Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Tina Lam is a Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Addiction Research Centre (MARC), where she is the Program Lead for Alcohol Policy & Public Health Impact (specialising in alcohol and opioid harms, stakeholder engagement, and translating research into meaningful public health outcomes).
Opioid research Dr Lam has led includes the largest international study on the effect of type of opioid prescribed after surgery, the first population-level study which found a resurgence of Australian heroin harms around 2014, the largest international analysis of Emergency Department data to compare nine of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical-opioids in Australia, and the largest study to monitor for unintentional fentanyl consumption in Australia.
Dr Lam’s influential alcohol-research program on risky drinking Australian adolescents who are underrepresented in mainstream surveys but overrepresented in harms, has been recognised through citation of in the Commonwealth’s National Alcohol Strategy 2019-2028. Dr Lam led this alcohol program, and together with collaborators from research centres from all jurisdictions of Australia on topics such as alcohol’s harms to others, insomnia amongst risky drinkers, alcohol advertising, pre-drinking and policy-support.
Dr Lam is a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Technical Advisory Group for the National Drug Household Survey (Australia’s largest, most representative, and longest running drug survey). Dr Lam is also a Deputy Editor for the Drug and Alcohol Review journal, and a technical report writer for the World Health Organisation’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. Dr Lam has won various awards such as the 2021 Monash University Early Career Researchers Publication Prize for Public Health Research, the 2019 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol & Other Drugs Award oral presentation of a poster, 2018 Top five media commentators for the Faculty of Health Sciences (where in a 12 month period, her research was covered in 113 stories reaching a cumulative audience of 2.7 million and had an advertising space rate of $397k), and the 2013 Winner of McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth. Her project team has been listed as a finalist for the 2022 Victorian Health Promotion Outstanding Health Promotion Award.
To date, Dr Lam has been awarded >$3M to conduct addiction research, including $1M as primary investigator. Dr Lam joined Monash in 2018, and from 2019-2022 published 28 papers including five in the discipline's most prestigious journal ‘Addiction’, three as lead author. Dr Lam also has a comprehensive catalogue of outputs not traditionally captured, such as 24 technical reports commissioned by bodies such as the World Health Organisation, the Commonwealth Department of Health, the Mental Health Commission, and the Cancer Council; and has produced over 15 bulletins designed specifically for policy-makers.
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):
External positions
Adjunct Research Fellow, Curtin University
31 Aug 2018 → 31 Aug 2022
Research area keywords
- Alcohol
- Drug use
- Addiction
- Risky alcohol use
- Public health
- Alcohol policy
- Young people
- Drug dependence
- Drug Addiction
- Drug treatment
- Health policy
- Opioid
- Opioid Dependence, Social Policy and Culture
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Transforming opioid poisoning surveillance through novel technologies
Xia, T. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Dipnall, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hayman, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lam, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Nielsen, S. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Beare, R. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Dietze, P. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Scott, N. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Stoove, M. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Roxburgh, A. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/01/25 → 31/12/27
Project: Research
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Using web scraping to construct a world-first alcohol retail pricing system to inform evidence-based alcohol policies
Lam, T. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Petrie, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Vandenberg, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Campbell, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Nielsen, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/07/24 → 30/06/25
Project: Research
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Creating a world-standard enriched older-adult cohort to inform mental health and substance use disorder prevention
Nielsen, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Lam, T. (Chief Investigator (CI))
20/12/22 → 19/12/27
Project: Research
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Supporting vulnerable populations to maintain healthy ageing: Development of an enriched cohort study
Nielsen, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lam, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lalor, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Andrew, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dietze, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Coulson, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Arunogiri, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bright, S. J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hill, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Morgan, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Alfrey, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Francia, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/22 → 30/09/25
Project: Research
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Integrating alcohol culture change into older adults’ positive ageing
Lam, T. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Savic, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lalor, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sturgiss, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Alfrey, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Francia, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Stragalinos, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rudlin, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Shipton, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Nielsen, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Hill, K. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/22 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
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A novel approach to co-design of digital health interventions for implementation and dissemination: Co-design of a digital Prescription Opioid Safety Toolkit
Waddell, A., Watterson, J. L., Basur, D., McMaugh, J., Boogs, M., Picco, L., Lam, T., Seguin, J., Olivier, P. L. & Nielsen, S., 2024. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
Open Access -
Enriching qualitative alcohol and other drug research by engaging lived experience peer researchers in a dual-interview approach: A case study
Berg, A., Francia, L., Lam, T., Morgan, K., Lubman, D. I. & Nielsen, S., Jul 2024, In: Drug and Alcohol Review. 43, 5, p. 1040-1044 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
The relationship between presurgical opioid type and persistent postoperative opioid use: a retrospective observational linkage study comparing tapentadol and oxycodone
Michell, E., Lam, T., Xia, T., Nielsen, S. & Stevens, J., Feb 2024, In: Anaesthesia. 79, 2, p. 203-205 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
Using Text Messaging Surveys in General Practice Research to Engage With People From Low-Income Groups: Multi-Methods Study
Sturgiss, E., Advocat, J., Barton, C., Walker, E. N., Nielsen, S., Wright, A., Lam, T., Gunatillaka, N., Oad, S. & Wood, C., 5 Sept 2024, In: JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 12, 14 p., e55354.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
A call to action: how can we better implement recommendations for non-routine use of modified-release opioid formulations?
Lam, T., Stevens, J. & Nielsen, S., May 2023, In: Anaesthesia. 78, 5, p. 660-661 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Other › peer-review
Prizes
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Monash University Early Career Researchers Publication Prize - The John McNeil Prize for Public Health Research
Lam, T. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Trends in heroin and pharmaceutical-opioid related harms in Victoria, Australia up to 2018. Addiction. 115(2): 261-269 doi:10.1111/add.14784 [Q1, IF 6.851]
Lam, T. (Recipient), Kuhn, L. (Recipient), Hayman, J. (Recipient), Middleton, M. (Recipient), Wilson, J. (Recipient), Scott, D. (Recipient), Lubman, D. (Recipient), Smith, K. (Recipient) & Nielsen, S. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Eastern Health Clinical School (Organisational unit)
Lam, T. (Member)
Jul 2020 → …Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Drug and Alcohol Review (Journal)
Lam, T. (Editorial board member)
May 2020 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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Eastern Health Clinical School (Organisational unit)
Lam, T. (Member)
Jan 2019 → 2022Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership (External organisation)
Lam, T. (Member)
Sept 2018 → 2022Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (External organisation)
Lam, T. (Member)
May 2018 → 2023Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
Press/Media
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Australia's young drinkers report unwanted sexual attention, violence
12/12/19
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Dr Lam's past media stories (July 2018 & earlier)
20/08/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment