Dr Tom Farrow BSc (Hons) PhD

Senior Lecturer in Psychiatric Neuroimaging and Honorary NHS Clinical Scientist

Telephone: 0114 2261511
E-mail: t.f.farrow@sheffield.ac.uk

Present Research

• Investigating the cognitive and autonomic components of regulating one’s own and other’s emotions using concurrent fMRI and skin conductance response (SCR [EDA/GSR]) – see ‘Current Grants’ below. Sixty healthy volunteers will undergo an fMRI brain scan whilst socially interacting via video-link with an actor outside of the scanner. The subject’s task will involve regulating their own or the conspecific’s emotional state. Furthermore, the effect of an intervention (e.g. implementation intentions vs. surface acting) will be examined on neural activation and autonomic arousal. These interventions will be administered in collaboration with Professor Paschal Sheeran and Dr. Tom Webb, (Department of Health and Social Psychology, University of Sheffield). The work will be conducted by myself and the RA employed on the grant, Glyn Hallam.

Research interests

• Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of clinical populations and healthy subjects.
• Conducting concurrent skin-conductance response (SCR) recording and fMRI to elucidate dynamic interaction between autonomic and cognitive systems.
• Clinical populations studied to date include first episode psychosis (FEP; schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), chronic, stable schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Alzheimer’s Disease, complicated early childhood convulsion (ECC) and adult temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).
• Theory of mind, social cognition, empathy and emotion regulation.
• Relationship between regionally-specific grey-matter brain volume differences (measured using voxel-based morphometry [VBM]) and cognitive and behavioural function.
• Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to modulate brain function.

Current grants

2009-2012 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Large Grant "Emotion regulation of others and self (EROS): A collaborative research network.". £2million+. The grant involves seven investigators, researching an overarching theme of `emotion regulation´ at five UK universities. The other six investigators are:-

• Professor Peter Totterdell (PI), Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield;
• Professor Paschal Sheeran and Dr. Tom Webb, Department of Health and Social Psychology, University of Sheffield;
• Dr. Warren Mansell, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester;
• ● Dr. Pasco Fearon, School of Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Reading;
  
• Professor Andrew Lane, Institute for Sport and Learning, University of Wolverhampton and;
  
• Professor Brian Parkinson, Department of Psychology, University of Oxford.

Plenary and Invited Lectures at National/International Conferences

• Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation visiting lecturer, Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA (2008).
• International Conference on Psycho-Social Rehabilitation, Bangalore, India. Plenary lecture (2008).
• International Workshop on "Neural basis and ontogeny of depressive psychopathology", San Raffaele Turro, Milan, Italy (2007).
• 2nd Biennial Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, Edinburgh, Scotland. (2006).
• Psychosis Interest Group seminar, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK (2005).
• 3rd Sheffield Psychopathology Symposium - “Psychiatry and the Problem of Evil.” Sheffield, UK (2003).
• John Templeton Foundation Scientific Findings about Forgiveness Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2003).
• Faculty of Science research colloquium, University of Sydney, Australia (2002).
• 2^a Reunión de Investigatión en Psicopatología. (2nd Psychopathology Meeting). El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Spain (2001).

Research supervision

Since 2001, I have (co-)supervised over 40 research student projects (2 Ph.D., 1 D.Clin.Psy. 2 M.Sc., 5 Research Associates, 5 B.Med.Sci., and 28 Phase 1b/3a medical students). These have included:

• Glyn Hallam (Ph.D.; ongoing).
• Subha Thiyagesh (Ph.D.; ongoing).
• Sudheer Lankappa: (Ph.D.; ongoing).
• Thomas Whitford: (Ph.D.; Awarded 2007).
• Isabelle Van Heeswijk (B.Med.Sci.; ongoing).
• Jenny Burgess (B.Med.Sci.; awarded 1st class 2010).
• Alice Mackay (B.Med.Sci.; awarded 1st class 2009).
  
• Molly Douglas (B.Med.Sci.; awarded 1st class 2009).
• Declan Hyland: (B.Med.Sci.; awarded 1st class 2008).
• Naomi Johnson: (B.Med.Sci..; awarded 1st class 2007).
• Michael Hogan (M.Sc.; awarded [with merit] 2008).
• Quasim Khan (M.Sc.; awarded [with merit] 2008).

Academic Honours and Awards

• Eli Lilley prize for best early career researcher at the 7th Biennial Australasian Schizophrenia Conference, Sydney, Australia (2002).
• Visiting Royal Society Overseas Fellowship. Hosted by the Brain Dynamics Centre, University of Sydney (2002-2003).

Membership of Editorial Boards/Editorships

• Editorial board member, The Open Neuroimaging Journal, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd. IL, USA.
• Co-editor (with Professor Peter Woodruff) Empathy in Mental Illness, Cambridge University Press (2007).

Teaching

• MED601 (Human neuroanatomy / practical brain dissection) to undergraduate medical students.
• MED6032 “Neuroimaging and Neuropsychiatry” module of Molecular Medicine MSc course – Module leader.
• Neuroanatomy to postgraduate psychiatry trainees (for MRCPsych exam).

Reviewing duties

• I review manuscripts for the following scientific journals: i) Acta Neuropsychologica; ii) Archives of General Psychiatry; iii) Archives of Neurology; iv) Behavioural Neurology; v) Biological Psychiatry; vi) Bipolar Disorders; vii) Brain; viii) British Journal of Psychiatry; ix) Cerebral Cortex; x) Cognitive Neuropsychiatry; xi) Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders; xii) European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience; xiii) International Journal of Psychophysiology; xiv) Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology; xv) Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; xvi) Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience; xvii) Journal of Psychophysiology; xviii) NeuroImage; xix) Neuropsychologia; xx) Neuropsychology; xxi) Perceptual and Motor Skills; xxii) Personality and Individual Differences; xxiii)Physiology and Behaviour; xxiv) Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry; xxv) Psychiatry Research; xxvi) Psychiatry Research-Neuroimaging; xxvii) Psychological Reports; xxviii) Psychological Medicine; xxix) The Open Neuroimaging Journal; xxx) Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory; Research and Practice; xxxi) Quarterly Journal of Mental Health; xxxii) Schizophrenia Bulletin; and xxxiii) Schizophrenia Research.
• I have reviewed grant proposals for i) The Alzheimer's Research Trust; ii) Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust (SHCT) Medical Research Committee; iii) Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH) NHS Foundation Trust; iv) National Science Foundation, Virginia, USA; v) Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Canada and vi) Agència d’Avaluació de Technologia i Recerca Mèdiques (Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research).

Interests

• I am a keen runner, who enjoys hill-walking, fine wine and good food.