2019 – 2022
Michael Curtis

Understanding the impact of opioid substitution therapy programs on drug use, health service utilization, morbidity and mortality among people who inject drugs following release from prison PhD

Michael’s PhD will investigate how the use of opioid substitution therapy during incarceration and post-release influences substance use, health and mortality outcomes among people who inject drugs.


2020 – 2021
Angela Davis
Amy Kirwan
Professor Mark Stoové

Breaking the cycle: supporting people with drug use histories to avoid reincarceration

The project aims to use co-design strategies to develop an innovative, evidenced informed and needs based service model of to meet the needs of people release from prison in Victoria with alcohol and other drug dependence histories.


2017 – 2021
Dr Ashleigh Stewart

Mental health service utilisation among men leaving prison with histories of injecting drug use: Morbidity and mortality PhD

Ashleigh's PhD focuses on health service utilisation of people in prison with histories of injecting drug use


2010 – 2021
Doctor Campbell Aitken
Michael Curtis
Professor Paul Dietze
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Penny Hill
Danielle Horyniak
Amy Kirwan
Dr Ashleigh Stewart

SuperMIX: The Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study Seed-Funded

SuperMIX is a cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) that has been running in various forms at the Burnet Institute since 2008.


2020
Debra Alexander
Sione Crawford
Michael Curtis
Professor Paul Dietze
Paul Hamilton
Penny Hill
Danny Jeffcote
Professor Mark Stoové
Sean Swift
Rebecca Thatcher

Needle and Syringe Program Snapshot Study

Building on work previous undertaken by the Burnet Institute to evaluate the St Kilda 24-Hour NSP, this study will establish a near Melbourne-wide system to monitor how NSPs are being used and identify service-specific trends in service provision.


2020
Michael Curtis
Professor Paul Dietze
Filip Djordjevic
Chris Gough
Jack Gunn
Professor Stuart Kinner
Rebecca Winter

Feasibility study for a potential medically supervised injecting centre/drug consumption service for the ACT

ACT Health is examining the feasibility of establishing a medically supervised injecting centre/drug consumption service (hereafter drug consumption room) in the ACT.


2020
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Lisa Kennedy
Shelley Walker

The Impact of Post-Release Opioid Replacement Therapy (ORT)- A Qualitative Study

Using in depth interviews to explore the lived experience of individuals using ORT while incarcerated and post-release, Lisa's Masters project aims to better understand the impact of the fully subsidised ORT program in the 4 weeks post release period and beyond.


2020
Alice David
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Penny Hill

Understanding never overdosing in a cohort of people who inject opioids: A positive deviance study

Alice's Masters project aims to understand any behavioural approaches that PWID apply to opioid overdose prevention. Research findings will be distributed to PWID and community health workers to help prevent future overdose.


2019 – 2020
Professor Eileen Baldry
Professor Paul Dietze
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Professor Mark Stoové
Professor Carla Treloar

Identifying factors that improve the health of prisoners who inject drugs

The Identifying factors that improve the health of prisoners who inject drugs study aims to examine complex inter-relationships with a goal to provide unparalleled data on which to build a platform for future intervention.


2018 – 2020
Professor Paul Dietze
Amy Kirwan
Shelley Walker

Windana Therapeutic Community evaluation

Burnet were commissioned by Windana to evaluate whether the implementation of an orientation program at the therapeutic community has improved client outcomes and staff satisfaction.


2017 – 2020
Stelliana Goutzamanis

The impact of direct-acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment on health, wellbeing and behavior in people who inject drugs PhD

Stelliana's PhD focuses on exploring the impact of direct acting antiviral hepatitis C treatment on health, well-being and everyday life, particularly among people who inject drugs


2017 – 2020
Penny Hill

Determining the impact of health service utilisation on opioid overdose incidence among people who inject drugs PhD

Penny's PhD focuses on health service utilisation of people who inject drugs


2017 – 2020
Reece Cossar


2018 – 2019
Professor Paul Dietze
Professor Stuart Kinner
Amy Kirwan
Professor Alison Ritter
Professor Mark Stoové

Queensland Prison OST Evaluation

Burnet have been commissioned by QLD Corrective Services to undertake an evaluation of the introduction of opioid substitution therapy into Queensland prisons.


