Kieran Connolly, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, HND, GradDipTrain&Dev, MA(PrimHlthCare)

Kieran Connolly is the Program Manager for Training and Information Resources at Turning Point. He is committed to the ongoing development of clinical skills within the alcohol and other drug (AOD) sector and allied fields. He has contributed to skills enhancement in these fields since 1990 and maintains an interest in broader workforce development issues that impact on the capacity of workers to provide improved interventions. Kieran has presented at a number of national and international conferences on these issues.

Topics of interest:
· Workforce development issues in the AOD area

Wendy Dodd, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, DipWelStud, GradCertVocEdu&Training, MA(Training &Devel)

Wendy is the Program Manager for Vocational and Technical Education at Turning Point. Her work extends to the development and maintenance of workforces in the alcohol and drug sector, Juvenile Justice and South East Asia. She has an extensive background of working in educational enivironments within the community sector and universities. Wendy has presented at national conferences on “Communities of Practice” and workforce development. In addition Wendy is working collaboratively with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC-Bangkok office) facilitating training.

Topics of interest:
· Workforce development – alcohol and other drug sector and other sectors
· Vocational and technical education
· Communities of Practice

Malcolm Doreian, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, RN(Div 1), RPN, GradDipAODStud

Malcolm Doreian has a nursing background with twenty years of clinical experience in the alcohol and drug sector. Mal currently works as a Senior Education and Training Officer, specialising in pharmacotherapies, drug actions and pharmacology. He has illustrated many of Turning Point’s educational resources, including the Getting Through Withdrawal booklets and the Service Directory for Alcohol and Other Drug Users. In addition, Mal provided the design and illustrations for The Adventures of Opie, Turning Point’s animated movie on the effects of heroin.

Topics of interest:
· Pharmacology
· Pharmacotherapy
· Harm minimisation

Dr Anne-Marie Laslett, BDSc, MDSc, MPH

Dr Anne-Marie Laslett joined Turning Point in 1995 as a Research Fellow and has worked in the Epidemiology Unit since that time. Prior to joining Turning Point, Anne-Marie gained an undergraduate degree in dentistry and undertook a Public Health Traineeship with the Department of Human Services, where she worked in protective services, alcohol and drug, sexual health, mothers’ and children’s health, and cancer and injury epidemiology. Anne-Marie currently manages the analysis and production of the Alcohol Statistics Handbooks, a series of handbooks on alcohol availability, patterns of alcohol use and alcohol-related mortality, morbidity, road crashes, assaults and family violence.

Topics of interest:
· Patterns of alcohol use and harm in local government areas, Victoria
· Young people, drinking and alcohol related harm
· Oral health of alcohol and drug users

Dr Nicole Lee, BSc(Hons), PhD, GradCertEd

Dr Nicole Lee is Clinical Research Program Leader at Turning Point. Nicole’s primary interests are in the areas of methamphetamine treatment and intervention for concurrent substance use and mental health problems. She is a clinical psychologist with over 11 years practice experience in a range of settings, including acute and chronic mental health services, inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment services and sexual health services, and has been engaged in research in the alcohol and drug field for over 15 years. She also has significant experience in training and capacity building with alcohol and other drug clinicians.

Topics of interest:
· Methamphetamine and other psychostimulants
· Comorbidity of mental health and substance use problems
· Alcohol intervention
· Evidence based practice
· Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
· General AOD treatment
· Current research at Turning Point

Professor Robin Room, BA, MA, MSoc, PhD(Soc)

In March 2006, Professor Robin Room became Professor of Alcohol Policy Research at the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne and the Director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at Turning Point. Professor Room received his higher education in the U.S., with a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and has worked in alcohol and drug policy for 30 years. Prior to his current position, Professor Room was the founding director of the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University.

Topics of interest:
· Alcohol and drug policy
· Social, cultural and epidemiological studies of alcohol, drugs and gambling behaviour
· Social responses to alcohol and drug problems

Ray Stephens, Cert IVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, RN, BN

Ray Stephens is a Senior Education and Training Officer at Turning Point. Ray has extensive community nursing experience with some graduate experience in acute inpatient settings, 5 years with the Royal District Nursing Service and over 4 years clinical experience with Turning Point in a variety of alcohol and other drug settings. Ray is Turning Point’s flexible learning provider administrator and is responsible for the design, development and maintenance of all online learning. He is qualified in training alcohol and other drug workers, nurses, and other community health providers.

Topics of interest:
· Online education in alcohol and drug issues
· Smoking amongst alcohol and drug workers