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2011 Cutting Edge - Keynote Presentations

Thursday 1 September Keynote Presentations

Please note that the presentation by Professor Alexander (Sandy) McFarlane is not available.

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Friday 2 September Keynote Presentations

Please note that the presentations by Professor Alexander (Sandy) McFarlane and Professor Tom McLennan are not available.

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Tom McLellan

Tom McLellan

A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept of Psychiatry
Director, Penn Center for Substance Abuse Solutions

Until October 2010, A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D. was the Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, serving as primary advisor to the White House on a broad range of drug control issues. In that capacity he was one of the principal authors of the President's National Drug Control Strategy.

Prior to his role in federal government, Dr. McLellan was a career researcher for 35 years with the Treatment Research Institute (which he co-founded in 1992) and the University of Pennsylvania.. In his career he has published over 400 articles and chapters on addiction research. He has received several distinguished awards including Life Achievement Awards from the American, Swedish, Italian and British Societies of Addiction Medicine and most recently from the American Purblic Health Association (2010)

Dr. McLellan holds a B.A. from Colgate University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College. He received postgraduate training in psychology at Oxford University in England.

Now back at the University of Pennsylvania since December 1, 2010, Dr. McLellan will head the newly formed Center for Substance Abuse Solutions; a business-oriented translational and applied center designed to work with the 60+ substance abuse researchers and research centers already at Penn to develop their findings into practical and widely applied interventions, practices, services and policies to address the devastating problems of substance abuse affecting families, communities, schools, businesses and all areas of government.

Sandy McFarlane

Sandy McFarlane

Professor Alexander C. McFarlane
MB. BS. (Hons), MD., Dip. Psychother., FRANZCP

Sandy McFarlane is Professor of Psychiatry and the Head of the University of Adelaide Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies. He is an international expert in the field of the impact of disasters and posttraumatic stress disorder. He is a Past President of both the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

He is the recipient for the Robert Laufer Award for outstanding scientific achievement in the study of the effects of traumatic stress. In 2008, he was awarded the Organon Senior Research Award for the most significant contribution to psychiatric research in Australia during the preceding 5 years. He also became the 11th recipient of the Founders Medal of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research, awarded to individuals who have made a contribution of significance to psychiatric research over their entire career.

He has held to role the Senior Adviser in Psychiatry to the Australian Defence Force, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He holds the rank of Group Captain in the RAAF specialist reserve. He has acted as an advisor to many groups in post disaster situations, including the Kuwait Government, and the United Nations and has lectured and run workshops in Europe, United States of America, Asia and South Africa.

Apart from his interest in posttraumatic stress disorder in relation to disaster victims, military personnel and other civilian accidents, he has broadened the relevance of this knowledge to the area of those suffering severe mental illness. His research has focused on the epidemiology and longitudinal course of posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as the neuroimaging of the cognitive deficits in this disorder. He has a particular interest in the impact of childhood trauma and its impact on adult adjustment developed from two large longitudinal cohort studies.

He established the MilHOP research program which is investigating the physical and mental health of all veterans and serving members who have been deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations. He is also the Principle Investigator of the Defence Health and Wellbeing Survey which is examining the mental health of the entire Australian Defence Force. His research is also supported by a NHMRC program grant.

He has published over 300 articles and chapters in various refereed journals and has co-edited three books.

He is a member of several international advisory boards in the field of traumatic stress. He has also been involved in medico-legal cases in a number of jurisdictions in Australia and internationally on matters relating to traumatic stress. He frequently appears in the media as a commentator on the impact of war and disaster.

In 2011 Sandy received the Officer of the Order of Australia award in the Australia Day Honours List. The award recognizes outstanding contribution to medical research in the field of psychiatry, particularly posttraumatic stress disorders, to veterans' mental health management, and as an author.

