Dr Thomas Arkell is a psychopharmacologist with a broad research interest in drugs and their effects on the brain and human behaviour. Dr Arkell has experience designing, implementing and managing clinical research involving acute drug adminsitration (alcohol/cannabis/MDMA) and his work has been published in leading international journals. He holds a BA (Psychology/Philsophy) and a PhD (Medicine) from the University of Sydney.

Dr Arkell has a particular interest in cannabis and its effects on driving and neurocognition. His current work is focused on understanding how medicinal cannabis impacts driving performance and cognitive function as well as health outcomes such as quality of life. He aims to conduct rigorous and high-quality clinical research that can inform policy and regulation here in Australia and overseas.

Dr Arkell also chairs the Cannabis and Driving working group through the International Council for Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS).

Experience

  • 2026–present
    NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, Monash University
  • 2021–2026
    Senior Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology

Contact Tom for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision