Prof Nadine Ezard is an Addiction Medicine Specialist (MBBS, BA, MPH, PhD, FAChAM), inaugural Director of the Australian National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED), and Clinical Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. Her clinical work serves people seeking treatment for a range of substance use disorders in inpatient, outpatient and community settings, and strives to embed research into clinical practice. Prof Ezard has more than 30 years of clinical and research experience in addiction medicine and public health practice in Australian and international contexts including for the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. She is a worldwide recognised researcher in substance use and its translation into consumer-focused harm-reduction public health interventions, models of care and policy, with a special interest in methamphetamine.

Monica Gandhi MD, MPH is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is also the Director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the HIV Education Director of the Ward 86 Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital. Her research focuses on HIV treatment and prevention, HIV and women, adherence measurement and interventions, and optimizing the use of long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Heather is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Viral Hepatitis Clinical Research Program at the Kirby Institute. Her main area of focus is enhancing the equity of viral hepatitis elimination, particularly for people who inject drugs, women, children, and other populations who are underserved by the current standard of care.

Dr. Elaine Hyshka is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Systems Innovation at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, and Scientific Director of the Inner City Health and Wellness Program. Her program of health systems and services research is focused on advancing a public health approach to substance use in Canada. She works closely with service providers, health authorities, people with lived experience of substance use, and all levels of government to identify, evaluate, and scale systems innovations for improving health outcomes and advancing health equity.