Professor Robin Room, BA, MA, MSoc, PhD(Soc)
Acting Director
Head of AERF Centre For Alcohol Policy

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

Trevor King, BBSc, GradDipAppPsych, MHSc, CertAddSt
Deputy Director

Trevor King is currently working as Deputy Director of Turning Point. Trevor has worked in senior clinical, education, policy and service management positions in both government and non-government organisations in Victoria over the past 25 years. After graduating as a Psychiatric Nurse in 1980, he worked at Pleasant View Alcohol and Drug Centre for 8 years and later in a drug and alcohol policy position in the Victorian Department of Human Services (DHS) where he was responsible for the development of a statewide methadone program and needle and syringe programs across Victoria. For the past 11 years Trevor has worked at Turning Point, primarily in the position of Head of Education and Training where he provided policy advice on workforce development issues at a state and national level.

Topics of interest:
· Alcohol policy
· Alcohol-related harm
· Alcohol and drugs in the workplace
· Workforce development

Kieran Connolly, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, HND, GradDipTrain&Dev, MA(PrimHlthCare)
Program Leader: Training and Information, Tertiary Programs

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

David Finn, BBus, FCPA, FCIS
Corporate Secretary

David Finn initially joined Turning Point as a consultant in 2003 and has since been appointed to staff as the Corporate Secretary. David leads the finance and information technology groups and is secretary to the Turning Point Board of Management. He has extensive commercial experience across the manufacturing and service industry sectors, with involvement in research, design and development, manufacturing and sales of Australian products for local and international markets.

Topics of interest:
· Financial and management accounting
· Contract negotiation and administration
· Business evaluation and investment strategies

Dr Nicole Lee, BSc(Hons), PhD, GradCertEd
Head of Research

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

Lynda Berends, BEd, BSc(Hons), PhD, GradCertHE
Senior Research Fellow: Health Services Research

Dr Lynda Berends leads the Health Services Research and Evaluation program at Turning Point. She has qualifications in psychology, education and health economics, with substantial experience across applied research and education. Lynda’s work includes process, impact and outcome evaluations of state initiatives in health and justice, the review of research centres of excellence, the examination of initiatives working across different systems, and investigations informing the development of service delivery models. Lynda is particularly interested in barriers to treatment access, service user perspectives on treatment, and the interface between care systems.

Topics of interest:
· Program and systems evaluation
· Qualitative research
· The interface between care systems
· Service user perspectives on treatment
· Linking research and practice

Wendy Dodd, CertIVAssess&WorkplaceTraining, DipWelStud, GradCertVocEdu&Training, MA(Training &Devel)
Program Leader: Vocational and Technical Education

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

Pauline Wright RN(Div 1), CertPalliativeCare, CertIVAOD, CertMediation&ConflictRes, CertClinSupervision
Manager - Clinical Services

Pauline Wright has worked in the AOD field for over ten years in areas of custodial health, health promotion and primary health. Pauline has held various management portfolios across these areas and has a keen interest in workforce development, supervision, program development and service improvement, especially as it relates to access issues for severely marginalised groups. Pauline was the founding coordinator of the first opiate substitution program for young women in custody in Australia.

Topics of interest:
· Comorbidity service improvement
· Pain management
· Community education on substance use and comorbidity

Megan Hanlon, BBus, CPA
Finance Manager

A certified practicing accountant with eight years experience as an auditor, Megan Hanlon is responsible for Turning Point’s Finance and Payroll and oversees risk management issues. Her experience also includes four years working as a financial, management, project, and reporting accountant for The Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Megan has been committed to improving the accounting software and procedures. She is currently working on improving the reporting capacity for Finance and Payroll.

Topics of interest:
· System Implementation
· Reporting

Rick Noble, BA(Rec)
Information Technology Manager

Rick is responsible for information and communication technology and brings a passion to governance, management and operations in ICT. Rick started at Turning Point in 2001, following ten years in publicly listed and privately owned companies. He has a background in distribution, retail and e-commerce verticals and the not-for-profit sector.

Topics of interest:
· Security
· Standards alignment and compliance
· Web based systems
· Social implications of technology