Colin Davidson is a neuropharmacologist and neurochemist. His main research interest is in drug abuse, and he has studied many of the new psychoactive substances or 'legal highs'. He is particularly interested in their pharmacology and their effects on transmitter release. Previously, while an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Duke University, he tested novel pharmacotherapies for stimulant abuse. He has also published in the field of stroke where he has an interest in pre-ischaemic conditioning. His PhD was in the field of antidepressants and the 5-HT system.
Colin was Head of School in the School of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire (2017-23). Previously Colin held faculty positions at St George's University of London, University of Leicester and Duke University Medical Centre. Colin has a BSc in Biology & Psychology from the University of Edinburgh, a PhD from Queen Mary's, University of London and was a postdoc at the University of St Andrews.
Colin is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS), the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and the Higher Education Association (FHEA). Currently he is an external examiner for BSc Pharmacology at the University of Dundee.
Outside of the university sector Colin is on the Awards Panel for the British Pharmacological Society, the Council for the Laboratory Animal Science Association (LASA), the Board of the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA) and the Assessment Regulatory Committee for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He is also a consultant for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at the MOD and a member of the Working Group on Synthetic Cathinones for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
