HDR scholarship projects

Primary Supervisor: Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Joint Supervisor: Dr Wing See Yuen

Secondary supervisors from Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI; dependent on the project): Prof Susan Sawyer, Dr Jessica Kerr, Prof Craig Olsson, Dr Ghazaleh Dashti, Dr Lucas Ferreira

Project description:

Mental and substance use disorders affect more than 1 billion people globally, and cause at least 7% of all global burden of disease. Treatment services are lacking, and public health recommendations lack data on the natural history of substance use disorders. This includes pathways to natural recovery and abstinence, and outcomes associated with recovery that may extend beyond substance use to measures of biopsychosocial functioning, quality of life, wellbeing, and life circumstances.

This PhD project will examine substance use (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, cannabis) across the life course, including antecedents and consequences, using large longitudinal datasets such as the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS). VAHCS is among the most mature and comprehensive cohort studies worldwide of mental and physical health problems and risk behaviours in the transition periods between adolescence, young adulthood, and middle age. The VAHCS cohort provides the applicant with the opportunity to answer many policy-relevant research questions.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours degree in psychology, public health, epidemiology, or a related field.
• Interest in substance use, mental health, life course, and cohort research.
• Strong skills in epidemiology and biostatistics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

For more information about this project please contact Dr Wing See Yuen (w.yuen@unsw.edu.au)

Primary Supervisor: Dr Duong (Danielle) Tran
Joint Supervisor: Dr Alys Havard

Project description:

Opioid use disorders in pregnant women carry significant health risks for the mother and baby. Buprenorphine has emerged as an alternative treatment for opioid use disorders besides the traditional methadone therapy. However, there is limited research evidence on the effectiveness and safety of buprenorphine when used in pregnancy. This PhD study will investigate the trajectory of the use of buprenorphine in pregnant women, and the risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes associated with exposure to buprenorphine in the perinatal period. The study will leverage the record linkage across multiple real-world population-based data collections including births, medicine authorisations and dispensings, hospital admissions, and mortality. 

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in data management and quantitative data analysis, with experience using linked data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organisational and interpersonal skills

For more information about this project please contact Dr Duong (Danielle) Tran Danielle.Tran@unsw.edu.au

Primary Supervisor: Dr Alys Havard
Joint Supervisor: Dr Annelies Robijn

Project description:

Smoking is common, and poses risks in adults with asthma, yet there is a paucity of literature regarding smoking cessation among these individuals, specifically pregnant people. This PhD will investigate the magnitude of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy use among adults with asthma in NSW, their effectiveness and safety for both adults and offspring. These research questions will be investigated using linked routinely collected administrative data, including hospital admission data, emergency department data, pharmaceutical dispensing data and death records.

Candidate requirements:

Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field

• Strong skills in quantitative data analysis, with experience using linked administrative data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Annelies Robijn (a.robijn@unsw.edu.au)

Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Amy Peacock
Co-supervisors: Dr Wing See Yuen

Project description:

Recent trends show that alcohol use has declined overall across the population across high-income countries, but appears to vary by gender and age. In Australia, males younger than 50 years have shown notable declines across any drinking, lifetime risky drinking, and single-occasion risky drinking. On the other hand, trends amongst females vary widely by age group (e.g., single-occasion risky drinking has increased in females over 40, is stable in females aged 25 to 39, and has declined rapidly in females aged 14 to 24). The drivers of these gendered trends in alcohol use are currently unclear. Research undertaken as part of this project could include:

• Reviewing existing evidence regarding gendered changes in alcohol use, reasons for using/not using alcohol, and perceptions of alcohol use.
• Assessing differences in knowledge regarding the health risks associated with alcohol.
• Investigating possible gendered trends in alcohol-related harm.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in psychology, public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, or a related field.
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis.
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

For more information about this project, please contact Amy Peacock (Amy.Peacock@unsw.edu.au) or Wing See Yuen (w.yuen@unsw.edu.au).

