Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Associate Professor Bosco Rowland is a registered psychologist and public health researcher. He applies social-behavioural science to real-world problems in health, social and emotional development. His work examines the risk and protective factors that shape health behaviours across the life course and across countries, with a particular focus on alcohol and other drug use, adolescent mental health and community-level prevention.
He is an expert in the design and evaluation of randomised controlled trials, process evaluations and longitudinal cohort studies. He has also published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. His quantitative expertise includes multilevel modelling, structural equation modelling, panel data and survival analysis (Stata, SPSS, AMOS, Mplus, CMA, JASP). His research is organised around three questions: what matters (cross-sectional and longitudinal studies), what works (RCTs) and what translates (implementation and evidence translation).
Much of his research has tested community-level approaches to prevention. This includes the Communities That Care system and the Smart Generation trial of social marketing and community mobilisation to reduce underage drinking, along with evaluations of the Good Sports alcohol management program in community sports clubs. He has also led cross-national comparisons of adolescent problem behaviour in Australia, the United States, India and the Netherlands. His current projects focus on alcohol availability as a pathway to mental ill-health and injury in young people, school-based help-seeking for substance use problems, and opioid and pain treatment.
Before joining Monash, he held research and leadership roles at Deakin University (Alfred Deakin Post-Doctoral Fellow and Senior Research Fellow) and the Australian Institute of Family Studies, where he was Senior Manager of Lifecourse and Longitudinal Studies. At AIFS he helped lead work on the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, Growing Up in Australia and Ten to Men. He began his career at the Australian Drug Foundation's Centre for Youth Drug Studies.
His research has attracted over AU$4.8 million in Category 1 funding, including NHMRC, ARC and US NIAAA grants, plus more than AU$2 million in commissioned research. He is Chief Executive Officer of Communities That Care Ltd, a not-for-profit building prevention capacity in Australian communities. He is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Society of Prevention Research, an editorial board member of BMC Public Health, and a reviewer for the ARC and the Medical Research Future Fund. He has supervised higher-degree research students to completion.
Research interests
Associate Professor Rowland’s research interests include alcohol and other drug use and related harms; addiction treatment and help-seeking; adolescent health, development and mental health; opioid safety and pain management; men’s health; social inclusion; and children’s social and emotional development. He is particularly interested in how family, school, community, service and policy environments influence outcomes across the life course, and in the design and evaluation of community and school-based prevention initiatives.
Research area keywords
- Prevention science
- Alochol and other drugs
- Addiction
- Public health
- Health psychology
- Adolescent health
- Mental health
- Risk and protective factors
- Community-based prevention
- Alcohol policy
- Opioid safety
- Randomised controlled trials
- Program evaluation
- Implementation
- Advanced statistical modelling
- Research translation
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Understanding and disrupting alcohol availability as a pathway to addressing mental ill-health, injury and harm with adolescents and young adults
Rowland, B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Kelly, A. B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ogeil, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Toumbourou, J. W. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Klettke, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Allen, J. B. H. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Xia, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lubman, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Baldwin, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Abimanyi-Ochom, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bailey, J. A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Clancy, E. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Smith, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Butterworth Banzhaf, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Handley, E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jorm, A. F. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lam, T. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Goodare, J. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Rashid, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Veenker, B. (Associate Investigator (AI)), McDonald, L. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Allen-Paisley, C. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Rekve, D. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Pristov, E. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Killick-Moran, C. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Maalouf, W. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Lewis, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Natarajan, I. (Associate Investigator (AI))
2/02/26 → 31/01/31
Project: Research
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Co-designing pain management with people in opioid dependence treatment
Nielsen, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Davies, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ashton-James, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dowla, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lim, M. S. C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Murnion, B. P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Glare, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Yang, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lord, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dietze, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Higgs, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rowland, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), MacCartney, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Picco, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cheetham, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Crawford, S. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Lubman, D. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Fischer, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Fyfield, L. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Demirkol, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Petrie, D. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/07/25 → 31/08/27
Project: Research
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Upscaling a pharmacist-prescriber model of collaborative care for Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence (MATOD) to address Australia’s treatment shortage.
Nielsen, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Nissen, L. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jackson, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rowland, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Petrie, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cheetham, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Armstrong, F. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Morgan, K. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Lord, S. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Wood, P. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Muir Wilson, J. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Winmill, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Tassone, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), McMaugh, J. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Crawford, S. (Partner Investigator (PI)) & Lingham, V. (Partner Investigator (PI))
1/04/25 → 31/03/29
Project: Research
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MTL: Co-designing an evidence-informed, scalable school-based program to promote help-seeking for substance use problems
Lubman, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Olivier, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Grove, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Waddell, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cheetham, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rowland, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McNaney, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Xie, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Matar, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Rickwood, D. J. (Associate Investigator (AI))
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Australia), Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF), Headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation Ltd, Turning Point
1/03/24 → 29/02/28
Project: Research
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Update the 2004 Principles for School Drug Education
Lubman, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Grove, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bowden, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Toumbourou, J. W. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Leahy, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Cheetham, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Rowland, B. (Chief Investigator (CI))
31/05/24 → 30/12/25
Project: Research
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AAT-App+: A double-blind, pilot randomised controlled trial of a novel personalised smartphone intervention to reduce hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption among middle–older adults
Bolt, G. L., Rowland, B., Piercy, H., Bradshaw, J., Lubman, D. I. & Manning, V., Feb 2026, In: Addictive Behaviors. 173, 15 p., 108560.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
A multisite pilot type 2 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial of a community pharmacist-led model of collaborative care for Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence: outcomes of the EPIC-MATOD trial
Nielsen, S. (Leading Author), Graham, F., Hadi, M. H., Grist, E., Rowland, B., Jackson, J., Lord, S., Dostal, J., Wood, P., Morgan, K., Petrie, D. & Cheetham, A. (Leading Author), Feb 2026, In: Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 22, 2, p. 292-310 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Characterising the Beyond 50 cohort: preliminary exploration of physical and psychosocial health factors and substance use among a cohort of community dwelling adults aged 50–70 Years
Laing, R., Lam, T., Rowland, B., Dietze, P., Lalor, A., Hill, K. D., Alfrey, L., Andrew, N. E., Arunogiri, S., Bright, S., Picco, L. & Nielsen, S., Sept 2026, In: Drug and Alcohol Review. 45, 6, 15 p., e70228.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Efficacy of a personalised alcohol approach bias modification smartphone app in people accessing outpatient alcohol use disorder treatment: A randomised controlled trial
Garfield, J. B. B., Rowland, B., Liu, S. K., Piercy, H., Bonomo, Y., Whelan, D. & Manning, V., Jan 2026, In: Addiction. 121, 1, p. 82-93 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Profiling Vulnerability in Youth and Predicting Educational Attainment in Young Adulthood
Renner, H. M., Rowland, B., Hutchinson, D. & Toumbourou, J. W., Jan 2026, In: Journal of Adolescence. 98, 1, p. 82-94 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus)