MARC Webinar Archive (2020-2023)
The Monash Addiction Research Centre (MARC) webinar series brought together addiction researchers, clinicians and other experts from the sector to discuss emerging research and challenges in the addiction field.
Impact creation and pathways - how do you want your research to be used?
The concept of research impact is gaining momentum globally. At Monash, impact is front and centre within the university’s strategic plan, Impact 2030. Universities, governments, and funders are increasingly asking researchers to articulate how their work will, or did, produce an impact on society.
Watch Dr Wade Kelly (Director, Research Excellence and Impact at Monash University) share valuable insights into maximising research impact. In this session, Wade delved into both theoretical and practical aspects, empowering researchers to effectively plan and achieve impactful outcomes. Through real-world case studies, Wade introduced the concept of impact literacy.
Previous webinar series - MARC interdisciplinary webinar series
Since August 2020, MARC has delivered 11 webinars in the interdisciplinary series, showcasing 25 MARC researchers, and one international guest speaker, and attracting over 2200 registrations. If you have missed out on any of the webinars, you can catch up by viewing them below or on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all our latest videos.
Drug checking services in Australia: Reflections on rapidly evolving practices
Watch the final webinar for 2022, when a panel of experts discussed the past, present and future of drug checking, monitoring and early warning systems. The panel discussed recent drug checking and monitoring examples in the Australian context, including research trials conducted at the Groovin the Moo music festival, the new CanTEST fixed site trial in Canberra and the Rapid and Precise Intelligence on Drugs Pilot Program in Victoria.
Our panellists for the webinar were Prof Suzanne Nielsen, Deputy Director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre and a National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellow, A/Prof Anna Olsen, ANU Medical School, Bronwyn Hendry, CEO of Directions Health, and A/Prof John Fitzgerald, Rapid and Precise Intelligence on Drugs Pilot Program.
Vulnerable children: Substance use among young people and caregivers in child protection systems
Watch our final webinar for 2021 when we took a look at substance use among young people, focusing on the 'crossover' of children at the nexus of the youth justice and child protection systems, and the implications of caregiver substance abuse in children's involvement in the system.
Our speakers for the event were Dr Susan Baidawi, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Social Work, Monash University and Associate Professor Deb Scott, Strategic Lead, National Addiction and Mental Health Surveillance Unit (NAMHSU), Turning Point & Associate Professor, Monash University. The discussant for the webinar was Dr Christine Grove, Senior Lecturer, Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education.
Can cannabinoids help us address the opioid crisis?
Watch our first international guest speaker, Associate Professor Kelly Dunn Ph.D., MBA, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr Dunn is an Associate Professor in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her primary research interest is in opioid use disorder. Associate Professor Dunn is the principal investigator on several grants supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct human behavioral pharmacological studies that examine opioid and cannabinoid interactions in healthy and clinical treatment populations, the genetic mechanisms underlying differences in opioid sensitivity and potential for addiction, and clinically-meaningful variations in opioid withdrawal phenotypes to inform medication development.
The title of Associate Professor Dunn's presentation is Can cannabinoids help us address the opioid crisis? This talk will discuss the results of a human laboratory evaluation of how oral cannabis (dronabinol) might change the experience of opioids effects and analgesia among persons with no opioid history. The role that individual differences in opioid sensitivity has on meaningful opioid-cannabis interactions will also be discussed. Joining Associate Professor Dunn to discuss this topic and its relevance in the Australian and clinical context is Monash University's Professor Rachelle Buchbinder AO, Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Associate Professor Suzanne Nielsen, Deputy Director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre.
Socioeconomic lens on addiction: The social and economic factors influencing addiction, and its impact within particular disadvantaged groups
Watch our June webinar where we took a look at the social and economic factors influencing addiction (particularly injecting drug use), and its impact within particular disadvantaged groups, such as young people transitioning from out of home care and the long-term unemployed.
Our speakers for the event were Dr Sonja de New, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics at Monash Business School and Associate Professor Philip Mendes, Director of the Social Inclusion and Social Policy Research Unit in the Department of Social Work. The discussant for the webinar was Professor Aron Shlonsky, Head of Department of Social Work at Monash University.
Cognitive and neural mechanisms of compulsive eating and obesity
Watch our May interdisciplinary webinar on Obesity where we’ll be examining cognitive and neural mechanisms of compulsive eating and obesity.
Our speakers for the webinar were Dr Katharina Voigt from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and Professor Zane Andrews from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Our webinar discussant was Professor Antonio Verdejo-Garcia also from the Turner Institute.
Culture Change: Shifting the focus from individuals to the group and responding to risky drinking among young adults and within GP practices
Watch Dr Micahel Savic, Strategic Lead, Clinical & Social Research, Turning Point and Dr Liz Sturgiss, GP & Senior Research Fellow, Department of General Practice ‘Culture Change; Shifting the focus from individuals to the group and responding to risky drinking among young adults and within GP practices'. The discussant for the webinar was Dr Tina Lam, Monash Addiction Research Centre.
Neural mechanisms, social context and the therapeutic use of psychedelics
Watch Dr John Gardner, Senior Research Fellow and ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University and Associate Professor Adeel Razi, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, presenting on the ‘Neural mechanisms, social context and the therapeutic use of psychedelics. The discussant for the webinar was Professor Suresh Sundram, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University.
The role of peer support in treatment: The latest on research and practice
Watch Associate Professor Victoria Manning, Head of the Research and Workforce Development unit at Turning Point, and Associate Professor in Addiction Studies at Monash University and Crystal Clancy, CoordinatorPeer Projects, Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC), presenting on the ‘The role of peer support in treatment: The latest on research and treatment’. The discussant for the webinar was Heather Pickard, ACEO, Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC).
The impact of COVID on gambling behaviours: positives, negatives, and vulnerabilities
Watch Associate Professor Charles Livingstone, Head of the Gambling and Social Determinants unit at SPHPM, Monash University and Dr Brian Vandenberg, Health economics, School of Social Sciences presenting on the ‘The Impact of COVID on gambling behaviours’. The discussant for the webinar was Anna Bardsley, Advocate for Gambling Reform Recipient of the Healthy & Active Living Award 2019.
Impacts of COVID on substance use and mental health
Watch Professor Paul Dietze, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Burnet Institute and Associate Professor Christopher Pearce, Department of General Practice presenting on the ‘Impacts of COVID on substance use and mental health’. The discussant for the webinar was Dr Shalini Arunogiri, Deputy Clinical Director of Turning Point’s Treatment Service & Deputy Head, Department of Psychiatry (CCS), Monash University.
The latest trends on prescription opioid use, new information on what contributes to harm, and new resources to better support conversations on opioid safety
Catch up on Dr Jenni Ilomaki, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, and Associate Professor Suzanne Nielsen, Deputy Director, Monash Addiction Research Centre discussing the latest trends on prescription opioid use, new information on what contributes to harm, and new resources to better support conversations on opioid safety below or on our YouTube channel. Our discussant for the webinar was Dr Pallavi Prathivadi from the Department of General Practice, Monash University.