Launching Vital Voices website

In May, members of the DruGS team will attend the 13th annual Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference (29 to 31 May). This conference is a key event for researchers, practitioners and policy makers working in viral hepatitis and related areas, and is an important opportunity to showcase key outcomes for our Australian Research Council-funded project, ‘Lived…

Update: Now recruiting WA men who inject PIEDs

SSAC’s ARC-funded research on performance and image enhancing drug use in Australia is well underway. After a successful recruitment period in Victoria, the SSAC team is interviewing in New South Wales and Queensland, and has recently begun recruiting in Western Australia as well. Lead investigator Professor Suzanne Fraser explained that ‘steroid use among men is…

Update on take-home naloxone study

Recruitment and interviewing for SSAC’s ARC-funded research on uptake and diffusion of take-home naloxone in Victoria and New South Wales are almost complete. After a successful recruitment period in Victoria, the SSAC team begun recruiting in NSW towards the end of 2017. The interviews with people who consume opioids and health professionals working in relevant…

New study: Understanding performance and image-enhancing drug injecting

A team of researchers led by SSAC’s Professor Suzanne Fraser has begun work on a new project investigating performance and image-enhancing drug injecting among Australian men.  Entitled ‘Understanding performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) injecting to improve health and minimise hepatitis C transmission’, the project is funded by the Australian Research Council, and coordinated by…

Upcoming IJDP special section: New papers

In June the International Journal of Drug Policy (IJDP) will publish a special section entitled Social Studies of Addiction Concepts, edited by Professor Suzanne Fraser, head of Curtin University’s Social Studies of Addiction Concepts (SSAC) program, and Associate Professor Helen Keane, based at ANU. The articles in this issue will be drawn from the Social…

Lives of Substance

Lives of Substance website launch

A groundbreaking new website was launched in Melbourne on Friday the 7th of October with the help of writer Kate Holden and harm reduction pioneer Jenny Kelsall. Lives of Substance is Australia’s first dedicated website presenting carefully researched personal stories of alcohol or other drug addiction, dependence or habit. Based on an innovative ARC-funded project, the website’s aim is to generate and present much-needed new…

Experiences of addiction: Final interviews

Following successful data collection in Melbourne, Bendigo and Sydney, SSAC research project ‘Experiences of addiction, treatment and recovery’ is now entering its final phase of interviewing, this time in the New South Wales Northern Rivers region. Research associate Dr Kiran Pienaar has commenced interviewing in Byron Bay, and plans to collect data across the region,…