Professor David Best

Associate Professor of Addiction Studies

David is Associate Professor of Addiction Studies and is a joint appointment with Monash University.

David is from Scotland and qualified initially with a first class honours degree in Psychology with Philosophy, before achieving a Masters with Distiction in Criminology. His PhD was about the explanations drug and alcohol users provide for their addictions and how this shapes their perceptions of what is possible in the future. He has worked in academic research at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, the Insitute of Psychiatry in London, Birmingham University and the University of the West of Scotland. He has worked in policy research at the Police Complaints Authority, the National Treatment Agency and the Prime Ministers's Delivery Unit.

Publications

  • Best, D., Day, E., Campbell, A., Simpson, D. & Flynn, P. (2009) Relationship between drug treatment engagement and criminal thinking style among drug-using offenders. European Addiction Research, 15, 71-77.
  •  Simpson, D., Rowan-Szal, G., Joe, G., Best, D., Day, E. & Campbell, A. (2009) Relating counselor attributes to client engagement in England. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36, 313-320.
  •  Best, D., Day, E., Morgan, B., Oza, T., Copello, A. & Gossop, M. (2009) What treatment means in practice: An analysis of the therapeutic activity provided in criminal justice drug treatment services in Birmingham, England. Addiction Research and Theory, 17 (6), 678-687. 
  •  Best, D., Walker, D., Aston, E., Pegram, C. & O’Donnell, G. (2010) Assessing the impact of a high intensity partnership between the police and drug treatment service in addressing the offending of problematic drug users. Policing and Society, 20 (3), 358-369
  •  Best, D., Day, E., Cantillano, V., Gaston, R., Nambamali, A., Sweeting, R., Keaney, F. (2008) Mapping heroin careers: Utilising a standardized history-taking method to assess the speed of escalation of heroin using careers in a treatment-seeking cohort. Drug and Alcohol Review, 27, 169-174. 
  •  Day, E., Best, D., Cantillano, V., Gaston, V., Nambamali, A., Keaney, F. (2008) Measuring the use and career histories of drug users in treatment: Reliability of the Lifetime Drug Use History (LDUH) and its data yield relative to clinical case notes. Drug and Alcohol Review, 27, 175-181.
  •  Hibbert, L. & Best, D. (2011) Assessing recovery and functioning in former problem drinkers at different stages of their recovery journey. Drug and Alcohol Review, 30, 12-20.