Primary supervisor: Dr Amy Peacock
Co-supervisors: Anna Olsen (ANU), Raimondo Bruno (UTAS)

Project description:

There is increasing public support for provision of drug checking (‘pill-testing’) services, and some progress in the planning and establishment of such services in Australia. Despite a range of drug checking services operating globally, there is a need for further evidence of the feasibility and effectiveness of different drug checking models in the Australian context. The supervisory team are involved in the evaluation of the first fixed-site drug checking service in Australia. Through this PhD, the candidate will work with the team to gather new evidence and inform policy through a range of possible projects, including:

• systematic reviews of evidence around engagement in drug checking by people who use drugs
• analysing data from interviews and surveys with people accessing drug checking services
• analysing data from interviews and surveys with people who use drugs around their drug checking and broader harm reduction practices 
• analysing other novel data sources (e.g., social and news media data) on drug checking 

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in psychology, public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, or a related field.
• Strong skills in quantitative or qualitative data analysis.
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

For more information about this project please contact Amy Peacock (amy.peacock@unsw.edu.au) 

Primary Supervisor: Dr Natasa Gisev
Joint Supervisor: Ria Hopkins

Secondary supervisors from The University of Wollongong and The University of Queensland, depending on the project selected

Project description: Deaths due to suicide, alcohol and other drugs, have risen over the last 15 years in Australia and internationally. These deaths are often underpinned by complex social and health factors, including mental and physical health co-morbidity. Importantly, these deaths are avoidable given timely and targeted intervention. The PhD candidate will work as part of larger project team undertaking a range of studies using data from national population-based sources and cohorts formed from linked administrative data to identify key health and social determinants of these deaths, as well as critical intervention points to guide prevention efforts.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis, with experience using linked administrative data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Associate Professor Natasa Gisev (n.gisev@unsw.edu.au).

Primary supervisor: Dr Amy Peacock

Project description: Due to the unregulated nature of the illicit drug market, people are often unaware of substance contents. Some public health agencies and other organisations disseminate ‘drug alerts’ (i.e., communication about significant unique or pervasive health risks of a specific substance; see example here) to increase awareness of risk of harm and promote harm reduction behaviour. However, there is a distinct lack of research regarding people who use drugs and their preferences for communication of these alerts, as well as the potential intended and unintended behavioural responses to alerts. Research undertaken as part of this PhD could include: reviewing existing evidence regarding responses to risk communication about harms of illicit drugs; assessing awareness of, and responses to, drug alerts disseminated by public health agencies; and gathering information from people who disseminate drug alerts and from people who use drugs to inform design of future alerts.    

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Masters or Honours in psychology, public health, epidemiology, or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact: Amy Peacock (amy.peacock@unsw.edu.au). Note this PhD could commence from Term 2 (i.e., May) 2022 onwards.   

Primary supervisor: Dr Natasa Gisev
Joint supervisor: Professor Michael Farrell
Secondary supervisor: Dr Amy Peacock

Project description: There is global concern regarding escalating pharmaceutical misuse among older adults. Negative impacts on global health burden and healthcare utilisation may be exacerbated by the complex healthcare needs of the growing ageing population. Currently, the extent and drivers of pharmaceutical misuse among older adults and related harms, and their comorbidity with other drug and alcohol problems, are unknown. The candidate will undertake a range of studies using data from population-based sources and linked cohorts [e.g. Data-Linkage Alcohol Cohort Study (~200,00 people) and Opioid Agonist Treatment Safety Study (~50,000 people)] to generate robust evidence addressing these gaps to inform appropriate responses.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis, with experience using linked administrative data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Dr Natasa Gisev (n.gisev@unsw.edu.au). 

Primary supervisor: Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Joint supervisor: Associate Professor Rebecca McKetin
Secondary supervisor: Dr Amy Peacock

Project description: Methamphetamine is a global health concern, with harms including psychosis, suicide, violence, stroke, and mortality. These cost Australia ~$5billion per annum. Few data are available on the extent of use, and even fewer on what interventions reduce harms. We lead international efforts to develop estimation methods for prevalence of use and are trialling interventions to reduce harms. This PhD will inform policy response by generating:

• Australian and global estimates of methamphetamine dependence, injecting, and related harms
• Cost-effectiveness estimates for methamphetamine treatment and harm reduction interventions
• Estimates of impacts of novel interventions on the extent of methamphetamine use, dependence and harms

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, bio/statistics or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Associate Professor Rebecca McKetin (r.mcketin@unsw.edu.au). 

Primary supervisor: Professor Michael Farrell
Joint supervisor: Dr Julia Lappin
Secondary supervisor: Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt

Project description: Substance dependence impacts not only people who are experiencing problems, but their families and communities. Effective treatments such as opioid agonist treatment are available for opioid dependence, but there are few effective options for methamphetamine, and little is known about client and families’ experiences of seeking help. This PhD will explore the barriers and facilitators of substance use therapies from varied perspectives using a mixed method approach. It will explore how to optimise interventions through attaining insights from individuals who consume drugs, their family members, the community, health care workers and service providers.

