The 2021 NDARC Annual Research Symposium

Session One

Professor Robin Carhart Harris, Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London

Robin Carhart-Harris is a psychologist and neuroscientist and Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. He coordinated the first clinical study of psilocybin in the UK and the first clinical study of a classic psychedelic drug in the UK for over 40 years.

Associate Professor Rebecca McKetin, NDARC

A/Prof Rebecca McKetin (BSc(Psychol)Hons. PhD) leads a program of research into stimulant use epidemiology and interventions at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW. Her current research involves the online delivery of psychological help for people who use stimulants (www.breakingtheice.org.au), the trialling of new pharmacotherapy options for methamphetamine dependence (www.tinatrial.info; www.nicetrial.info; www.limastudy.info) and the development of novel responses to methamphetamine use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (http://nimac.org.au/)

Dr Jonathan Brett

Dr. Jonathan Brett is a staff specialist in clinical pharmacology, toxicology and addiction medicine at St. Vincent's Hospital and a clinical toxicologist at NSW Poisons Information Centre. He is a senior clinical lecturer at UNSW and USyd and is an NHRMC research fellow at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health. He sits on the Drug Utilisation Sub Committee of the PBAC and is on the editorial board of the Internal Medicine Journal and NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group. His research interests lie in developing new treatments and models of care in addiction medicine.

Dr Nadine Ezard

Conjoint Professor Nadine Ezard is the Director of NCCRED. Nadine is also the Clinical Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney Australia home to one of NSW’s first specialist stimulant treatment programs. 

Liam Acheson

Liam is a PhD candidate at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW collaborating with NCCRED for his research focusing on methamphetamine withdrawal treatments. Liam is also working as a research officer for the Alcohol and Drug Service at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney.

Professor Wayne Hall

Wayne Hall is a Emeritus Professor at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research at the University of Queensland and the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences. He was: a Professor at the National Addiction Centre, Kings College London (2014-2019); Director of Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research (2014-2016), NHMRC Australia Fellow, the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (2009-2014), Professor of Public Health Policy, School of Population Health (2005-2009), Director of the Office of Public Policy and Ethics, Institute for Molecular Bioscience (2001-2005) and Executive Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (1994-2001). He has advised the World Health Organization on the health effects of cannabis use; the effectiveness of drug substitution treatment; the contribution of illicit drug use to the global burden of disease; and the ethical implications of genetic and neuroscience research on addiction. 

Session Two

 Presidential Professor Emeritus David T. Courtwright, author and historian on drug use.

David Courtwright specializes in drug history. He also writes about violence, political and policy history, aviation, and frontier environments. He has taught medical, U.S., and world history at the University of North Florida, where he is presidential professor emeritus in the Department of History.

Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt

Louisa is UNSW Scientia Professor and NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director at NDARC. She was awarded her PhD in 2003, examining the comorbidity of drug use and mental disorders in the Australian population. She has honorary Professorial appointments at University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Louisa conducts diverse epidemiological studies including analysis of large-scale community and clinical population surveys, data linkage studies focusing upon people with a history of drug dependence or chronic pain, and cohort studies of young people. Louisa has published over 560 peer reviewed papers, 120 technical reports and monographs, three books and 45 book chapters. Her H-index in Scopus is 80, and 104 in Google Scholar.

Assistant Adjunct Professor Annick Borquez

 Annick Bórquez, MSc, PhD, is an HIV and substance use epidemiologist at the division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UCSD. Her research seeks to improve the health of marginalized populations through developing, applying and integrating mathematical modeling, cost effectiveness and qualitative methods. Her focus is on addressing intersecting epidemics of substance use disorders, overdose, HIV, HCV and other associated health harms, with a focus on social and structural determinants of health. She has led multiple studies to inform intervention and policy planning in HIV and substance use among people who inject drugs, justice involved populations, female sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgender women in a range of settings, including Mexico, Peru, West and Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Russia and the United States.

Dr Natasa Gisev 

Dr Natasa Gisev is a clinical pharmacist and Scientia Senior Lecturer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. Her research interests lie in the use of big data and data linkage to evaluate medicines use and corresponding benefits/harms among populations with complex health care needs, including older adults and those with mental health and substance use disorders. The ultimate goal of her work is to improve the quality use of medicines and clinical outcomes in these populations. Her work has influenced national and international policy and practice in the delivery of mental health treatment services, as well as the upscaling of treatment services for opioid dependence. She is currently leading a programme of work focused on establishing population-based evidence on the long-term outcomes of prescribed opioid use, including the risk of developing dependence, overdose, and other harms.

Session Three

Dr Rachel Sutherland, Acting Program Lead for Drug Trends at NDARC

Dr Rachel Sutherland is an experienced Research Fellow, with over 11 years of experience working in the AOD research sector. She has worked on a wide variety of research projects, most notably as the National Co-ordinator of the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) and the Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) (2011-2018). In 2018 Rachel completed her PhD, which examined the New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) market in Australia. Her research interests include illicit drug surveillance, NPS, cryptomarkets and harm reduction.

Daniel Madeddu, Executive Director Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs at the NSW Ministry of Health

Daniel Madeddu is the Executive Director Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs at the NSW Ministry of Health. He started working in the AoD sector back in 2016.  Prior to that, Daniel spent most of his adult life working in the HIV response in different settings such as the Ministry of Health, in Local health Districts, for research organisations as well as in NGOs.

Dr Suzie Hudson, Clinical Director – NADA 

Suzie provides clinical advice and consultation for NADA members, and contributes to policy and advocacy submissions. Suzie oversees the custodianship of NADAbase, and provides advice and support regarding client outcome and reporting. Suzie is an accredited mental health social worker with over 20 years’ clinical experience in the fields of substance misuse, mental health, forensics, research and evaluation. Suzie has worked, developed and managed community based and residential AOD services both in Australia and overseas. She provides training workshops and maintains a private counseling practice. Suzie has a PhD in public health and community medicine and a passion for engaging with social change.

Dr Shaun Greene, MBChB, MSc, FACEM, Austin Hospital

Dr Shaun Greene is a clinical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician who works at Austin Health in Melbourne. He is currently medical director of the Victorian Poisons Information Centre and Director of the Austin Hospital Clinical Toxicology Service. Shaun trained as a clinical toxicologist in the United Kingdom where he developed a keen professional interest in recreational drugs. His research interests include novel psychoactive substances and pharmaceutical opioid harm reduction.

Mr Chris Gough

Mr Chris Gough is Executive Director of the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA) and The Connection health service.  He holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Honours in entomology and developmental parasitology from the University of Queensland.  He has over ten years of experience in the blood borne virus and alcohol, tobacco and other drug sectors, and has identified as a person who uses drugs for 25 years.  Chris’ expertise centres around peer and consumer driven programming including peer treatment support, community development, consumer navigation, health equity and empowerment, consumer representation and individual and systemic advocacy.  He is passionate about true person-centred healthcare and creating a health system where there is no power imbalance between the consumer and the healthcare professional.  He has worked at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) and the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA).  Chris has served on the Boards of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), NUAA, the ACT Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association (ATODA) and is currently the Secretary of the Australian Illicit and Injecting Drug Users League (AIVL).