Early to Mid Career Researchers (EMCR) and Student members are welcome to contact the EMCR Subcommittee if you have a question or are seeking advice. The subcommittee is happy to share their experiences and insights.
For questions about the committee, please get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
| Dr Amy Peacock, University of Tasmania and National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW |
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Dr Amy Peacock (BA Hons, PhD) is a National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellow (2016-2019) at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, and a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, University of Tasmania. Read More | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Anke van der Sterren, Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT |
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Anke is the Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA). Anke is a social scientist with over 20 years of experience in research and evaluation in the areas of alcohol and other drugs, tobacco, blood-borne viruses and workforce development. Anke has worked as a public health researcher in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled, university, and non-government sectors. She currently holds the position of Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA), and is in the 2020 cohort of the Future Health Leaders Program at UNSW. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Dr Benjamin Riordan, La Trobe University, Victoria |
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Dr Benjamin Riordan, La Trobe University. Benjamin’s research focuses on young adult alcohol use and using emerging technologies to both collect data and deliver intervention material. His PhD focused on heavy alcohol use during the transition to university and designing brief interventions for students during the transition. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Carmen Lim, National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland |
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Carmen Lim is a PhD candidate at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the trends and harms associated with cannabis vaping. Prior to her PhD, she was a statistician on a WorldCarmen Lim is a PhD candidate at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the trends and harms associated with cannabis vaping. Prior to her PhD, she was a statistician on a WorldHealth Organization project where she used the World Mental Health Surveys to examine the antecedent risk factors and outcomes of psychotic experiences and comorbidity between mental disorders. She has an MSc in Medical Statistics and holds an NHMRC PostgraduateResearch Scholarship, UQResearch Training Stipend, and a Research Higher Degree Top-Up Scholarship.
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| Dr Cassandra Wright, NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin |
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Cassandra Wright is an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin. Her research focuses on alcohol as a public health issue and she currently works on evaluations of major alcohol policies and programs in the Northern Territory. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research and Burnet Institute. Through these collaborations she continues her work focused on alcohol use among middle-aged women and working mothers (CAPR) and young people’s health and wellbeing (Burnet). She holds a PhD in public health and undergraduate qualifications in health promotion. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Dr Cheneal Puljević, The University of Queensland
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Cheneal is the Research Operations Manager for the Centre for Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Services Research at The University of Queensland. At the Centre for Health Services Research, she is the Program Manager for the Global Substance Use and Mental Health unit, where she conducts and manages a number of research projects related to substance use, including the Queensland evaluation of the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Policy (QUANTEM), and several projects using data from the Global Drug Survey. Cheneal is also the research group convenor at The Loop Australia, an organisation advocating for drug checking services. In 2020 Cheneal was awarded the Australasian Professional Society for Alcohol and Other Drugs (APSAD)'s Early Career Award. She completed her PhD in 2018 at Griffith Criminology Institute at Griffith University, and completed an Honours degree in psychology at the University of Cape Town in 2011. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Dr Chrianna Bharat, , Post-doctoral Research Fellow, National Drug And Alcohol Research Centre
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Dr Chrianna Bharat is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow and applied biostatistician at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. She was awarded her PhD in 2023, demonstrating the utility of person-level data linkage and innovative analytical methods to generate real-world evidence about the use and outcomes of prescribed medicines among people with opioid dependence. Chrianna’s current research program involves a range of epidemiological studies, including population-linked data focusing on people with a history of drug dependence or exposure to incarceration; the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical medicines; post-market surveillance; and the implementation, evaluation and systematic reviews of existing and novel research methodologies. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Dr Christina Marel, Senior Research Fellow, Sydney Medical School / The Matilda Centre
APSAD EMCR Council Representative, NSW
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Dr Christina Marel is a Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC TRIP fellow (2019-2021) at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on improving our understanding of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in complex populations and translating evidence-based resources to clinicians and community members. Read More | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Isabelle Volpe, Drug Policy Modelling Program, University of New South Wales
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A PhD candidate in the Drug Policy Modelling Program team at UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre. Her PhD research uses critical social science approaches to explore the intersection of young people, drugs, policy and participation. Isabelle is also a research officer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (UNSW) and the Social and Global Studies Centre (RMIT), conducting mixed-methods research on drug alerts and drug checking. |
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Jai Whelan, University of Otago, Aotearoa/New Zealand
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Jai Whelan (Ngāi Te Rangi) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago. His PhD is exploring MDMA use and users in Aotearoa, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Jai has a wide range of interests including the therapeutic and recreational use of drugs, harm reduction and drug policy. He is the current secretary for Students for Sensible Drug Policy Aotearoa and has experience volunteering for the drug-checking service KnowYourStuffNZ: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. |
| Dr Rebecca Jenkinson, Manager, Australian Gambling Research Centre, Australian Institute of Family Studies, VIC |
| Dr Rebecca Jenkinson is a Senior Research Fellow (Gambling, Alcohol and Other Drugs) and Manager of the Australian Gambling Research Centre. She also holds an Honorary Burnet Institute Fellow position in the Behaviours and Health Risks Program at the Burnet Institute and an Adjunct Lecturer position in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. Read More | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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Ruth Canty, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University
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Having previously worked as an analytical chemist, Ruth undertook her Master’s in public health to better understand the harms related to alcohol and other drug use.Ruth’s PhD research is investigating NT stakeholder views on tobacco endgame policies to determine what types of endgame policies might be effective in reducing smoking prevalence and smoking-related harms in the NT, with a particular focus on tobacco retail. In addition to her PhD research, she works as a research assistant at Menzies School of Health Research on a range of projects. She is also an active member of the NT branch of the PHAA and assistant news editor for the journal Tobacco Control. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Sarah Clifford, PhD candidate with Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, NT |
| Her PhD seeks to understand how recent alcohol policy changes in the NT are impacting violence against women. She has previously worked on other alcohol policy, and social and emotional wellbeing program evaluations, as well as a number of youth health engagement projects. Read More | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |