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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/V026917/1
Title: A point-of-care solution for detecting SCRAs
Principal Investigator: Pudney, Dr CR
Other Investigators:
Husbands, Professor S Freeman, Dr T Sutcliffe, Dr OB
Blagbrough, Dr IS Bowman, Dr R W Fincham Haines, Dr TS
Scott, Dr J
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Avon and Somerset Police Bristol Drugs Project Limited Developing Health & Independence
EMCDDA Greater Manchester Police (The) HMP Hull
TICTAC Communications Ltd Univ Hosp Bristol & Weston NHS Fdn Trust
Department: Biology and Biochemistry
Organisation: University of Bath
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 April 2021 Ends: 31 March 2024 Value (£): 1,032,248
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Instrumentation Eng. & Dev.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
02 Feb 2021 Engineering Prioritisation Panel Meeting 2 and 3 February 2021 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
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.

Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Impacts
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Summary
Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
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Project URL:  
Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.bath.ac.uk