Brian Hughes

Brian Hughes

Brian M. Hughes, Ph.D., is a specialist in stress psychophysiology and a Professor of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. He has written methodological critiques of the PACE Trial and other ME research, as well as conducting empirical research on treatment harm in National Health Service specialist ME centres in England. He is currently a member of the Republic of Ireland's National Working Group on ME, administered by Ireland's Health Service Executive. He is also an Advisor to the Northern Irish charity, Hope 4 ME & Fibro NI.

Hughes's work specialises in stress psychophysiology, health psychology, the public understanding of psychology and science, and the application of psychology to social issues. A prominent advocate for scientific psychology, evidence-based policy, and the role of psychology in society, he writes widely on the psychology of empiricism and of empirically disputable claims, especially as they pertain to science, health, medicine, and politics.

He is currently chairing a global research team on behalf of the International Prader-Willi Syndrome Organisation (IPWSO). He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Psychophysiology and a member of the inaugural Editorial Board of J-STAR: Journal of Stress, Trauma, Anxiety and Resilience. From 2014 to 2016 he served as President of the International Stress and Anxiety Research Society. A past President of the Psychological Society of Ireland, he currently sits on the PSI's Science and Public Policy Committee. 

Education

• 1993, B.A. degree in Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway
• 1998, Ph.D. degree in Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway
• 2009, Ed.M. degree in Science Education, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, US

Relevant Books

• 2018, Psychology in Crisis
• 2016, Rethinking Psychology: Good Science, Bad Science, Pseudoscience

Talks and interviews on ME/CFS

• October 2018, Invited lecture, Hope 4 ME & Fibro NI, Newry, Northern Ireland; Speech title: The PACE Trial and Psychology’s Crisis

• September 2019, Interview on 'Psychology in Crisis', 'Medical Error Interviews' podcast
• September 2019, Keynote Lecture, Hope 4 ME & Fibro NI Annual Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Speech title: Off the PACE and not NICE: Challenges facing evidence-based practice in ME/CFS
• September 2019, Interview for the film 'Understanding Graded Exercise Therapy for ME/CFS: The PACE Trial', part of the series Dialogues for a Neglected Illness by Natalie Boulton and Josh Biggs
• October 2019, Keynote Lecture, Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group Autumn Conference, Sheffield, UK; Speech title: Controversies and cock-ups in ME research: The role of human failings
• February 2020, Interview for the film 'Introduction to ME/CFS', part of the series Dialogues for a Neglected Illness by Natalie Boulton and Josh Biggs

Articles on ME/CFS

• 2018, The triumph of eminence-based medicine

• 2019, If you spend 20 years gaslighting your patients, perhaps you should think twice before accusing *them* of trolling *you*

• 2019, The HRA report does not exonerate the PACE trial, it merely confirms that its Research Ethics approval was in order
• 2019, The BMJ’s ambiguous editorial commitment to scientific rigour
• 2019, Monitoring treatment harm in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A freedom-of-information study of National Health Service specialist centres in England - (Abstract)
• 2019, Het HRA-rapport spreekt de PACE-studie niet vrij: Het bevestigt enkel dat de REC-goedkeuring in orde was (Dutch)
• 2020, Post-Covid syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, and the recurring pseudoscience of mass hysteria
• 2020, Postcovidsyndroom, Myalgische Encefalomyelitis en de steeds terugkerende pseudowetenschap van de massahysterie (Dutch)
• 2020, Two takes on the expensive, unproven, and childishly-named quackery known as the Lightning Process
• 2020, Could this actually be happening?
• 2020, No More Mr NICE Guy…
• 2020, No More Mr NICE Guy... (Dutch)
• 2020, Expert reaction to the BMJ editorial calling for the abandonment of standards
• 2020, Letter to the BMJ

Online presence

• Twitter

• Website

• Blog
• Blog Facebook page

See also

• PACE Trial
• Hope 4 ME & Fibro Northern Ireland
• ME activists and advocates
• Ireland
• Ethical issues
• Medical gaslighting

Learn more

• Curriculum Vitae

PACE trial A controversial study which claimed that CBT and GET were effective in treating "CFS/ME", despite the fact that its own data did not support this conclusion. Its results and methodology were widely disputed by patients, scientists, and the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

stress Stress can by either physical or psychological, or both. Stress is either 1) a state of emotional or psychological strain or 2) the physical stress (pressure or tension) that a physical object such the human body is placed under, e.g., a stress test is a medical test that monitors the cardiovascular system during strenuous exercise.

PACE trial A controversial study which claimed that CBT and GET were effective in treating "CFS/ME", despite the fact that its own data did not support this conclusion. Its results and methodology were widely disputed by patients, scientists, and the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

β β / Β. Greek letter beta (a symbol used in science), equivalent to "b".