Reducing The Burden Of Alcohol And Other Drug Use In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$250,805.00
Summary
Innovative research undertaken during the Fellowship program will provide new evidence of how best to respond to alcohol and other drug use. Partnerships with policymakers will ensure this evidence underpins Australian alcohol and other drug policy.
Reducing The Health, Social And Economic Burden Of Injecting Drug Use In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,606,037.00
Summary
Injecting drug use (IDU) is a disproportionately large source of health and social harm. This CRE unites Australia’s leading scientists in the IDU field – researchers working on blood-borne virus epidemiology and treatment, overdose prevention, justice health and psychiatric health - and experts from key non-government organisations. The CRE will develop new ways to improve the health of injecting drug users, and reduce the health and social burden of IDU to the Australian community.
Injecting Drug Use, Incarceration, Infection: Investigating Opportunities For Public Health Interventions In Disadvantaged Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,564.00
Summary
New knowledge required to address infectious diseases and mental illness among two disadvantaged and overlapping groups -people who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners – will be produced: Cross sectional and longitudinal studies will examine HIV risk in specific populations; A system to track the emergence of injecting will be developed; The global scale of mental illness and TB among PWID will be determined; and how to improve coverage and delivery of TB prevention and treatment will be explored.
Smoking Attributable Health Service Use Among Australian Subpopulations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$302,123.00
Summary
Research from overseas indicates that the health impact of smoking might be greater in certain groups of the Australian population. In order to test this hypothesis, this research aims to determine whether smoking has a greater impact in individuals of lower socioeconomic status, residents of rural or remote areas, people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background, and/or individuals with certain ethnic backgrounds. This will help to provide support for programs designed to reduce harm a ....Research from overseas indicates that the health impact of smoking might be greater in certain groups of the Australian population. In order to test this hypothesis, this research aims to determine whether smoking has a greater impact in individuals of lower socioeconomic status, residents of rural or remote areas, people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background, and/or individuals with certain ethnic backgrounds. This will help to provide support for programs designed to reduce harm arising from smoking in these groups.Read moreRead less
Mortality Among Injecting Drugs Users - A Follow-up Study Of Injecting Drug User Cohorts.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$47,500.00
Summary
This study will follow-up injecting drug users that participated in research in the 1990s and 2000s to examine mortality rates in these groups over time. Identifying information from these studies will be cross-referenced with National Death Index data to determine participants that died and the dates of their death. This study will be the first in Australia to determine mortality rates over time in a defined cohort of injecting drug users outside drug treatment settings. Studying a defined grou ....This study will follow-up injecting drug users that participated in research in the 1990s and 2000s to examine mortality rates in these groups over time. Identifying information from these studies will be cross-referenced with National Death Index data to determine participants that died and the dates of their death. This study will be the first in Australia to determine mortality rates over time in a defined cohort of injecting drug users outside drug treatment settings. Studying a defined group overcomes some of the problems associated with mortality rate estimates based simply on the number of injecting drug-related deaths. Although the number of deaths can be found, the number of people at risk of injecting drug-related death is unclear because of the hidden nature of drug use and the dynamic characteristics of drug use and drug markets. The examination of mortality trends among injecting drug users over time can provide insights regarding changes in drug use patterns and markets. For example, this study will examine changes in injecting drug use mortality across periods of high heroin availability in the late '90s and periods of interrupted heroin supply - the heroin 'drought' - from 2000 onwards. In addition, factors related to injecting drug-related mortality can be explored by comparing the characteristics of injecting drug users that died and those that survived, such as drug use and drug treatment histories, co-morbidities such as mental illness and socio-demographic backgrounds. This information can inform overdose prevention and harm reduction strategies by identifying individuals most at risk of injecting drug-related mortality. This study will also draw attention to the significant public health burden of injecting drug use. In addition, by comparing the results from this study with other similar studies from overseas, we can more reliably compare mortality among groups of Australian injecting drug users with their peers in other countries.Read moreRead less
Prospective Study Of Birth Defects From Fetotoxic Agents In The Public Water Supply
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$732,036.00
Summary
Recent research in Australia & internationally shows that birth defects are more common in areas where mothers are exposed to poor quality drinking water, particularly when treatment chemicals known as trihalomethanes (THMs) are present. We will determine the risk that high THM levels pose to unborn babies by accurately measuring individual exposures to THMs & correlating these with adverse birth outcomes. The study will be in Perth where THM levels are very high in a number of suburbs.
The Epidemiology Of Substance Use Among Forced Migrant Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,451.00
Summary
People who are forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, disaster or state-sanctioned deportation are vulnerable to substance use. My fellowship focuses on deportees on the US-Mexico border and refugees in Australia. I will address key knowledge and evidence gaps regarding the complex relationships between forced migration and substance use, informing the development of targeted public health responses to reduce the prevalence and consequences of substance use among these populations
Parental Supply Of Alcohol To Children: Associations With Early Adult Health – “binge” Drinking, Alcohol-related Harms, Aggression, And Alcohol Use Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,143,477.00
Summary
We will investigate of the impacts of parental supply of alcohol between 13-18 years, on early adult alcohol use (19-23 years). We will follow an existing cohort of ~1,810 parent-child dyads, and assess the development of alcohol use, disorders, harms and aggression. We will investigate the impacts of: parental supply of sips vs drinks; supervised vs unsupervised supply; and modifying effects of contexts of supply and mediators (such as peer, child factors, etc.) controlling for confounders.
Reducing The Burden Of Disease Due To Hazardous Alcohol Consumption
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$652,765.00
Summary
I am a behavioural scientist interested in the causes and prevention of hazardous alcohol consumption. I propose a program of research examining methods in behavioural science, risk factors for hazardous drinking, the development and evaluation of interventions to reduce hazardous drinking, and the evaluation of policies affecting the supply and promotion of alcohol. I lead a research team with strong collaborations with leading scientists in Australia and other countries.