2018 – 2019
Michael Curtis
Professor Paul Dietze
Amy Kirwan
Shelley Walker

St Kilda 24 hour NSP evaluation

Burnet were commissioned by Salvation Army to explore the role and value of the 24 hour NSP service provided in St Kilda


2014 – 2019
Shelley Walker

Understanding the experiences of young male prisoners with histories of injecting drug use. PhD

This PhD project is focused on young adult prisoners with a history of injecting drug use.


2015 – 2018
Doctor Joseph Doyle
Professor Margaret Hellard
Doctor Amanda Wade

The Prime Study

Providing directly acting antiviral therapy (DAA) for hepatitis C in the community may improve hepatitis C treatment uptake and completion, therefore decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with this infection.


2015 – 2017
Professor Paul Dietze
Doctor Joseph Doyle
Professor Margaret Hellard

The Treatment and Prevention (TAP) Study

The Treatment And Prevention (TAP) Study will investigate the efficacy and feasibility of treating people who inject drugs with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in community-based settings with a 12-week course of oral therapy of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir.


2014 – 2017
Tania Patrao

Development of statistical methods to determine optimal recruitment and retention strategies and mitigate the impact of attrition on longitudinal studies of People who Inject Drugs PhD

This project aims to describe the challenges related to data collection and analysis of longitudinal studies with injecting drug users and develop novel counterfactual and regression models to assess how recruitment and attrition bias impacts on the generalizability and reliability of study outcomes.


2015 – 2016
Doctor Marianne Jauncey
Doctor Allison Salmon

Network of Drug Consumption Rooms

This project will address an important gap in communication between staff of Drug Consumption Rooms around the world. It will also provide information and evidence to inform the care of people you inject drugs.


2013 – 2016
Melinda Beckwith

The Role of Social Networks in Recovering from Problematic Substance Use PhD

Using social network mapping and analysis, this project will explore the types of social networks people experiencing significant substance-related problems are involved in, and the mechanisms behind social identity change with view to enhancing ongoing recovery options for those who choose to access treatment.


2013 – 2016
Renae Fomiatti

A critical analysis of the ‘recovery’ concept in Australian drug research, policy and practice and its impact on people who inject drugs PhD

This PhD project involves a critical analysis of the rise of the ‘recovery’ concept in the Australian alcohol and other drug sector.


2014 – 2015
Associate Professor Lucy Burns
Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Doctor Timothy Dobbins
Doctor Natasa Gisev
Doctor Sarah Larney
Doctor Mark Montebello
Professor Alison Ritter
Doctor Marian Shanahan

Health service use of people with opioid use disorders Seed-Funded

This project will use emergency department and inpatient hospital records to identify the extent to which an opioid treatment database captures the population experiencing opioid-related harm.


2011 – 2014
Rebecca Winter

Examining drug-related morbidity and mortality following release from prison. PhD

The research will examine drug-related morbidity and mortality, and health service utilisation, among adults released from prison in two Australian states.


2013 – 2014
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Professor David Moore

Documenting and better understanding the life trajectories of people who inject drugs Seed-Funded

This pilot study will explore and document the life trajectories of a cohort of older injectors in Australia to identify the needs of this population, which will in turn inform the development of a larger study more focused on public health policy and practice.


2011 – 2014
Danielle Horyniak

Understanding health and harm among young people who inject drugs PhD

Danielle's research investigates the behaviours and health outcomes of young people who inject drugs in Melbourne.


2011 – 2014
Doctor Joseph Doyle

Clinical and economic benefits of treating recently acquired hepatitis C virus infection PhD

This PhD project aims to determine whether early treatment of hepatitis C virus infection is worthwhile clinically and economically. Factors such as treatment response, quality of life during treatment, incidence of re-infection and cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of hepatitis C treatment will be examined.


2011 – 2014
Maryam Alavi

Barriers to the assessment and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs PhD

This project aims to assess the long term impact of chronic HCV infection on morbidities and mortality risk, as well as investigate factors associated with hepatitis C (HCV) assessment, treatment uptake and predictors of response to therapy among people who inject drugs (PWID). The overall goal is to explore and address the main barriers to enhanced HCV treatment in this PWID population.


