Head of Psychology,
Director of Tobacco Dependence Research Unit
Professor Peter Hajek's research interests include addictive and health behaviours, especially smoking and weight management. He has been involved in the development and first published trials of several smoking cessation treatments now used worldwide, including nicotine inhalator, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine lozenge, dextrose and varenicline. He also studied behavioural treatments, both intensive clinical approaches and brief interventions in primary care. He developed withdrawal-oriented treatment for smokers ('the Maudsley Model') which is now used across the UK Specialist Stop-Smoking Service and abroad. Another strand of his research concerns understanding of the quitting process and relapse, with particular focus on tobacco withdrawal symptoms. Other interests include use of groups to help people change their health behaviours, and research in weight management. He has over 250 publications and holds a number of academic appointments.
Current research projects:
Current funding includes some £3,000,000 from UKCRC, MRC, ESRC, Pfizer, DoH, TH PCT, C&H PCT, and NIHR/HTA
Hayden McRobbie, Katie Myers, Maciej Goniewicz, and other members of the TDRU team provided key input in the projects below
On-going and forthcoming projects:
Combination of varenicline and nicotine replacement treatment: RCT
Electronic cigarettes: Toxicity, nicotine delivery, and potential in smoking cessation
Controlled trial of peer-support weight management programme to supplement brief advice in general practice for obese adults from deprived communities: RCT
Effect of protein pre-loading on satiety and body weight: RCT
Effect of Ramadan fasting on body weight
Evaluation of specialist smoking cessation services and services for special populations
Individualising varenicline dose to smokers’ reaction: RCT
Collaborative project on developing and monitoring smoking cessation services in China
De-nicotinised cigarette as an adjunct to smoking cessation medications: RCT
The role of sensori-motor aspects in smoking behaviour and their potential use in tobacco dependence treatments
Relapse prevention intervention based on texting
Role of psychosocial, genetic, personality, and behavioural factors in extreme tobacco dependence
Selected recent publications (2010 to April 2011)
Myers K, Hajek P, Hinds C, McRobbie H (2011) Does stopping smoking shortly before surgery lead to post-operative complications? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Internal Medicine. On-line March 2011
Hajek P, McRobbie H, Myers K, Dhanji A, Stapleton J (2011) Using varenicline for four weeks prior to quitting smoking reduces ad-lib smoking and increases smoking cessation rates. Archives of Internal Medicine, 171, 770-777
Wahed, M, Goodhand, J., West, O., McDermott, A., Hajek P., Rampton, D. (2011) Tobacco dependence and awareness of health risks of smoking in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 23, 90–94
Hajek P, Snuggs S. (2011) Validity of self-reported smoking status. Medical Care, 49, 332.
Aveyard, P, Amos A, Bauld L, Britton J, Coleman T, Docherty G, Godfrey C, Hajek P, Hastings G, McNeill A, Lewis S, Munafo M, West R. (2010) Is the UK’s coalition Government serious about public health? Lancet, 376, 589
West R, May S, McEwen A, McRobbie H, Hajek P, Vangeli E (2010) A randomised trial of glucose tablets to aid smoking cessation. Psychopharmacology (Berl), vol. 207, no. 4, pp. 631-635.
West R, McNeill A, Britton J, Bauld L, Raw M, Hajek P, Jarvis M, Stapleton J. (2010) Should smokers be offered assistance with stopping? Addiction. 105:1867-9.
Hajek P., West, R. (2010) Why it is important to assume that non-responders in tobacco cessation trials have relapsed. Addiction,105:1016-7
McRobbie H, Thornley S, Bullen C, Lin R, Senior H, Laugesen M, Whittaker R, Hajek P (2010) A randomized trial of the effects of two novel nicotine replacement herapies on tobacco withdrawal symptoms and user satisfaction. Addiction 105, 1290-1298
Hajek P, Humphrey K, McRobbie H (2010) Using group support to complement a task-based weight management programme in multi-ethnic localities of high deprivation. Patient Education and Counselling,80,135-137
West O, McRobbie H, Hajek P (2010) How addictive can cigarettes be? Two case reports. Journal of Smoking Cessation
McDermott M, Hankins M, Hajek P, Marteau TM (2010) Evaluation of a cognitive smoking cessation intervention designed to communicate the negative reinforcement explanation for smoking: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Int J Behav Med 17:243-243
Hajek P, Taylor T, McRobbie H (2010) The effect of stopping smoking on perceived stress levels. Addiction, 105, 1466-1471
