Rate My Professor Paolo Deluca

Paolo Deluca is Professor of Addiction Research in the Department of Addictions Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London. Holding a degree in Psychology from the University of Padua in Italy (1994) and a PhD in cognitive development from Lancaster University in the UK (2000), he brings over twenty-five years of experience in the addiction field. His career began at the Institute of Psychiatry in London in 2001, followed by a period at St George’s University of London, before rejoining the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience in 2007. There, he has contributed to numerous national and international research projects focused on substance misuse prevention and treatment.

Professor Deluca's expertise centers on health service and public health research, particularly the role of information technologies in substance misuse interventions (eHealth), alcohol screening and brief interventions, novel psychoactive substances, prescription drug misuse, and innovative approaches like virtual reality-enhanced cue exposure therapy and transdermal alcohol monitoring. He serves as deputy lead for the South London NIHR CLAHRC/ARC Alcohol Theme (2018-2026) and has secured major funding, including NIHR grants for a Virtual Reality-enhanced Cue Exposure Treatment for cocaine dependence (2024-2027) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (2024-2029). Notable projects include his role as co-applicant and programme manager for the National Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Research Programme for adults (SIPS) and adolescents (SIPS jr), co-applicant on the EC-funded AMPHORA and ODHIN projects, the MRC-funded ACTAD pilot study, and leading research as co-principal investigator on EU-funded Psychonaut 2002 and Psychonaut EWS projects developing web monitoring systems for novel psychoactive substances. He has also received European Commission grants for ReDNet (2010-2012), ALICE RAP (2011-2016), CODEMISUSED (2013-2017), and CASSANDRA (2015-2017). Key publications encompass 'Contingency management to promote treatment engagement in comorbid alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease: Findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial' (2025, Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research), '“Becoming Your Own Psychologist”: Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPSs) for Mood and Anxiety Disorder Self-Medication' (2025, Psychoactives), and 'A qualitative exploration of the experiences of transdermal alcohol sensor devices amongst alcohol service practitioners' (2025, Addiction Research and Theory). Professor Deluca excels in managing national and international clinical trials, developing, delivering, and evaluating interventions.