Winifred is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. She is currently leading the Monitoring and Evaluation of the Kava Importation Pilot Program and evaluating the magistrates early referral into treatment program (MERIT)

Dr Jane Akhurst’s research interests primarily relate to the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use. Her PhD explored the relationships between pharmaceutical opioid use and cognitive harms in people with chronic pain.

Peter Baird - Life experience of comorbidity, forensic, rehabilitation and counselling, and then education and training in AOD & Mental Health has qualified Peter for his role as Peer Support Worker. Peter also aims to reduce stigma by raising community awareness around AOD and mental health

Dr Jude Ball (ASPIRE Tobacco Control Research Centre, Adolescent Health Research Group) is a Pākeha researcher in Otago University's Public Health Department. Her research focuses on the impact of the changing social and policy context on youth trends, and the inter-relationships between smoking and other risk behaviours in young people.

Tony is a research fellow at Turning Point. His work explores clients' and clinicians' experiences of alcohol and other drug consumption, treatment and policy change. Using qualitative methods, he aims to generate treatment and policy-relevant evidence.

Dr Bharat is a Biostatistician and early career researcher based at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. Dr Bharat recently completed her PhD which examined medicine use and outcomes among people with opioid dependence, leveraging new statistical research methods and data linkage to address clinically relevant questions.

Anjali is the Clinical Trial Lead for the CBD-CUD Study at the University of Sydney. She has over 15 years experience in clinical trial research. Areas of interest include addiction, mental health, intellectual disability, epilepsy and cancer research, with a special interest in cannabinoid therapies.

Tobacco Treatment and Nicotine Addiction Specialist

Renee is a clinical academic in smoking cessation and nicotine addiction for more than 40 years and is a world expert in the field as visiting Professor in the Netherlands, France and the Czech Republic. She is the foundering Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Smoking Cessation published by Cambridge University.

Ms Blakemore is an experienced Senior Occupational Therapist specializing in mental health, drug, and alcohol services. She is recognized for driving quality improvement and leading service activities. She holds a Bachelors of Occupational Therapy and Masters of Public Health, excelling in building relationships and providing expert health support.

Siobhán Reeves currently works at the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA). She has previously worked for the Australian Public Service primarily in the area of public health, and prior to that worked in international healthcare development.

Richard Bradlow is an advanced trainee in addiction psychiatry in his second year working for Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre. He holds an MBBS (hons), MMed (psychiatry), and MSc (addiction studies).

Pia Clinton-Tarestad is CEO and co-founder of Clean Slate Clinic. She is a Health Economist by background and was Lead Partner for Healthcare at Deloitte Australia prior to co-founding Clean Slate Clinic. Pia’s passion for tackling health inequities and her own lived experience of alcohol dependence drives her determination to transform how addiction treatment services are perceived and delivered and to tear down the barriers to access.

Dr Michael Curtis is a Research Associate at Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute and a Research Officer at the Burnet Institute. His primary research interests include use of prospective survey data to improve the health and wellbeing of marginalised people, particularly people in prison and people who use drugs.

Danielle is a PhD candidate with the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. Her clinical experience in the field of psychology has led to a deep interest in addiction, cannabis, public health and stigma.

Daniel is a PhD candidate, Research Officer, & Education Coordinator based at the University of Sydney and the Edith Collins Centre, Sydney Local Health District. His PhD is exploring the availability and accessibility of opioid agonist treatment pharmacotherapies. Daniel also coordinates statewide professional education for opioid treatment prescribers within NSW.

Dr Tayla Degan is a Clinical Psychologist and Postdoctoral Fellow at NDARC, UNSW. Tayla is passionate about working with people accessing substance use and mental health treatment. She has conducted research in health literacy, continuing care, residential rehabilitation, and is currently involved in stimulant research working on the Tina Trial.

Cameron McKenzie and Matthew Hanby are medical students with a strong interest in the pharmacology and neuroscience of addiction. Cameron previously completed a PhD in cognitive neuroscience focused on sensory processing. Matthew has done prior work on the genetics, ecology and pharmacological potential of Australian flora.

