organisations
- University of Bath (Lead Research Organisation)
- Medical Research Council (Co-funder)
- Economic and Social Research Council (Co-funder)
- European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Project Partner)
- Greater Manchester Police (Project Partner)
- Avon and Somerset Police (Project Partner)
- Bristol Drugs Project Limited (Project Partner)
- HMP Hull (Project Partner)
- Univ Hosp Bristol & Weston NHS Fdn Trust (Project Partner)
- TICTAC Communications Ltd (Project Partner)
- Developing Health & Independence (Project Partner)
Publications
Kwok A
(2021)
A Thermodynamic Model for Interpreting Tryptophan Excitation-Energy-Dependent Fluorescence Spectra Provides Insight Into Protein Conformational Sampling and Stability
in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Winter SD
(2021)
Chemical Mapping Exposes the Importance of Active Site Interactions in Governing the Temperature Dependence of Enzyme Turnover.
in ACS catalysis
Skumlien M
(2023)
Commentary on Allaf et al.: Comparing countries with different legal cannabis markets can inform on the impact of regulating product type and potency.
in Addiction (Abingdon, England)
Cozier GE
(2023)
Instant Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids on Physical Matrices, Implemented on a Low-Cost, Ultraportable Device.
in Analytical chemistry
Andrews RC
(2023)
Photochemical Fingerprinting Is a Sensitive Probe for the Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists; toward Robust Point-of-Care Detection.
in Analytical chemistry
Hindson SA
(2023)
Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists are monoamine oxidase-A selective inhibitors.
in The FEBS journal
Craft S
(2022)
Trends in hospital presentations following analytically confirmed synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist exposure before and after implementation of the 2016 UK Psychoactive Substances Act.
in Addiction (Abingdon, England)