Beau Kilmer (he/him) is the McCauley Chair in Drug Policy Innovation, codirector of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He is also a Professor of Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and the Vice President of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. His research lies at the intersection of public health and public safety, with special emphasis on crime control, substance use, illegal markets, and public policy. Some of his recent projects include assessing the consequences of cannabis legalization (with a special focus on social equity); measuring the effect of 24/7 Sobriety programs on impaired driving, domestic violence, and mortality; facilitating San Francisco's Drug Dealing Task Force; analyzing changes in illegal fentanyl markets; and evaluating the evidence and arguments made about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites. Kilmer's publications have appeared in leading journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and his commentaries have been published by CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. His coauthored book on cannabis legalization was published by Oxford University Press and his coauthored book on the future of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids was published by RAND. He received his Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University, M.P.P. from UC-Berkeley, and B.A. from Michigan State University.

Dr Alison Beck is an Early Career Researcher and Clinical Psychologist. She works part-time at the University of Wollongong as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Meaningful Outcomes, an NHMRC CRE focused on substance use treatment and part-time in clinical practice at a therapeutic community. Alison’s research is focused on improving the quality of treatment for people who use alcohol and other drugs. She has a special interest in mutual help groups and treatment fidelity.

Sara is a Registered Nurse, early career researcher and Program Lead, RISE Team (Research, Innovate, Strengthen, Embed) at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW. She is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of priority populations through combining co-design with research methods to plan, implement and evaluate programs and services that are highly acceptable and effective. Her program is focused on working collaboratively with communities in rural and regional NSW to tailor health services and health initiatives to their setting. Her PhD research focused on facilitators to conducting high-quality and culturally-appropriate research in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. She has research experience working on qualitative designs, embedding evaluations into service delivery and RCTs. She has an interest in novel approaches to service evaluation, using routinely collected data and pragmatic trial designs. She has a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and has worked in the Philippines and the Pacific on several programs including communicable disease control and maternal and child health. She has also worked on health promotion programs in Australia.