The PhD will: 

1. Examine client access to different treatment modalities, and factors influencing exploration of improved delivery systems (including novel depot opioid treatments, which have recently been registered in Australia), through the CoLAB study 
2. Explore families’ experiences of the onset of problematic use of drugs and their access to models of support for families and carers of people with dependent use
3. Explore, using routine data collections on drug treatment, the extent of treatment utilisation and retention in treatment
4. Using data from the Family Drug Support program, examine families’ access to this service and their patterns of engagement

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, social sciences or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Professor Michael Farrell (Michael.farrell@unsw.edu.au). 

Primary supervisor: Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt
Joint supervisor: Dr Natasa Gisev
Secondary supervisor: Professor Sallie Pearson

Project description: Escalating opioid use/misuse and harms is a global health problem. There is limited population-level evidence about the drivers of long-term prescribed opioid use, dependence, overdose and other harms. The PhD candidate will contribute to a broader program of work (POPPY II) that addresses these gaps.

POPPY II is a retrospective cohort of ~2 million people prescribed opioids in NSW, linked to health service utilisation (primary care, hospitalisations, emergency department presentations) and mortality. Using best practice pharmacoepidemiological methods, the candidate will undertake a range of studies to quantify the risk of harm associated with prescription opioids to inform national and global responses.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis, with experience using linked administrative data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt (l.degenhardt@unsw.edu.au) or Dr Natasa Gisev (n.gisev@unsw.edu.au).

Primary supervisor: Dr. Ryan Courtney

Project description: Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide and is forecasted to cause over 8 million deaths per year by 2030, if smoking habits remain unchanged. The recent plateau in the rate of decline in Australian smoking rates, combined with a continuing social gradient in smoking cessation, outlines the unprecedented need for innovative and targeted smoking cessation strategies tailored to the most disadvantaged. This project will address this need by evaluating the cost-effectiveness of a tailored and widely scalable text messaging program, in achieving smoking abstinence for low-socioeconomic status smokers in Australia, compared to standard Quitline care.

Candidate requirements: 

• Masters or Honours in public health, psychology, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated capacity to work independently, as well as collaboratively, to meet team and project deadlines and milestones
• Strong organisational skills

For more information about this project please contact Dr Ryan Courtney (r.courtney@unsw.edu.au). 

Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Alys Havard

Project description: Prescription drugs of dependence, which include psychostimulants, opioids and benzodiazepines, are prescription medicines that have therapeutic value but a high potential for misuse, abuse and dependence. Limited evidence exists to guide decisions regarding the potential use of these medicines during pregnancy. This PhD project will investigate the magnitude and patterns of use of prescription drugs of dependence among pregnant women in NSW, and the risk of harm to the mother and baby. These research questions will be investigated linked routinely collected data including birth records, pharmaceutical dispensing data, hospital admissions data, congenital malformation notifications, NAPLAN data and death records.

Candidate requirements:

• Masters or Honours in clinical medicine, public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
• Strong skills in data management and statistical analysis, with experience using large-scale linked data highly regarded
• Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

For more information about this project please contact Dr Alys Havard (alys.havard@unsw.edu.au). 

Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Amy Peacock
Joint Supervisor: Winifred Asare-Doku
Secondary Supervisor: Stella Settumba Stolk

Australia has a large culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population. There is limited evidence of alcohol and other drugs (AoD) use, harms and access to culturally sensitive and inclusive treatment options. Potential work for the PhD program, undertaken in collaboration with community partners, could include: 

1.    Systematic review of strategies to increase cultural responsiveness of AOD treatment services;
2.    Secondary analysis of existing AOD survey and administrative data that captures information on CALD communities;
3.    Quantitative survey of CALD communities assessing substance use, harms, treatment and help-seeking;
4.    Qualitative study of barriers and enablers to prevention and treatment uptake among CALD communities; and
5.    Co-design work on recommendations for the inclusion of CALD specific approaches in AoD treatment, and any cost implications.
 

Candidate requirements:

•    Masters or Honours in public health, psychology, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics or a related field
•    Strong skills in qualitative and quantitative analysis, with experience using linked administrative data highly regarded
•    Track record of publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills
•    People who identify as CALD or have experience working with CALD communities are highly encouraged to apply. 

For more information about this project, please contact Winifred Asare-Doku (w.asaredoku@@unsw.edu.au)