2026 NDARC Annual Research Symposium
Date
Friday, 25 September 2026
Host
NDARC, UNSW Sydney
Location
Wesley Conference Centre
The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney is Australia’s leading research group in the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) sector.
NDARC undertakes a strategic program of work with direct relevance to government departments, agencies and health services, non-government organisations, service providers, clinicians and the community sector.
The 2026 NDARC Annual Research Symposium will showcase the work and impact of NDARC researchers, programs and collaborators.
Frequently asked questions
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Yes, the 2026 NDARC Annual Research Symposium is a hybrid event and will be live streamed from Wesley Conference Centre for virtual attendees.
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When completing your registration via Eventbrite, please select 'online' as your registration type. Details of the live stream will be sent to all registrants via the email provided prior to the event.
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Yes, the 2026 NDARC Annual Research Symposium will be recorded with all sessions available on this webpage after the event.
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Please email the NDARC Events Team via NDARC.events@unsw.edu.au.
Event location
Contact us
Contact the NDARC Events Team via NDARC.Events@unsw.edu.au.
Previous events
Last year's NDARC Annual Research Symposium was held on Friday, 26 September 2025 at Wesley Conference Centre. Recordings of all sessions are available to view online.
Event program
Time | Activity |
| 8.30–9.00am | Registration |
| 9.00–9.07am | Welcome to Country |
| 9.07–9.10am | Director's welcome Professor Michael Farrell Director, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Sydney |
| 9.10–10.30am | Session one |
| 9.10–10.10am | Panel discussion Weight-loss drugs and substance use disorders: Could GLP-1 receptor agonists transform addiction medicine?
Panellists: • Professor Michael Farrell, Director of NDARC, UNSW Sydney • Dr Mary Harrod, Chief Executive of the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) • Professor Gavan McNally, Head of the Behavioural Neuroscience Research Group at the School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney • Professor Paul Haber AM, Executive Director Research for the Sydney Local Health District; Conjoint Professor at The University of Sydney • Professor Sallie Pearson, Director of the Medicines Intelligence Centre of Research Excellence at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney
Moderator: Sophie Scott OAM, Award-winning journalist and science communicator |
| 10.10–10.30am | Three decades of Drug Trends: Emerging patterns and future directions Associate Professor Amy Peacock Deputy Director and Drug Trends Program Lead at NDARC, UNSW Sydney |
| 10.30–10.50am | Morning tea |
| 10.50am–12.10pm | Session two |
| 10.50–11.30am | Spotlight on the National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED) • Stassi Kypri: Non-prescribed ketamine use in Australia: Results from a web-based survey • Simon Caldwell: Navigating novel benzos: The practices & experiences of people sourcing benzodiazepines from unregulated markets • Dr Krista Siefried: GHB & its precursors in Australia: Rising harms, shifting markets, & evolving risk behaviours |
| 11.30am–12.10pm | Illicit drug-related harms in Australia • Dr Michala Kowalski and Dr Nic Taylor: Illicit Alcohol in Australia: Initial availability estimates & known harms • Dr Rachel Sutherland: Shifting nicotine landscapes: Illicit tobacco, vaping, & emerging products among people who use drugs • Scientia Associate Professor Natasa Gisev: Seasonal variations in drug-induced deaths in Australia, 2000-2021 |
| 12.10–1.00pm | Lunch |
| 1.00–2.20pm | Breakout session one: Maternal health and young people
• Dr Alys Havard: The effectiveness and safety of smoking cessation pharmacotherapies during pregnancy • Dr Danielle Tran: Engagement and retention in opioid agonist treatment during pregnancy and postpartum • Dr Bianca Varney: Use and safety of prescription opioid analgesics during pregnancy and postpartum • Sarah Ticehurst: Youth co-design of longitudinal research: A mixed-methods evaluation of the IMPACT Youth Council |
| 1.00–2.20pm | Breakout session two: Treatment and provision of care
