Knowledge impact case study: Shaping policy, saving lives – the impact of research on drug use and addiction

By combining large scale population studies, data linkage and epidemiological research, Professor Louisa Degenhardt has helped drive more effective and evidence-based approaches to some of society's most complex public health challenges.

Discover how Professor Degenhardt's research has influenced policy, improved health outcomes and helped shape responses to drug use and addiction across Australia and globally.

Video transcript

0:04 Professor Louisa Degenhardt
My name is Louisa Degenhardt.

I'm a Scientia Professor at the University of NSW and I'm the Director of Research at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

I guess I have two broad areas of work. One is really focusing on trying to get a global picture of what is happening with illicit drug use, harms related to illicit drug use, and effective treatments and interventions to reduce harms.

And another area of work that I have uses data linkage, particularly to look at more marginalised populations and examine potential impacts of interventions to reduce those harms.

0:40
I guess for me, it's really in my career, it's been a series of unfolding questions. And I think that's one of the really fantastic things about our areas of work is often when you're addressing one question, a lot of other issues emerge.

And one of the things that really motivates me is thinking about what's the next question that we can answer. What's the next group or the next method that can be applied to address these really complicated questions and issues.

1:09
Tom and I've been working together for about 10 years and he started working with us at NDARC as a research officer and very quickly demonstrated a really keen interest in the field and particularly a focus on really generating thinking critically and generating high quality evidence particularly focused on vulnerable populations.

1:34 Dr Thomas Santo Jr.
My name is Tom Santo Jr. and I'm a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW Sydney.

Louisa and I are working on the global evidence synthesis for the update to the WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines for opioid dependence treatment. These reviews that we're conducting will set the standard in terms of the evidence base for opioid dependence treatment globally.

We're also working together on the Prison Outcomes Study, which is an NHMRC funded study that is looking at the harms related to incarceration after release and the effective treatments for people with drug dependence and serious mental illness.

2:12  Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Well, I really started straight out of undergraduate university, and at that time there wasn't a really big focus on population level data and epidemiology as we traditionally see it in a lot of other areas of health.

One of my early mentors, Wayne Hall, was really working in that space, and that was something that really captured my attention.

When I first started, I had more of a focus on, I guess, a range of different drugs. Over time, I've focused more intently on opioid dependence and on injecting drug use.

2:48 Dr Thomas Santo Jr.
My goal of my research is to achieve equity for people both who use drugs as well as those who experience incarceration.

We hope that our research can be used as a global advocacy tool for expanding access to effective evidence based treatments for opioid dependence as well as other drug dependence and health services for people who are incarcerated or also those who leave incarceration.

So we hope that we can improve how people are connected with services once they leave prison and find the most effective treatments for marginalised groups as well, including First Nations people and women.

3:27 Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Well, I guess a lot of the work that we do is very applied and, and it's intentionally meant to be useful for policy makers, for governments, for clinicians, for advocates, for people who want to understand more working in the field and people who might be affected by these issues.

So, a lot of the work that we do has been used by governments. It is used to inform things like different UN endeavours. And that's really what we hope is that these pieces of evidence can be used as part of the conversation about thinking about what can we do next.

4:05
Well, I've been very fortunate. My, I first got a Fellowship from NHMRC that started in 2007. So, I have been on NHMRC Fellowships since that time.

And I've also been very fortunate to work with a range of people who are working across a wide range of areas and be involved in their work in on Project Grants, on Centres of Research Excellence. And also, to support other people, particularly people who are emerging in the field for them to gain their own fellowship funding and for them to get a different array of different project and, and other funding through NHMRC.

NHMRC is a critical source of funding for the Australian health and medical research workforce. We don't have a lot of other alternatives, particularly in some of the areas that I work in where there is, there are fewer other kind of independent research bodies that that might be targeted towards some of the areas that we're focused on. So really a lot of the work that that I've been able to do and that people I work with have been able to wouldn't have been possible without NHMRC funding.

5:17 Dr Thomas Santo Jr.
As CIB (Chief Investigator B) on the Prison Outcomes Study, I've been able to lead the community engagement and interact with, as well as receive feedback from, the top peer advocacy groups when it comes to people who've experienced incarceration, as well as those with experiences of drug dependence and serious mental illness.

I've also been able to expand my research abilities. So, a major part of this study is dynamic mathematical modelling, and it has provided me with the opportunity to learn more skills.

The Prison Outcome Study has allowed me to expand my supervision experience. It's where I've been able to supervise both biostatisticians and PhD students.

5:54  Professor Louisa Degenhardt
You know, everything is ever changing and we really need to always be mindful not only of what we're working on now but maintaining the focus and the passion for the workforce into the future.

End of transcript.