2012 – 2013
Kari Lancaster
Professor Alison Ritter

Strategic advocacy and drug policy: a case study of the ACT overdose management program Seed-Funded

This project documents and analyses the successful establishment of a recently introduced policy to make naloxone available to potential overdose witnesses in the ACT (the “Expanding Naloxone Availability in the ACT (ENAACT) program”).


2012 – 2013
Associate Professor Peter Higgs
Danielle Horyniak

Exploring attitudes to drug use among East African migrants and refugees in Melbourne’s Western suburbs Seed-Funded

This project will describe attitudes to, and engagement in drug use (with a particular focus on injecting drug use) among members of Melbourne’s East African migrant communities.


2012 – 2013
Doctor Robyn Dwyer
Associate Professor Peter Higgs

At Risk Mapping of Victoria Seed-Funded

This project involved a mapping exercise of people who use/inject drugs in order to identify and distinguish the different ‘tribes’ and sub-groups of drug users, including those groups at greatest risk of drug related harm, who make up the broad based community of people who use drugs in Victoria.


2011 – 2013
Rachel Sacks-Davis

Hepatitis C transmission and natural history in people who inject drugs PhD

This project uses data from a large Melbourne cohort of injecting drug users, as well as an international collaboration of cohort studies to identify behavioural, social, virus and host factor determinants of hepatitis C primary infection, reinfection, and spontaneous clearance.


2013
Dr Caitlin Hughes
Professor Alison Ritter

Attitudes of injecting drug users towards threshold quantities for drug trafficking in NSW and SA Seed-Funded

This project will explore attitudes towards existing threshold limits and perceptions of benefits, costs and impacts of thresholds, as well as perceptions of likely effects if threshold quantities were modified.


2013
Professor Stuart Kinner
Professor Michael Levy
Dina Paulo
Kathryn Snow

Incident Hepatitis C cases detected through a custodial HCV treatment program. Seed-Funded

The identification of over ten newly acquired cases of HCV in AMC provides an opportunity to better characterise HCV transmission in a prison setting. This project will describe the case series in detail and explore possibility of in-prison transmission.


2012
Kari Lancaster

Public opinion and drug policy: engaging the ‘affected community’ Seed-Funded

This project will explore the attitudes and opinions of people who inject drugs towards drug policy in Australia. This qualitative study complements a larger quantitative study on drug user policy attitudes currently being conducted by the Drug Policy Modelling Program (DPMP) at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in NSW.


2012
Dhanya Nambiar

Health service utilisation among People Who Inject Drugs PhD

This PhD will explore health service utilisation patterns of people who inject drugs (PWID) and the associated morbidity/mortality outcomes. The barriers and enablers to health service utilization by PWID will also be examined, and the risks and protective factors associated with health and wellbeing outcomes in PWID will be evaluated.


2012

Injecting Drug Issues Network

IDIN is a joint initiative of CREIDU and Anex. IDIN is made up of practitioners, policy makers and researchers from the alcohol and other drug sector. IDIN meets three times a year to share knowledge and communicate research findings in the areas of injecting drug use including emerging trends, treatment service approaches, and other initiatives in the field.


2011
Associate Professor Peter Higgs

The B-VAX Project: Providing Hepatitis B vaccinations through assertive outreach to people who inject drugs Seed-Funded

This Burnet Institute project will optimise HBV vaccination among PWID within the Melbourne Injecting Cohort Study (MIX) longitudinal study to trial and evaluate the accessibility and efficacy of an HBV vaccination outreach delivery model to people who inject drugs


2011
Professor Robert Power

A needs analysis and model design for a Supervised Injecting Facility in the City of Yarra Seed-Funded

This project involves a collaboration between the Yarra Drug and Health Forum and the Burnet Institute. The project will firstly assess the need for a Supervised Injecting Facility (SIF) in the City of Yarra, Melbourne by documenting local evidence of public injecting drug use and associated impacts on public amenity. Secondly, a context-appropriate SIF operational model will be proposed and described.


2010

IDRS: Illicit Drug Reporting System

The IDRS is a national annual study conducted in each Australian capital city jurisdiction.