Biography

Professor Jason Ferris is a Lead Biostatistician at the Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR). He is the Director of the Faculty of Medicine's Research and Statistical Support Services at the University of Queensland (UQ). He is the academic Head for Substance Use and Mental Health Unit. He holds an honorary professorial role at Turning Point, Victoria and is the Chief Data Scientist for the Global Drug Survey. He is a mental health, substance use and suicide Advisory Council Member for the Queensland Mental Health Commission and he is an associate fellow-elect for interRAI – an international collaborative improving the quality of life of vulnerable persons through a seamless comprehensive assessment system.

He is involved in a number of key projects: The evaluation of ProjectSTOP (a decision-making national database for pharmacists aimed at preventing the use of pseudoephedrine based products as a precursor in the manufacture of methamphetamine), the Queensland evaluation of the Alcohol Fuelled Violence Policy, and a national review of the links between random breath testing and alcohol-related road traffic accidents. Jason has over 20 years of health and public health research experience with a strong focus on substance use research reflected by his well-established publication record. With a Master degree in biostatistics he has well developed and expansive quantitative methods skills and a broad range of experience in many of the facets of both social science and medical research. With a PhD in substance use epidemiology and 20 plus years of complementary research, he has expert content knowledge.

Previously, as a senior statistician at the Institute for Social Science Research he was the director for and developed and taught training modules in research methods and statistical analysis as part of the Methods for Social Analysis and Statistics (MFSAS). Some award highlights: from 2016-2019 he was the co-lead on Australia’s seminal evaluation of Queensland Alcohol Fuelled Violence Policies to reduce alcohol-related harms in night-time environments. In 2019, this evaluation was shortlisted for the prestigious National Drug and Alcohol Award for Excellence in Research.

In 2019, The University of Queensland recognised his contributions to his research field: he was awarded The Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher within the Centre for Health Services and was chosen as a finalist for the Faculty of Medicine Leader of the Future Award (Academic). Additionally, across the Faculty of Medicine, his Research and Statistical Support Service, was nominated for a Service Excellence Award. In 2015, Prof Ferris received the University of Queensland, Early Career Researcher Award within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science. In 2014, Dr Ferris received a highly commended Early Career Researcher Award within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.