Dr Susanna Galea

CADS Service Clinical Director / Consultant Psychiatrist

Susanna has worked in the addiction field for a number of years. She provides clinical leadership to the largest drug and alcohol service in New Zealand. Susanna has been contributing to the scientific knowledge of addiction through involvement and facilitation of research projects, training of various disciplines and publications such as book chapters and peer review journals.

Dr. Galea's main interests are in multimorbidities related to addiction, alcohol related harm and use of substances in special populations.

Graeme Ramsey

Graeme Ramsey

CEO – Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand

Graeme Ramsey was appointed CEO of the Problem Gambling Foundation (PGF) on July 1 2008.

Graeme has previously worked in the corporate, not-for-profit and local government sectors as a CEO and consultant both in New Zealand and Europe.

Graeme developed an understanding of problem gambling when he was Mayor of the Kaipara District Council. He met a PGF worker at a health hui and later worked with them to facilitate one of the first sinking lid policies in New Zealand.

He is involved in a number of environmental and community organisations involved in social change. Graeme is also an elected Councillor on the Northland Regional Council.

Graeme has a Masters of Business Administration from Warwick University and a Bachelor of Arts from Auckland University.

Manase Lua

Manase Lua

Malo e lelei!

I am very privileged and honoured to join a vibrant and talented team, and I relish the opportunity of meeting some of the challenges ahead, namely to contribute to making a positive difference to the Pacific Mental Health and Addictions Sector.

Although I have primarily worked in the public service for the last 10 years, in both the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and Ministry of Health, I have been able to cover a number of different sectors that have included the wider Pacific health and the disability sector. I have also been actively involved in my local church and community projects as part of the Tongan Advisory Council and as a member of the Aotearoa Tongan Health Workers Association.

I was born in the Kingdom of Tonga but, since 1974, I have been brought up in New Zealand. My mother is from the village of Vaini and my father is from Ha'afeva in the Ha'apai Group. I am happily married and have been blessed with four beautiful children. My interests include music, sports, travel and creative writing.

Di Grennell

Di Grennell

(Ngai Tahu, Ngai Mutunga o Wharekauri)

Di is the Director, Operations in the Whānau & Social Policy Wāhanga at Te Puni Kōkiri National Office. Formerly a member of the taskforce on Whānau –Centred Initiatives, Di is working with her team to support Whānau Ora Implementation. Di has a particular interest in strategies for social change. In addition to her work with the Amokura Family Violence Prevention Consortium in Tai Tokerau, Di's background includes provider development, education, community research and working with tai tamariki. Di is a mother, step-mother, and 'Nana Di' to six mokopuna. She and her husband Witi Ashby live in Wellington.

Assoc. Prof. Elsie Ho

Assoc. Prof. Elsie Ho

Elsie Ho is Associate Professor and Director of Population Mental Health in the School of Population Health of The University of Auckland. She has previously held teaching and research appointments at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Waikato. She is a leading expert in migration and mental health studies in New Zealand, and has published on the topics of Asian transnational communities, migrant and refugee settlement and diversity issues. In 2007 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to migrant communities.

Raine Berry

Raine Berry

Raine Berry is the Director of Matua Raki New Zealand's National Addiction Workforce Development Centre. She is a registered mental health nurse who has worked in the addiction field since 1990 in a variety of clinical, education and management roles.







Tuari Potiki

Tuari Potiki

Tuari is the General Manager Strategic Operations, at ALAC. He moved into this role in January 2008, after working for more than two years as ALAC's Southern Regional Manager.

Tuari has been extensively involved in the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD), mental health and justice sectors for almost 20 years. He has worked in a number of different roles as a clinician and tutor before moving into management roles in both the public and non-government organisation sectors.

Following a secondment to ALAC in 2000, Tuari took up a senior management position with Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation where he managed social development programmes for the iwi. In this role, Tuari helped to develop the Ngāi Tahu Strategy 2025.

Tuari also has extensive governance experience having served terms on the boards of the Canterbury District Health Board, the Canterbury Community Trust and He Oranga Pounamu.