Adrian Dunlop is Director and Senior Staff Specialist for Drug & Alcohol Clinical Services, Hunter New England Health and Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, current President of the Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine, RACP, chair of the NSW Drug and Alcohol Clinical Research Network

Rhiannon Ellem is a Research Coordinator with the Lives Lived Well Research group at The University of Queensland. With a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Hons), Rhiannon has over 5 years research assistant and coordinator experience. She has been involved in several longitudinal research projects including two national school-based prevention trials.

Professor Michael Farrell FRCP FRCPsych is the Director of NDARC. His extensive research interests include treatment evaluation and drug policy. He has an interest in drug dependence, comorbidity and drugs in the wider criminal justice system. Michael is a member of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Daisy Gibbs is an Evaluation Officer at the Burnet. In September 2023 she submitted a PhD which focused upon improving the evidence about the impact of supported accommodation for people released from prison. Her research interests include improving the well-being of vulnerable populations through targeted service delivery which is driven by research evidence and consumer expertise.

Dr Ashleigh Guillaumier is a Senior Research Fellow in Public Health at Flinders University

Jillian is a Canadian Registered Nurse, Epidemiologist (PhD), and Banting Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Jillian's clinical and research roles are all grounded in identifying, contributing to, and utilizing the best available evidence to improve the lives of youth who use substances.

Joel (he/him) is a drug and alcohol pharmacist with practise experience in community, hospital, and academic pharmacy. He is passionate about substance-related care, accessibility of care, education, and opioids. He coordinates the NSW Depot Buprenorphine Pilot and teaches at the University of Sydney.

Maryanne Robinson is a registered psychologist at the Cannabis Clinic, Drug & Alcohol Clinical Services, Hunter New England Local Health District who has a special interest in treating trauma in people with substance use problems

Joanne Isbel (BA Psych, Hons, Master Clinical Psychology) is the Manager of Preventive Health for Queensland Health's Health Contact Centre. Joanne, an APSAD-endorsed Tobacco Treatment Specialist, has over 20 years of experience working as a Clinical Psychologist. Joanne supports the Quitline service to deliver evidence-based smoking and vaping cessation counselling.

Sijimole is a Clinical Nurse at the Roma Street Clinic, Metro North Health. She is passionate in helping clients find healthier perceptions of themselves. She has several postgraduate qualifications and has been involved in a Quality Lead program at the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS).

Steph is a Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. Steph leads an innovative program of translational research to reduce the impact of substance use. Her research aims to improve health outcomes for individuals, families and communities especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

I hold a PhD from the Center for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW Sydney (2020). I also hold an MSc (Pharmacy) and a BPharm (Hons) qualification. As an AHPRA-registered pharmacist, I provide pharmacotherapeutics expertise in my research. I have over 15 years of experience as a clinical pharmacist (Malaysia).

Alicja is a Registered Nurse, PhD candidate and successful recipient of the Vice Chancellor's Research training scholarship and is an active member of a research team. Alicja aims make an ongoing impact in her academic career exploring harm reduction interventions surrounding other drugs.

I am a PhD student at the University of Otago, originally from Waihopai, Aotearoa. I am a passionate about science, harm reduction and drug policy reform. My PhD project is focused on finding out more about MDMA use and users in Aotearoa..

Dr Lauren Monds is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and a Research Coordinator at Drug and Alcohol Services, NSLHD. With a focus on how substance use impacts cognition and memory, Dr Monds' research explores the effects of various substances, including alcohol and cannabis, on brain function.

David Newcombe is Associate Professor in alcohol and drug studies and co-director of the Centre for Addiction Research, at University of Auckland. His research interests include exploring substance misuse in older adults, screening and brief interventions for substance misuse, and the efficacy of interventions for stimulant misuse.

Dr David Newcombe is Associate Professor in alcohol and drug studies and co-director of the Centre for Addiction Research, at University of Auckland. His research interests include examining the efficacy of interventions for substance use in older adults, screening and brief interventions for substance misuse and intervention's for stimulant misuse.

