New research: Developing a new approach to tackling stigma in healthcare

The DruGS team is currently working on an innovative new project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health that explores understandings of stigma and stigma reduction in blood-borne virus (BBV) and sexually transmissible infection (STI) related healthcare. Reducing stigma is vitally important to improve lives and deliver equitable access for all, yet despite many years…

New study: Ethical and effective drug education

A new study led by DruGS team member ARC DECRA Research Fellow Dr Adrian Farrugia has begun, investigating young people’s experiences of drug education and how they relate to the priorities of key drug education stakeholders. Entitled ‘Addressing gender and sexuality in drug education: Developing effective and ethical drug education’, the project is funded by…

DruGS Program PhD scholar wins prestigious thesis award

As the academic year comes to a close, we’re delighted to announce that DruGS program PhD scholar Gemma Nourse has won La Trobe University’s Nancy Millis Medal for her PhD thesis: ‘Co-constituting drugs, health and masculinity: Performance and image-enhancing drug discourses in Australia’. The medal is ‘presented to outstanding PhD candidates for the exceptionally high…

DruGS team to present research in Sweden and Portugal

November sees members of the DruGS Program travel to Europe to present a range of conference and seminar papers. DruGS Program Lead Professor Suzanne Fraser will present at a seminar hosted by Professor Mats Ekendahl (a DruGS Program collaborator) at the Department of Social Work, Stockholm University (8 November), and at the European Conference on…

Hepatitis C resources available free: Order now

One of the outcomes of the DruGS team’s Australian Research Council-funded project on the uptake of hepatitis C treatment in Australia is a collection of VitalvoicesonhepC.org resources. These are now being distributed for free to services and individuals. Launched on 31 May 2022 at the Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference in Brisbane, VitalvoicesonhepC.org is a much-needed website that…

Policy stakeholder understandings of alcohol, gender and violence: New publication

In a new article published in Qualitative Health Research, DruGS program members Adrian Farrugia and David Moore – in collaboration with colleagues Helen Keane, Mats Ekendahl, Kate Graham and Duane Duncan – analyse how alcohol policy stakeholders understand the relationship between men, masculinities, alcohol and violence. Building on recent publications from the project, the article…

Major project outcome launched: VitalvoicesonhepC.org

What is hepatitis C? How does it feel to be diagnosed with it? What is it like to have treatment and be cured? A ground-breaking new website sheds light on the stories of people affected hepatitis C and explores their experiences of treatment and cure. Launched at the 2022 Viral Hepatitis conference in Brisbane on…

New article: Understanding the social and material basis for hepatitis C cure

A new article, led by DruGS program member Adrian Farrugia, reports findings from a national Australian Research Council-funded project on experiences of hepatitis C, treatment and cure since the advent of direct-acting antiviral treatment. The article, entitled ‘Hepatitis C cure as a “gathering”: Attending to the social and material relations of hepatitis C treatment’, analyses…

Comparing ‘gendering practices’ in research on alcohol and violence in Australia, Canada and Sweden

A new article, led by DruGS program member David Moore, reports findings from an international comparative research project on gender, alcohol and violence. The article, entitled ‘Gendering practices in quantitative research on alcohol and violence: Comparing research from Australia, Canada and Sweden’, analyses the treatment of gender in Canadian and Swedish quantitative research on alcohol…