Research is a major part of our work. The Royal Free Hospital is part of University College London School of Medicine and is a very important part of the UCL Partners. The unit participates in a range of clinical trials which focus on making newly devised treatments available to patients in the form of a clinical trial. Many of these are sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry and have to be conducted under rigorous conditions.
Our unit also contributes to observational studies and registries, some of which are funded by the pharmaceutical industry and others are funded by government or research bodies. The department also undertakes a range of laboratory research studies across a range of LSDs working independently and in collaboration with other units. The co-operation, support and participation of patients in research and clinical trials is invaluable to us.
We work in partnership with research councils and the pharmaceutical industry. We have a range of important collaborations both within the medical school, with other units in the UK and internationally. We encourage visiting fellows. We participate in academic and industry sponsored symposia. We organise a yearly patient information day for LSD patients and the aim of this is to allow patients to hear about the latest developments from leaders in the field. We work very closely with the patient organisation in particular.