• Lucy Tran: The impact of major depressive disorder on treatment outcomes for people with methamphetamine dependence • Dr Brendan Clifford: A pilot study of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for Methamphetamine Use Disorder • Kendal Chidwick: Models of service delivery for opioid use disorder medications: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies • Khine Wut Yee Kyaw: Prevalence of health service utilisation prior to drug deaths: A systematic review and meta-analysis • Dr Liam Acheson: Stigma towards people who use drugs in frontline non-clinical healthcare workers |
| 1.00–2.20pm | Breakout session three: Engaging communities
• Lily Palmer: Harm reduction strategies among people who use illicit stimulants: Naloxone and drug checking in Australia • Cilla Zhou and Jess Doumany: Partnership as method: Co-developing an evaluation framework for peer engagement in the OLAM trial • Dr Simon Clay: ‘Wherever they’re at is wherever they’re at, right?’: Substance use and informal cultures of care among members of the queer community • Dr Peter Gates: Comprehensive community initiatives: Million-dollar mistakes or the next best thing? • Dr Emily Symes: Substance use in trans and gender diverse adults: a global systematic review and meta-analysis |
| 2.20–2.40pm | Afternoon tea |
| 2.40–4.15pm | Session three |
| 2.40–3.40pm | Translating research into practice • Professor Nick Zwar: Nicotine vaping products for supporting smoking cessation: strengths and weaknesses of the Australian access model • Professor Rebecca McKetin: Mirtazapine for methamphetamine use disorder: Findings from the Tina Trial and implications for clinical practice • Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt and Dr Thomas Santo Jr: Opioid dependence treatment and overdose prevention: A series of systematic reviews of the current evidence |
| 3.40–4.00pm | Director's closing remarks Professor Michael Farrell |
| 4.00–5.00pm | Networking event |
The full program is still being finalised. The outline and duration of sessions may be subject to change.
Poster list
| Name | Poster title |
| Dr Mia Miller | Identifying Mental and Physical Alcohol-related Consequences in the Transition to adulthood (IMPACT): Protocol for a longitudinal cohort study |
| Dr Emily Symes | Prevalence of mental health outcomes in trans and gender diverse adults: A global systematic review and meta-analysis |
| Emma Zahra | Community-delivered naloxone: A systematic review and meta-analysis on overdose management |
| Oskar Sachs | Framing drug policy reform: Third-sector advocacy and the 2024 New South Wales Drug Summit |
| Dr Kathryn Fletcher | Navigating 'K-Land': A qualitative study of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder |
| Kendal Chidwick | Medications for the management of opioid withdrawal: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials |
| Tom Woofenden | Validation of the SHAHRP scale for alcohol-related harms |
| Lucy Tran | The effectiveness of adjunct psychosocial interventions to medication assisted treatment for opioid use: A systematic review and meta-analysis |
| Agata Chrzanowska | Two decades of drug-related harms in Australia: Changing patterns of hospitalisations and deaths |
| Sophie van der Helder | Implementation of REDCap eConsent in a multisite RCT |
| Harriet MacDonald | Acceptability of oral naltrexone and bupropion for methamphetamine use disorder: A qualitative study |
| Lucy Tran | The association between mental disorders and OAT retention among NSW residents entering OAT for opioid use |
| Agata Chrzanowska | Trends in drug market, use and health impacts in Australia: Cocaine |
| Kali Chandrasena | Individual-level harm reduction coverage among people who inject drugs: 2026 update from Drug Trends |
| Nicola Man | Trend in the availability of novel synthetic opioids on cryptomarkets, June 2021 – January 2026 |
| Julia Uporova | Views of syringe residue testing among people who regularly inject illicit drugs |
| Toni Karlsson | Patterns of nitrous oxide use among a national sample of people who regularly use illicit stimulants in Australia, 2021-2026 |
| Dr Thomas Santo Jr | Overdose risk after release: A population-level analysis from the NSW Prison Outcomes Study |
| Andrea Delgado | Who uses the S-check app for methamphetamine use and what are the outcomes? Early results from an Australian cohort |
| Dr Christel Macdonald | Factors associated with incarceration among people with opioid use disorder in New South Wales |
| Kendal Chidwick | Transfer between medications and discontinuation of long-term treatment for opioid use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised and observational studies |
| Dr Krista Siefried | A systematic review of outcomes and measures used in clinical trials of pharmacotherapies for amphetamine/methamphetamine use disorder |
2026 Scientific Program Committee
