News

Australia’s foremost methamphetamine researcher, Associate Professor Rebecca McKetin, has joined the National Drug Research Institute in Perth, where she will lead a program of research on methamphetamine (‘ice’).  Rebecca comes to NDRI from the Australian National University to take up a 4-year Curtin University Research Fellowship.

Rebecca’s methamphetamine research has been used in three parliamentary inquiries, the National Ice Taskforce, and has attracted high-profile media coverage in Australia and internationally. This impact has been recognised by a Young Tall Poppy Science Award.

Her major achievements include having led the world’s first methamphetamine treatment outcome study; conducting Australia’s first investigation into crystalline methamphetamine use; the development and evaluation of treatments for methamphetamine use, including the world’s first web-based treatment, ‘Breaking the Ice’; and quantifying the risk of psychosis and violence attributable to methamphetamine use.

Rebecca’s current research projects include the development of novel treatment approaches for methamphetamine use in Aboriginal communities, pharmacotherapy trials for methamphetamine dependence, the establishment of a longitudinal cohort study of people who use the drug, and the translation of web-based treatment into health services.