Dr David Newcombe is Associate Professor in alcohol and drug studies and co-director of the Centre for Addiction Research, at University of Auckland. His research interests include examining the efficacy of interventions for substance use in older adults, screening and brief interventions for substance misuse and intervention's for stimulant misuse.

Nguyen is currently a Research Officer at Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from University Melbourne. Her research interests include discourses of alcohol-related risk and harm to the self and others.

Christina Norris is a Research Assistant at NCETA with an interest in understanding the social context of health behaviours to support population-level behaviour change. She has been involved in a variety of AOD projects, including her primary focus of reducing parental supply of alcohol to adolescents through health promotion messaging.

Dr Siobhan O'Dean is a postdoctoral researcher at The Matilda Centre, University of Sydney. She works across a range of projects including investigating the development of alcohol use disorders in young adults, and in statistical evaluation of multiple large scale school-based substance use prevention programs.

Dr Trigg is a behavioural scientist whose work focuses on health risk factors and attitudes, and motivators of risk-taking behaviour. He studies nicotine vaping, tobacco, and alcohol attitudes and behaviours, and preventive health communication design. He has also examined motivators and inhibitors of emergency behaviour, and quality of life.

Lily Palmer is a research officer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. They work on the Tina Trial, an MRFF Phase 3 trial of mirtazapine for methamphetamine use disorder. Lily works at the Perth trial site.

Tim is a researcher and Lecturer at Griffith University, and his research focuses on harm reduction, particularly for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs. His research philosophy centres around a strong belief in promoting safety and informed decision-making surrounding illicit substance consumption.

Tim is a researcher and Lecturer at Griffith University, and his research focuses on harm reduction, particularly for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs. His research philosophy centres around a strong belief in promoting safety and informed decision-making surrounding illicit substance consumption.

Tim is a researcher and Lecturer at Griffith University, and his research focuses on harm reduction, particularly for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs. His research philosophy centres around a strong belief in promoting safety and informed decision-making surrounding illicit substance consumption.

Dr Qian is the Research Project Officer at the ISLHD Drug and Alcohol Service. She has coordinated more than 30 drug and alcohol research projects. Her research is multidisciplinary in nature and is published in fields of drug and alcohol, health informatics, health services research and nursing management.

Dr Qian is the Research Project Officer at the ISLHD Drug and Alcohol Service. She has coordinated more than 30 drug and alcohol research projects. Her research is multidisciplinary in nature and is published in fields of drug and alcohol, health informatics, health services research and nursing management.

Tabassum has a background in public health, development studies, and sociology. Her PhD research was aimed to explore how smoking cessation for pregnant and postpartum Indigenous Australian women can be made more informative, empowering, and culturally safe and respectful.

Tabassum has a background in public health, development studies, and sociology. Her PhD research was aimed to explore how smoking cessation for pregnant and postpartum Indigenous Australian women can be made more informative, empowering, and culturally safe and respectful.

Ravina is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and a tutor at UOW. Has a Master of Nursing and post grad qualifications in Addiction Studies, Project Management, Leadership & Management, Clinical Redesign and Clinical Teaching & Learning. 22 years of nursing experience; last 16yrs in Drug Health undertaking diverse roles.

Dr Jane Rich is a public health researcher and clinical trialist. With her human geography undergraduate degree, Jane broad interest in how psycho-social and environmental factors impact health and well-being. As a senior research fellow, she has published mental health, workplace interventions, and environmental and rural research.

Dr Annelies Robijn is an early career researcher at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre from UNSW Sydney. She is a pharmacoepidemiologist with emerging expertise in the use of linked population datasets for research into maternal use of medication and their effects on mother and baby.

Dr Robinson is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Wollongong. Her research interests are in comorbid mental health and substance use disorders with a focus on the experiences of women. Dr Robinson teaches Applied Psychology and advanced statistical analysis courses.

Amy is a Research Associate at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Psychological Studies with first class Honours (2018) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) from Western Sydney University (2023).

Brienna is a Ph.D. candidate with the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. Her research evaluates the extent to which exposure to pro-substance use content influences substance use initiation in adolescent populations.

