Richard Bade

Dr. Richard Bade is a Senior Research Fellow and ARC DECRA fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on developing analytical methods for the determination of new psychoactive substances in wastewater, with applications across Australia and internationally. He leads an international consortium exploring new psychoactive substance prevalence across 23 countries and 60 sites.

Dr. Bade received his educational training through:

• PhD from University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain (2016)
• Masters (Research) of Chemistry, University of Helsinki
• Masters (Research), Universität Leipzig
• Bachelor of Chemistry, The University of Auckland

Dr. Bade's research program centers on wastewater-based epidemiology for monitoring drug use and environmental contaminants. His work involves developing cutting-edge analytical techniques to detect new psychoactive substances and other emerging contaminants in wastewater. He investigates temporal and spatial patterns of drug use, including the impact of policy changes and pandemic restrictions. His research has significant public health implications for understanding community-level substance use patterns and informing evidence-based policy decisions. He is particularly focused on the detection of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids through wastewater analysis.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on wastewater analysis for monitoring new psychoactive substances, synthetic opioids, and other drugs of abuse. The research spans method development, international comparisons, policy evaluation, and exploring the relationship between self-reported drug use and wastewater measurements. His work often involves large international collaborations, reflecting the global nature of emerging drug trends and the need for coordinated public health responses.

Dr. Bade currently supervises PhD students and leads multiple funded research projects, including the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program funded by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. His current grants include:

• Identifying sources of contaminants of concern entering Australian sewers (ARC Linkage Projects, 2025-2028)
• Facilitating detection of new psychoactive substances in wastewater (ARC DECRA, 2022-2025)
• National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program (Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, 2023-2027)

Dr. Bade leads an international consortium of researchers from 23 countries examining new psychoactive substance trends through wastewater analysis. This collaborative network enables comparative studies of drug use patterns across diverse cultural and regulatory contexts, providing valuable insights for public health officials and policymakers worldwide. His work bridges analytical chemistry, public health, and policy evaluation, creating a comprehensive approach to understanding community substance use that complements traditional survey methods.