Welcome to the launch issue of Connections

April 2014

Drug and Alcohol Research Connections - or Connections for short - is a new online publication from Australia’s collaborative network of alcohol and other drug research centres, namely the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) and the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA).

This bimonthly publication is designed not only to provide information on what is happening at each of the national research centres in one central portal, but also to better highlight how the centres are working together to gather and disseminate new information on Australia’s drug and alcohol use, related harms, treatments, policies and more.

Each issue, we will spotlight a significant research project nearing completion in the Project Focus section, with an emphasis on what researchers investigated, what they found, and why it’s important. New Projects will highlight the other end of the research process, that is new areas of investigation that are only just getting off the ground.

The Opinion page will provide commentary on a topical issue from a researcher’s perspective, while for something more light hearted, turn to the Conversation With… page, where we chat to someone in Australia’s AOD industry about their life inside and outside of work.

Information on conferences and events,  launches, job opportunities, appointments and more will be covered in our News pages. If you’re looking for a recent report or publication, try our Publications List, with notable papers or reports to be spotlighted in the Publications Highlights section.  

Connections will be produced on a rotating basis by the three research centres, with contributions from each centre in every issue.  For those in the industry who were familiar with the CentreLines newsletter, please note Connections replaces that publication. You can download archival copies of CentreLines from the NDARC or NDRI websites.

On behalf of NDARC director Michael Farrell, NDRI director Steve Allsop, NCETA director Ann Roche, and all centre staff, we hope you enjoy Connections and find it a valuable contribution to Australia’s AOD sector.  We welcome your feedback on this and future issues.