David Nutt
David Nutt DM, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci, DLaws is currently the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Centre for Academic Psychiatry in the Division of Brain Sciences, Dept of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London. He is also visiting professor at the Open University in the UK and Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
After 11+ entry to Bristol Grammar he won an Open Scholarship to Downing College Cambridge, then completed his clinical training at Guy’s Hospital London. After a period in neurology to MRCP he moved to Oxford to a research position in psychiatry at the MRC Clinical Pharmacology Unit where he obtained his MD. On completing his psychiatric training in Oxford, he continued there as a lecturer and then later as a Wellcome Senior Fellow in psychiatry. He then spent two years as Chief of the Section of Clinical Science in the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in NIH, Bethesda, USA. He returned to England in 1988 to set up the Psychopharmacology Unit in Bristol University, an interdisciplinary research grouping spanning the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, before moving to Imperial College London in December 2008 where he leads a similar group with a particular focus on brain imaging and translational medicine studies on these disorders.
He currently is the founder Chair of DrugScience.org.uk (formerly the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs – ISCD) and has held many leadership positions in both the UK and European academic scientific and clinical organisations. These include presidencies of the European Brain Council, the British Neuroscience Association, the British Association of Psychopharmacology and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology as well as Chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, of Psychiatrists and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also the UK Director of the European Certificate and Masters in Affective Disorders courses and a member of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.
David has edited the Journal of Psychopharmacology for over twenty five years and acts as the psychiatry drugs advisor to the British National Formulary. He has published over 500 original research papers and a similar number of reviews and books chapters, eight government reports on drugs and 31 books, including one for the general public, ‘Drugs Without the Hot Air’, which won the Transmission book prize in 2014 for Communication of Ideas.
David broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television; highlights include being a subject for The Life Scientific on BBC radio 4, several BBC Horizon programs and the Channel 4 documentaries Ecstasy and Cannabis Live. David is much in demand for public affairs programs on therapeutic as well as illicit drugs, their harms and their classification. In 2016 he was advisor to the BBC Religious affairs dept on their groundbreaking programme on psychedelics in religion http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0438553 . He also lecturers widely to the scientific and medical communities as well as to the public e.g. at the Cheltenham Science and Hay How the Light Gets In Festivals, Glastonbury and other music festivals as well as many Café Scientifiques and Skeptics in the Pub. He also speaks regularly to schools.
In 2010 The Times Eureka science magazine voted him one of the 100 most important figures in British Science, and the only psychiatrist in the list. In 2013 he was awarded the Nature/Sense about Science John Maddox prize for Standing up for Science and in 2016 an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Bath for contributions to science and policy.
Jill Gallagher AO
Jill commenced as Victorian Treaty Advancement Commissioner at the start of 2018.
Jill Gallagher AO has many burning ambitions – to help our communities thrive, to reduce racism and to improve the health of Aboriginal people.
A proud Gunditjmara woman, Jill has dedicated her life to advocating for self-determination outcomes on behalf of the Victorian Aboriginal community.
Since 2016 Jill has been involved in the Aboriginal treaty process in Victoria – firstly, as Co-Chair of the Treaty Working Group, and then in February 2018 she was appointed to the role of the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commissioner. She is leading work that will potentially result in unprecedented opportunities for Aboriginal people in Victoria.
Between 1998 and 2018, Jill worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), now one of Australia’s largest and most effective state Aboriginal peak advocacy organisations.
Jill’s influence in improving awareness of health issues and access to dedicated services includes developing the comprehensive Well Persons Health Check program, which began in 2000 and ran across Victoria, and a Koori Maternity Service Program to help Aboriginal women access antenatal services and information.
As CEO of VACCHO from 2001 to 2018, Jill led a major growth in the organisation’s status by working to raise its profile and to position it as the key body in addressing Aboriginal health issues.
Jill has also served on the Board of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO).
Jill’s work was instrumental in achieving bipartisan support for the vital ‘Statement of Intent’ signed by the Victorian Premier in August 2008, on behalf of the Victorian Government, to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on life expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities.
Jill was recognised for her outstanding contribution to community when she was inducted into the Victorian Honor Roll of Women in 2009, awarded the Order of Australia in 2013, and inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honor Roll in 2015.
As well as tackling health issues, Jill is passionate about Aboriginal culture, and Aboriginal culture being valued. This led to Jill becoming a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council. Prior to her work at VACCHO, Jill was a member of the Museum of Victoria and worked for the return of Indigenous skeletal remains and Indigenous cultural property.
Amanda Baker
Professor Amanda Baker (BAHons Psychology 1981, MPsych 1984, PhD 1996) is a clinical psychologist who has worked in mental health, alcohol and other drug and forensic settings in the UK and Australia. Located at the University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health, Amanda has been supported by NHMRC Fellowships continuously since 2003.
Professor Baker leads an internationally renowned program of clinical research trialing novel interventions that target co-existing mental health and substance use problems. She has a special interest in the treatment of smoking and improving physical and mental health among people attending alcohol and other drug and mental health services. She is working with Australian, US and UK collaborators to develop and disseminate comorbidity interventions. She co-edited the book entitled “Clinical Handbook of Co-existing Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Problems”, A. Baker & R.Velleman (Eds), published by Routledge (Jan, 2007).
Amanda has been a Chief Investigator on 20 NHMRC grants. These projects have typically involved multi-site randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions among people with severe mental disorders and substance use problems. She has over 270 publications including 210 articles in peer reviewed journals, 36 book chapters, 20 treatment manuals, 6 clinical guidelines and editor of 2 books.
In 2017 Amanda was the recipient of the 2017 Inaugural ‘Outstanding Academic Mentor Award’, Division of Psychological Research, Education and Training of the Australian Psychological Society. In 2014 she received the Distinguished Career Award, Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy.
Amanda is President of the Australian Association of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (2016-2019) and past President of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drugs (President, 2012-2013). Roles on peer reviewed journals include: Deputy Editor, Drug and Alcohol Review (2001-ongoing); Associate Editor, Journal of Dual Diagnosis (2013-ongoing); Addiction (2017-ongoing) and Addictive Behavior (2017-ongoing).
Fiona Measham
Fiona Measham has been a Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology at Durham University since 2013. Fiona has conducted research for three decades exploring changing trends in drugs and intoxication, festival and night time economies, and the wider socio-cultural context to consumption. Fiona’s current research programme includes annual research at UK festivals exploring the prevalence and policing of festival drug and alcohol use; mapping local drug markets; research and evaluation of European drug safety testing services; a study of sexual harassment and sexual violence at festivals; and a partnership developing rapid forensic analysis for public health.
Fiona completed her US Inside-Out prison exchange programme instructor training in 2013 and with Durham University colleagues, introduced Inside-Out in the UK in 2014. She is Director of an Inside-Out programme at two men’s and one women’s prisons taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level and accredited by Durham University. After qualifying as a yoga teacher with the UK Yoga Alliance in 2018 she now incorporates this in her prison teaching.
Fiona was appointed to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs by the Home Secretary in 2009 to 2018 and remains a member of the ACMD Technical Standing Committee and New Psychoactive Substances Standing Committee. Fiona is a member of David Nutt’s DrugScience committee.
Fiona is co-founder and co-director of The Loop (in the UK in 2013) and The Loop Safety Testing (in Australia in 2018), charities providing an integrated service of drugs, alcohol and sexual health advice and support, forensic testing, brief interventions, research and evaluation. The Loop is best known for introducing Multi Agency Safety Testing to UK festivals in 2016 and UK cities in 2018. For more details see: www.wearetheloop.org.