The first session was focused on research findings and clinical implications of substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The session included presentations on projects and studies driven by researchers at NDARC including Drug Trends, the Australians’ Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats’ (ADAPT) Study, Australian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study (APSALS), and the COVID-19 Health Care Workers (HEROES) Study.
There was also a panel discussion with experts from wide ranging fields, including:
- Jude Byrne, National Project Coordinator at the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)
- Dr Fadil Pedic, Manager, Strategic Research and Evaluation, Alcohol and Other Drugs at NSW Health
- Julie Babineau, CEO of Odyssey House
- Adrian Dunlop, Director and Addiction Medicine Senior Staff Specialist with Hunter New England Local Health District, Drug & Alcohol
Session Chair: Dr Amy Peacock
Title | Presenter | Presentation type |
Welcome to Country |
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Introduction - Coping with change: Research during COVID-19 |
Professor Michael Farrell, Director of NDARC |
Presentation |
Trends in drug use, harms, and markets following the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions: Findings from Drug Trends 2020. ABSTRACT |
Dr Amy Peacock, Program Lead for Drug Trends at NDARC |
Presentation |
Drug use during COVID-19: Findings from the ADAPT study. ABSTRACT |
Dr Rachel Sutherland, Research Fellow at NDARC |
Presentation |
Q&A | ||
Access to injecting equipment, and the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Watch here. |
Ms Daisy Gibbs, PhD student at NDARC |
Featured poster |
Digital mental health service interventions in the community for people presenting to Emergency Department with suicidal behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch here. |
Dr Julia Lappin, Senior Lecturer at NDARC and psychiatrist |
Featured poster |
Recent trends in illicit drugs available on darknet marketplaces: Recent findings from the Drugs and New Technologies (DNeT) project. Watch here. |
Mr Rajat Katyal, Research Assistant at NDARC |
Featured poster |
The impact of COVID-19 on self-reported mental health and treatment-seeking behaviour in a sample of young adults across Australia. Watch here. |
Ms Emily Upton, Clinical Psychologist at The Kidman Centre, University of Technology Sydney |
Featured poster |
Learning from COVID-19: What are the effects of social isolation and disruptions to daily routines on alcohol purchasing and drinking? Watch here. |
Dr Claire Wilkinson, Research Fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney |
Featured poster |
5 minute break | ||
The impact of COVID-19 on consumption of alcohol among young people in Australia. ABSTRACT |
Dr Philip Clare, Biostatistician at the Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney |
Presentation |
The COVID-19 Health Care Workers (HEROES) Study: Australian Project Overview. ABSTRACT |
Dr Sonja Memedovic, Research Fellow at NDARC |
Presentation |
PANEL DISCUSSION - Substance use in the COVID-19 era |
Jude Byrne, National Project Coordinator at AIVL
Dr Fadil Pedic, Manager, Strategic Research and Evaluation, Alcohol and Other Drugs at NSW Health
Julie Babineau, CEO of Odyssey House
Adrian Dunlop, Director and Addiction Medicine Senior Staff Specialist with Hunter New England Local Health District, Drug & Alcohol |
Panel discussion |
Panel members
Jude Byrne, AIVL
Jude has more than three decades experience working in peer-based drug user organisations, developing and implementing education campaigns and materials on hepatitis C (HCV) prevention testing and treatment for the injecting community.
She has extensive knowledge and experience in developing and implementing stigma and discrimination training for mainstream workers in various formats.
Jude has represented the HCV related needs of the injecting drug using community on local, national and international committees and works with researchers to help target and appropriately interact with community and disseminate research and policy documents.
Dr Fadil Pedić, Ministry of Health
Dr Fadil Pedic is Manager, Strategic Research & Evaluation, Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs at the NSW Ministry of Health.
Fadil has worked at both Federal and NSW Health departments, founded two research agencies, and headed up the Government and Social Research divisions at two other agencies.
His research is centred around behaviour change, social issues and health promotion on topics as varied as: drug use in prisons, children’s obesity, tobacco cessation, apprenticeship retention, and cyber-safety.
Julie Babineau, Odyssey House
Julie Babineau is the Chief Executive Officer of Odyssey House NSW, which is one of Australia’s largest specialist non-government rehabilitation organisations for people seeking to overcome dependence on alcohol and other drugs (AOD).
Julie has held leadership positions in the health and community services sectors in both Australia and Canada. She has a wealth of experience in operations, policy, planning and strategy as well as an extensive knowledge of the health needs of populations in need. For eight years Julie was the CEO of NSW Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, which serves a diverse and vulnerable population.
Dr Adrian Dunlop
- Director and Senior Staff Specialist for Hunter New England Local Health District Drug & Alcohol Clinical Services
- Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle
- Honorary Medical Officer, Addiction Medicine, Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, and
- DASAS consultant, St Vincent’s LHN.
He was the Chief Addiction Medicine Specialist, Drug & Alcohol Branch, NSW Health (2014-2018).
He is a Foundation Fellow of the Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine (FAChAM) and current President-Elect of the Chapter Committee, and Past-President of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs (APSAD) and Fellow of the International Society for Addiction Medicine (FISAM).
Presenters
Dr Amy Peacock, NDARC
Dr Amy Peacock (BA Hons, PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, and an Adjunct Researcher in the School of Medicine, University of Tasmania. Amy is currently the Program Lead for Drug Trends, comprising the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS), Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS), National Illicit Drug Indicators Program (NIDIP) and the Drug and New Technologies (DNeT) projects. Amy also currently coordinates the Australian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study. Full profile.
Dr Rachel Sutherland, 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. Full profile.
Dr Philip Clare, Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney
Dr Philip Clare has recently started his role as Biostatistician at the Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney. Philip undertook his PhD at NDARC in biostatistics, with a focus on causal inference in longitudinal data.
Dr Sonja Memedovic, NDARC
Dr Sonja Memedovic is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within NDARC. She completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) in 2008 and a PhD in Public Health and Community Medicine in 2018, at UNSW Sydney. She has worked in the substance use research field since 2009, with a predominant focus on the comorbidity of substance use and mental health disorders. She is experienced in the design, implementation and coordination of cross-sectional surveys, cohort studies, and RCTs.
Sonja’s key research interest is in improving understanding of the risk and protective factors that are common to substance use and mental health disorders, and the utility of these factors as transdiagnostic treatment targets. Full profile.
We have started a networking register to help you connect with others in the industry.
All posters this year can be accessed online and are accomnaied by a two minute presentation.