Brienna is a Ph.D. candidate with the University of Queensland’s National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. Her research investigates the extent to which exposure to pro-substance use content influences substance use initiation in adolescent populations.

Tom is a Post-Doctoral Fellow specializing in enhancing treatment for opioid use disorder and related harms. Tom’s current projects include a global review of substance use disorder treatment and harm reduction services in prisons and a large-scale survey of people in and out of opioid agonist treatment in NSW.

A/Prof Cathy Segan is a Behavioural Scientist at Quit Victoria and an Honorary Principal Fellow at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. She is interested in the tailoring of Quitline services to meet the needs of people who smoke and/or vape.

Melis completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Masters of Health Sciences (Health Policy) from La Trobe University. She is currently a PhD Candidate at Monash University. Her doctoral research focuses on the perceptions and prescribing intentions of GPs towards the use of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid.

Jayden Sercombe is a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mentalh Health and Substance Use. He has been researching alcohol and other drug use in social and emergency services workers for almost three years.

Edmund is the Research Coordinator at the Kirketon Road Centre - A walk-in, targeted primary healthcare service for marginalised populations which is based in Kings Cross, Sydney.

I am a research officer for the Drug and Alcohol Service at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney My research focuses on accessibility of drug treatment services in rural and regional areas, and smoking cessation for people who use other drugs.

Stella is an early career research fellow at the NDARC, UNSW. Her research focus is on economic evaluation of health care interventions, working with at risk populations including CALD, and the use of mixed methods to assess societal preferences for treatments.

Peta Stragalinos is a researcher at Turning Point’s Clinical and Social Research team. She has experience working on NHMRC and VicHealth funded projects. She has an interest in understanding sociocultural factors that influence substance use and developing interventions to reduce alcohol and drug-related harms.

Wan Jie (Kate) Tan is from Singapore and currently undertaking her PhD (Clinical Psychology) at the University of Wollongong. Her dissertation research focuses on the cross-cultural utility of mutual-aid groups for recovery from alcohol and other drug use in Asia.

Emma is a dedicated inter-disciplinary researcher with experience in academic, corporate, and not-for-profit industries. She currently works as Research Officer at the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, designing and delivering evaluations of AOD harm prevention programs.

Dan has over 15 years of leadership experience across a broad range of industries including banking, fast-moving-consumer-goods, and most recently, not-for-profits. As State Manager at Mates4Mates, Dan grew the family recovery centre and built an outreach model servicing veterans across the state. More recently, as Acting State Manager for the Alcohol & Drug Foundation, Dan built a strong reputation as an action-oriented leader and strategic thinker. Dan is now focused on supporting the ATDC in its mission to build the most resilient and effective ATOD sector and in helping deliver on the ATDC’s promise of “No Harm, No Discrimination”. Current passions include working to reduce stigma towards people who use drugs, men’s health, psychology, and neurodiversity.

An early career researcher from Vietnam, Giang has involved in various public health projects in her country prior to joining the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research as a PhD candidate. Her PhD examines emerging tobacco-related products and their relation to tobacco smoking, especially in young people.

Emmelyn is a first-year Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) candidate at Deakin University. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology/criminology from University of Melbourne, and a graduate diploma in psychology at Deakin University. Her research focuses specifically on perinatal parental smoking and the impact on offspring health and development.

Psychology PhD student at the University of Otago, Ōtepoti. Originally from Waihopai. Passionate about science, harm reduction and a strong advocate for drug policy reform. PhD exploring MDMA use in Aotearoa. Other interests include illicit drug benefits, psychedelics, stigma and education.

Daniel is a PhD candidate, Research Officer, & Education Coordinator based at the University of Sydney and the Edith Collins Centre, Sydney Local Health District. His PhD is exploring the availability and accessibility of opioid agonist treatment pharmacotherapies. Daniel also coordinates statewide professional education for opioid treatment prescribers within NSW.

Amelia is a 2nd year PhD Student and Medical Doctor based at DASSA in South Australia. She completed a Masters of Addictive Behaviours (Monash/Turning Point) in 2018. She has worked as a GP in the Aboriginal and Prison Health Services and continues to work in Addiction Medicine.