
Doctor of Philosophy (Awarded 24/01/2017, Graduated 04/06/2018)
Thesis title: The Role of Expectancy in Drug Withdrawal
Supervisors: Assoc. Professor Ben Colagiuri and Professor Bob Boakes
Bachelor of Science, Honours Class I (2009 to 2012)
Thesis title: The Role of Ketosis in Starvation-Induced Activity in Rodents
Supervisor: Professor Bob Boakes
Introduction to Machine Learning Techniques for Health (8th November, 2019)
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
University of Melbourne
As a young man I did a degree in Philosophy and English Literature at the University of Newcastle and then tried to make it as a professional musician. When that didn't work out I enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Psychology at the University of Sydney. I matriculated with a Bachelor of Psychology degree (Hons-I) and enrolled in a PhD at USyd under the supervision of Associate Professor Ben Colagiuri. My topic was placebo drug withdrawal, especially how people's beliefs about how much of a drug they currently have in their body affect the way they experience drug withdrawal. I used caffeine withdrawal to model this process because (a) there are an almost unlimited supply of people who are addicted to caffeine, (b) because the consequences of caffeine withdrawal and addiction are not so severe, I could use experimental techniques such as deception that are necessary to accurately emulate real-world placebo effects but which would be completely unethical with participants with dependence on more serious drugs.
Later in my PhD I got a job as a research assistant with Professor Bettina Meiser at the Psychosocial Research Group (UNSW). There I analysed data and wrote manuscripts for two multisite, NHMRC-funded, cluster-randomised clinical trials, incredibly valuable experience.
Shortly before I submitted my PhD in September 2017 I got a job as an Honorary Research Associate with the Specialty of Addiction Medicine, University of Sydney and Drug and Alcohol Services, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, a job which I still hold today. Under the supervision of my boss Professor Nicholas Lintzeris I have worked on a vast array of projects, including:
I love my job and have learnt so much from Nick, Kristie, Sarah, Rachel, and Emma in the research team and all of the clinical staff at the Langton centre.
In October 2021 I commenced work with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC). Similar to my role at the Langton I have a wide-ranging brief and am very excited to see where this new opportunity takes me.
Seed Funding and Capacity Building Grant - $42,537 (lead-investigator)
Clinical Translational Research Program – $150,000 (co-investigator)
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Publication Metrics: h-index excluding self-citations: 5, ResearchGate score: 23.32, Articles: 18, Total Times Cited: 108
PUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Oral Presentation. The Role of Expectancy in Caffeine Withdrawal: The Cost of Being Informed.
Poster Presentation. The Role of Expectancy in Caffeine Withdrawal.
Oral Presentation: The Role of Expectancy in Caffeine Withdrawal.