About the Conference
On 26th May 2022, the Drugs Research Network Scotland (DRNS) will be running a one-day online conference on the subject of “Complex lives and complex systems: Untangling the complexity through drugs research”. Through a series of keynote presentations, shorter “Research Bite” presentations, networking opportunities, and panel discussion, the conference will encourage delegates to expand their understanding of the wide-ranging complexities affecting the field of drug use and consider the research being done to address them.
Conference ticket registration is now open and can be accessed below. Standard ticket price is £50, with free tickets available for full-time students and unwaged individuals. If you believe you fall within either of these categories, please email admin@drns.ac.uk for a promo code to enter at checkout. One registration is permitted per email address.
Keynote speakers
Bruce Wallace: Bruce Wallace is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Social Work and a Scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR). Bruce’s research has been responsive to the illicit drug overdose emergency in British Columbia, Canada as he co-leads several initiatives including implementation and impacts of community drug checking (https://substance.uvic.ca) and the sanctioning of overdose prevention sites. As a social worker and an engaged researcher he has many years of experience with community non-profit agencies, often collaborating with consumer-led agencies, focused on poverty, homelessness, mental health, substance use and harm reduction. The title for his keynote presentation is: “Drug Checking: Where the Research is Service and Service is Research”
Keith Humphreys: Keith Humphreys is the Esther Ting Memorial Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Research Career Scientist at the VA Health Services Research Centre in Palo Alto and an Honorary Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London. Dr Humphreys has been extensively involved in the formation of public policy, having presented evidence to the U.S. Congress and UK Parliament on multiple occasions, and having served as a member of the White House Commission on Drug Free Communities. During the Obama Administration, he spent a sabbatical year as Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He assisted Professor Dame Carol Black with her influential review of UK drug policy and currently leads the Stanford-Lancet Commission on the North American Opioid Crisis. The title for his keynote presentation is: “Creating evidence-informed public policies addressing addiction”.
Gail Gilchrist: Gail Gilchrist is Professor of Addictions Healthcare Research at the National Addictions Centre, King’s College London. Her research focuses on understanding the relationship between substance use and intimate partner abuse; and developing and testing interventions to address these co-occurring complex issues. Prior to joining King’s in 2013, she has held research posts in the UK, Australia and Spain. Gail currently leads an NIHR programme grant on developing and testing an intervention to reduce intimate partner abuse by men in substance use treatment https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/advance. The title of her keynote presentation is: “Addressing intimate partner abuse perpetration by men in treatment for substance use”
Mat Southwell: Mat Southwell was one of the first generation of harm reduction workers to respond to HIV among people who inject drugs. Mat founded the Health Options Team (HOT) in 1991 and went onto lead East London and City NHS Drugs Services. This included a dynamic partnership with local GPs in a pioneering shared care OAT scheme that engaged some of the most marginalised people who use drugs in healthcare. Mat came out publicly as a drug user activist on a BBC TV documentary in 2001. Since this time, he has worked in the drug user rights movement from the local to the global. He is half-time Project Executive for the European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD) and works with Coact as a technical support consultant in humanitarian aid specialising in harm reduction and community mobilisation. Mat is a strong supporter and reluctant consumer of OAT. The title for his keynote presentation is: “Drug Treatment as a Tool of Empowerment”
Conference format
“Research Bite” Sessions
DRNS is keen to showcase the excellent work being done to address complexity in the policy, practice, treatment, as well as in the experience, of drug use. ‘Research Bite’ sessions will allow presenters to introduce others to the work they are doing through a series of short presentations. Submissions to create a Research Bite presentation are welcomed from a wide range of people. We anticipate that this might include researchers, lived/living experience contributions and from practitioners working in the field.
- Research Bite sessions will be split into four parallel groups of 6-8 presentations which will run over the course of an hour. Each presentation will include a short pre-recorded presentation (5-7mins). Once all presentations have been viewed there will be a “live” question and answer session between presenters and attendees. A networking hour will follow the Research Bites where discussions can continue. This will include the facility to ask presenters for one-to-one discussion. Delegates will have the opportunity to access the video content from other parallel sessions throughout the conference.
- Abstract submissions for the Research Bites are currently under review, with authors expected to be notified of acceptance w/b 7th March 2022
- Presenting authors must register and pay for their conference attendance by 15th April 2022 or their submission will be withdrawn. Registration fee will be £50 standard rate, or free for full-time students/unwaged individuals.
Important dates
- 14th December 2021: Call for Abstracts issued
- w/b 24th January 2022: Conference tickets available for purchase for DRNS members
- w/b 7th February 2022: Conference tickets available for general sale
- 11th February 2022: Abstract submission deadline
- w/b 7th March 2022: Notification of abstract acceptance
- 12th May 2022: Submission deadline for video content
- 26th May 2022: DRNS Conference
If you have any questions or queries relating to the Conference, please email admin@drns.ac.uk