Principal research interests are in community-wide interventions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, and measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing alcohol and other drug use problems.  Previous research has examined the cost-effectiveness of brief interventions, the use of patient driven computers for anxiety and depression in primary care, in both the U.K. and Canada, and improving the appropriateness of red blood cell transfusions in metropolitan hospitals.  Current research includes leading the largest community-action alcohol trial ever under-taken internationally, examining the cost-effectiveness of screening and brief intervention in a number of settings, including an RCT to evaluate a novel method of delivering brief intervention through emergency departments, and evaluating a family-based intervention for Aboriginal Australians in rural NSW.

I am particularly interested in increasing the capacity of communities to conduct high-quality evaluations of their own strategies that aim to improve the health of their communities, and in developing more effective models of integrating evaluation into the development and roll-out of public policy initiatives.

Broad Research Areas:
Population health, community health, substance misuse and harms, intervention trials, health services, health economics

Qualifications:

BA, MA, PhD

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:
Reviewing for international journals and granting agencies; associate editor of BMC Public Health; post-graduate supervision; expert member on a number of professional committees and review panels.

Specific Research Keywords:
Population health, intervention, substance misuse and harms