Jason Ferris

Professor Jason Ferris is a distinguished academic at the University of Queensland, serving as Director of Research and Statistical Support Services (RASSS) and Program Leader for the Global Substance Use and Mental Health unit at the Centre for Health Services Research. With over 20 years of experience in social science and public health research, he also holds an honorary professorial role at Turning Point, Victoria, and serves as Chief Data Scientist for the Global Drug Survey since 2013. Additionally, he is an Advisory Council Member to the Queensland Mental Health Commission and an interRAI Fellow.

Professor Ferris earned his Bachelor (Honours) of Psychology from James Cook University, followed by a Master's in Biostatistics from the University of Melbourne, and completed his PhD in alcohol epidemiology at the University of Queensland in 2014.

His research spans multiple critical areas at the intersection of public health and substance use. Professor Ferris specializes in biostatistics and applied statistical methods, with a strong focus on substance use epidemiology, mental health, and data science applications in healthcare. His work integrates large-scale data analysis with policy-relevant research to address complex public health challenges related to alcohol and drug use. The team he leads has expertise in analyzing large public health datasets (>30 million observations) to inform alcohol and illicit drug policy internationally.

Professor Ferris's extensive publication record demonstrates consistent focus on substance use patterns, mental health intersections, and policy impacts. His recent work shows growing emphasis on novel substances, harm reduction strategies, and the application of advanced data infrastructure in public health research. The research trends reveal increasing international collaboration and methodological sophistication in analyzing large datasets to inform evidence-based policy, with over 50 publications using data from the Global Drug Survey.

Professor Ferris has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing his contributions to research and innovation:

• Award for Excellence in Innovation (University of Queensland, 2023)
• Innovators of the Year Award (Faculty of Medicine, 2022)
• Service Excellence Award (Faculty of Medicine, 2021)
• Leader of the Future Award (Academic) and The Director's Choice Award (2020)
• Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher (Centre for Health Services Research, 2019)
• Early Career Researcher Award (2015)
• Highly Commended Early Career Researcher Award (2014)

As a dedicated supervisor, Professor Ferris currently mentors doctoral students working on projects related to alcohol-related violence in Queensland, the Global Drug Survey, evaluation of ProjectSTOP and methamphetamine laboratories, and national evaluation of random breath testing. His research has been supported by significant grants from NHMRC, MRFF, Grains Research & Development Corporation, and various other funding bodies, totaling millions of dollars in research investment. His work has directly influenced policy changes, including the repeal of 1am lock-out laws in Queensland and changes to police approaches to random breath testing.

Professor Ferris leads the Global Substance Use and Mental Health unit at CHSR and co-developed KeyPoint, an innovative data infrastructure solution for sensitive research data. He is currently working with Dr. Dom Gorse on developing a University of Queensland Trusted Research Environment (UQ-TRE), further advancing research data management capabilities at the institution. Previously, he served as Director of Methods for Social Analysis and Statistics (MFSAS) from 2016-2018 and was ISSR Co-postgraduate Coordinator from 2016-2017, developing and teaching numerous training modules in research methods and statistical analysis.