Rayyan Zafar

Rayyan has previously completed undergraduate studies in BSc Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University (1st Class Hons) and an MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry from Kings College London, IOPPN (Distinction).

He is currently undertaking his Ph.D. at Imperial College after being awarded the Medical Research Council Doctoral Training 3.5 year fellowship (MRC DTP).

As a member of the Centre for Psychedelic Research and Neuropsychopharmacology group, he is working to complete a series of multimodal neuroimaging investigations in addicted populations;

• Exploring mesolimbic reward system deficits in Gambling Disorder as assessed with Functional Magnetic resonance Imaging (fMRI)
• Investigating the role of the dopamine D3 receptor in alcohol addiction with a pharmacological intervention using D3 receptor antagonism as assessed with PET and MRI
• Investigating the potential of psychoactive serotonergic agonists in the treatment of addiction 

Rayyan also works as an Honorary Research Assistant for DrugScience (formally the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs) where he publishes scientific reports as a member of the Medical Cannabis Working Group and the Medical Psychedelic working group.