The SAGE Handbook of Drug & Alcohol Studies: Biological Approaches

Kim Wolff is Professor of Addiction Science, at King′s College London and has worked in the Addiction field for the last 25 years. Her PhD thesis investigated the pharmacokinetics of methadone in heroin dependent drug addicts at the Research School of Medicine, University of Leeds. Professor Wolff′s main research interest is concerned with biomarkers of substance misuse and she has acted as an expert advisor to the UK Government National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA); the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in this regard. Her work has led to advancement in the area of biomarkers for High Risk Drinking-Drivers demonstrating the clinical efficacy of carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) in high-risk drink-drivers. The findings of this research resulted in a change of national policy for the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), which has made CDT the sole biomarker for use by medical practitioners to aid decision making with regard to relicensing high risk drink drivers. Professor Wolff is currently a panel member of the UK Secretary of State for Transport Medical Advisory Panel on Alcohol, Drugs & Substance Misuse & Driving. She chaired the expert Panel on drug-driving for the Department for Transport (2012) and led on the Panel′s report, which made a significant contribution to the development of the new drug driving legislation that into force in England and Wales on march 2nd 2015. Professor Wolff has edited several books and published extensively in the peer reviewed literature. In 2016 Professor Wolff was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year′s Honours list for services to road safety.

Jason White is Professor of Pharmacology and Head, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia. He has published extensively in the pharmacology of addictive drugs, particularly opioids and stimulants, and in the treatment of drug and alcohol dependence. He has experience in the management of alcohol and drug problems and in the provision of expert evidence related to drug effects in civil and criminal matters. He is currently Co-Chair of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence.

Steven Karch received his undergraduate degree from brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, in the US. He attended graduate school in anatomy and cell biology at Stanford. He received his MD from Tulane University in New Orleans, did postgraduate training in Neuropathology at the Royal London Hospital and in Cardiac Pathology, also at Stanford University. Dr Karch is a Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians London. He served as a cardiac pathologist at the office of the San Francisco Medical Examiner, publishing a number of books and papers when he worked there. Dr Karch is the author of more than 200 papers and book chapters, most having to do with the effects of drug abuse on the heart. He was Forensic Science Editor for Humana Press where he edited his own book series. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Cardiovascular Toxicology and Minerva Medica Legal Medicine. The 5th edition of his widely used textbook, The Pathology of Drug Abuse, was released last November. He edited the first two editions of the Drug Abuse Handbook, and will be senior editor of the third edition, scheduled for publication in 2018.