Our team

Dr Adam Hunt is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024. Dr. Hunt has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Biological Reviews, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics in evolutionary psychiatry. These include improved methods for evolutionary inference, the evolution of substance and behavioural addiction, how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. Dr. Hunt is the host of the ‘Evolving Psychiatry’ podcast. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. He holds a bachelors in philosophy from the University of Southampton and a masters in philosophy of science from the University of Bristol.

Dr Riadh Abed, FRCPsych is a retired psychiatrist, medical director and Hon. Senior Lecturer of the University of Sheffield with over 45 years of clinical experience. He is currently a Medical Member of the Mental Health Tribunals of the Ministry of Justice, UK. Dr Abed has had a longstanding interest in applying evolutionary theory to the understanding of mental disorder and has published novel evolutionary perspectives on eating disorders, schizophrenia and OCD. Dr Abed has been a leading figure establishing organisations for clinicians interested in evolutionary psychiatry: he was the founding chair of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group (EPSIG) at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and has grown it to be the largest and most active group in the world. He is also current chair of the Section of Evolutionary Psychiatry at the World Psychiatric Association. Dr Abed is author and co-author of over 75 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and is co-editor of ‘Evolutionary Psychiatry’ published jointly by Cambridge University Press and the Royal College of Psychiatrists (2022).

Dr Annie Swanepoel is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the SET CAMHS Learning disability team in the Northeast London Foundation Trust. She is the co-chair of the World Psychiatric Association Evolutionary Psychiatry Section and the current Finance Officer and past newsletter editor of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Swanepoel holds a PhD in Human Physiology and has a special interest in developmental trauma and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Tom Carpenter is a speciality registrar in Psychiatry based in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He is also a member of the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and leads their efforts to engage UK psychiatric trainees. Dr. Carpenter studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh after initially studying Human Sciences at the University of Oxford, completing a Master’s degree in research in Animal Behaviour at Newcastle University, and having a brief career in marketing. He has current research and engagement projects around the usefulness and impact of evolutionary psychoeducation for mental health clinicians.

Dr. Giuseppe Pierpaolo Merola is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with a strong focus on evolutionary psychiatry and psychiatric genetics. After studying Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome, Dr. Merola specialized in Psychiatry at the University of Florence, where he developed a deep interest in the evolutionary and genetic underpinnings of mental illness. His research concentrates on how psychiatric disorders have evolved, using genomic modeling and interdisciplinary approaches. He has been a Visiting Researcher at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, studying the genetic architecture of psychiatric conditions. Clinically, Dr. Merola currently works at Ospedale San Donato of Arezzo, Italy, specializing in complex cases and psychotherapy. Dr. Merola has published extensively on schizophrenia, mood disorders, and evolutionary psychiatry.

Paul St John-Smith, M.A. B.M B.Ch. FRCPsych, is a former chair and co-founder of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group (EPSIG) of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is currently an EPSIG executive committee member and the editor of the newsletter. Dr. St-John Smith is a retired adult psychiatrist who worked as an in-patient and community psychiatrist in London and Hertfordshire and as part of a substance abuse dual diagnosis service. He was formerly section head of psychotropic drug development for Roche Products UK. In retirement, he is now an independent scholar, author and speaker. His current academic interests are in evolution, specifically evolutionary psychiatry, the philosophy of science, psychopharmacology, evidence-based psychiatry, and substance use. Dr St-John Smith also holds a degree in Natural sciences from the University of Oxford.