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Professor, Director of Research and Statistical Support Service and Program Leader for Substance Use and Mental Health, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland

Professor Jason Ferris is a drug and alcohol epidemiologist and biostatistician with 20 years of public health research experience. He has a growing international reputation for his significant research contributions to advancing knowledge around drug and alcohol epidemiology and diverse statistical methods of analysis.

Professor Ferris leads a program of innovative research at the intersection of Global Substance Use and Mental Health, Centre for Health Services Research, at the University of Queensland (UQ). His extensive research portfolio represents his efforts to increase public understanding of the harmful impacts of substances on the mental and physical health of Australians. He is also the Director of the Research and Statistical Support Service (RASSS), Faculty of Medicine, UQ.

Professor Ferris has been involved in more than 30 grants as a chief investigator: including the Queensland Alcohol-Related Violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring (QUANTEM) and the Evaluation of the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program (CHYME). Professor Ferris is a member of the Advisory Council to the Queensland Mental Health Commission and was recently invited to be an Associate Fellow with interRAI (an international collaboration promoting the implementation of a standardised physical and mental health assessment tool). In these roles he provides expert consultation on the substance use and mental health trends of Australians, and as part of interRAI, he promotes the implementation of the interRAI community mental health tool across Queensland.

Finally, drawing on his diverse expertise in statistics, methods, research and study design he has been the Chief Biostatistician for the Global Drug Survey since 2013.

Experience

  • 2018–present
    Honorary professor, Turning Point
  • 2018–present
    Associate professor, Center for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland
  • 2019–present
    Advisory council member, Queensland Mental Health Commission
  • 2012–2017
    Senior research fellow, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland
  • 2008–2012
    Principal research and methods advisor, Turning Point

Education

  • 2014 
    The University of Queensland, Doctor of Philosophy (Alcohol Epidemiology)
  • 2007 
    University of Melbourne, Masters in Biostatistics
  • 1997 
    James Cook University, Bachelor of Psychology (1st Class Hons)