AEC Fellows: Alison Ritter

Alison Ritter National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Email: alison.ritter@unsw.edu.au Office:  (02) 9385 0236 Fax: (02) 9385 0222

Alison Ritter is an Associate Professor at the Centre, with adjunct appointments with the Regulatory Institutions Network, The Australian National University and the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Griffith University. After completing her Masters in Clinical Psychology, she worked full-time as a clinical psychologist. During this time, she commenced her PhD in treatment outcomes associated with acquired brain injury. A subsequent move to a policy position with the Victorian Department of Human Services led to a secondment to establish the Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre on behalf of Government in 1994. As Deputy Director of Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre from 1995 to 2005, Alison completed numerous clinical research projects, including trials of new medications for the treatment of heroin dependence and managed epidemiological, health services research and evaluation. Assistant Professor Ritter has been highly effective in translating research into public health practice, for example, the development of evidence-based guidelines. She is regularly invited to national meetings to chair or facilitate proceedings, or as an expert participant. She has also been a member of a number of national committee’s, such as the Commonwealth government’s National Drug Strategy Research Committee, and NHMRC workshops to provide strategic advice on drug research. With an NHMRC Research Fellowship and a significant philanthropic grant, Alison is currently director of a major illicit drug policy research program, the Drug Policy Modelling Program in collaboration with scholars from The ANU, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre and Griffith University School of Criminology. The goal of the work is to advance illicit drug policy through improving the evidence-base, developing new policy decision-making tools and understanding the best mix of policy options (law enforcement, prevention, treatment and harm reduction) and the ways in which these different policy options dynamically interact. Memberships: Executive Editor, Drug and Alcohol Review Vice President, Australian Professional Society on Alcohol & Drugs Member, College of Problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD) Member, Australian Psychological Society Member Board of Clinical Psychologist, Australian Psychological Society Member, Alcohol and Drugs Council of Australia Reviewer: Assistant Professor Ritter reviews for a range of competitive funding bodies and international addictions journals, including Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Addiction, Drug & Alcohol Review and International Journal of Drug Policy as well as Australian Psychologist and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

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