National Drug and Alcohol Awards

Celebrating Australian achievements to prevent
and reduce alcohol and other drug use and harm

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Professor Amanda Baker & University of Newcastle win prestigious national award

Professor Amanda Baker and the National Alcohol and Drug Research Centre have won the prestigious Excellence in Research National Drug and Alcohol Award. Professor Baker and her team were been nominated for two new tools that enable front-line service organisations to better identify and treat co-occurring mental health and drug/ alcohol abuse.

Professor Baker’s team directed clinical and research teams to investigate relationships between alcohol/ other drug use and mental health. The research reports and tools developed have been critical in deepening the understanding of comorbid issues.

These tools discovered that unifying treatment for alcohol/ other drug use and mental health results in more effective treatment for this often-marginalised constituency. This work has important implications at a broad policy level and at the front-line treatment stages.

The two other finalists for the Excellence in Research award are; Doctor Laura Vogl and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, for their new computer-based educational tool, the CLIMATE Schools Alcohol module and Prof. Sandra Jones’ research into alcohol marketing from the University of Wollongong.

The judging panel, chaired by Professor Jenny Fleming, from the University of Tasmania, said that the standard of finalist was the highest they had seen in the running of the awards, and highlighted the ground-breaking work done by Australian researchers into all aspects of alcohol and drug use within our communities.

‘This year the Judging Panel was happy to receive record nominations in the Excellence in Research category,’ said Professor Fleming. ‘The exemplary quantity and calibre of the nominees made judging an incredibly difficult process, however, the three finalists have all demonstrated excellent research skill, and highlighted new areas for further policy/ program development’.

CONTACT: Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications & Policy Phone: 02 6215 9806 (W) or 0400 860 058 (M).

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