Lingford-Hughes grew up in Shrewsbury.[1] She attended Shrewsbury High School, where she was not encouraged to study medicine.[1] She became the first woman at Shrewsbury School, and applied to study medicine at St Hugh's College. She eventually studied medicine at the University of Oxford. During her time at medical school she became more interested in learning how people work.[1] Her third year supervisor moved to Cambridge, and asked if she wanted to do a doctorate. She took an interruption of studies, moved to Cambridge and started working on cholecystokinin receptors.[citation needed] When she was training to become a psychiatrist, she was encouraged to study the Γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) in schizophrenia. She instead decided to study GABA in alcoholism with Jane Marshall.[citation needed] Lingford-Hughes trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and the Bethlem Royal Hospital.[1]
Research and career
After a chance meeting with David Nutt, Lingford-Hughes switched her focus to addiction.[1] Her research explores addiction using neuroimaging and neuropharmacological analysis.[2] Lingford-Hughes pioneered the use of positron emission tomography (PET) to characterise dopamine, GABA benzodiazepins and NK1 receptors in alcoholism and opiate dependence.[1] She was elected Secretary of the British Association For Psychopharmacology, where she wrote guidelines on the management of substance misuse.[1]
Lingford-Hughes has studied neural responses to detoxification of methodone, and the impact of baclofen on people with alcoholism. Throughout her career, Lingford-Hughes has advocated for women scientists.[3][4] In 2015, she was awarded the Academic Women in Psychiatry Award.[5]
