I began my career as a pharmacist. Early in my career, I worked with people who had a heroin dependency and were on the methadone program. It sparked an interest in addiction treatment when I saw the improvement in people’s lives as part of the methadone treatment program.

I soon moved to the UK and worked in a specialist drug treatment clinic in central London, where I had the chance to see a broader range of innovative treatments and research. When I returned to Australia a few years later, I decided to study for a PhD. After I completed my studies in 2008, I moved to the US to take up a Post-doctoral Fellowship at UCLA. I moved back to Australia in 2011 to take a fellowship in Sydney and continue my research before returning to Melbourne in 2018 to establish the Monash Addiction Research Centre (MARC) at Monash University. MARC has now grown to be the largest addiction research centre in the Southern Hemisphere.

I am lucky to be at Monash University, with strong female leadership at all levels. When you are surrounded by great female leaders, and mentored by them, I think it makes it easier to see yourself becoming one. We have a female Dean of Medicine, and Professor Margaret Gardner is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University.

In my role, I am able to lead critical public health research which aims to improve the health and lives of vulnerable populations. A career in health and science has also provided me with the opportunity to travel to many countries and live in three different continents. It was not without its challenges as I travelled with a young child. I was fortunate to have university support that enabled me to travel with my child and a carer earlier in my career so I could still attend international meetings. There are a lot of programs now that support women in academia so your career does not have to stall when you take parental leave (for example, paying for a research assistant to continue your work while you are on leave). That is not to say that it is easy, yet having the right structures around you makes a huge difference.

I know a lot of people say this, but choosing a career that excites you, and that you find rewarding really helps to sustain motivation when you are facing challenges. It does feel a lot less like ‘work’ when you have a career you love.



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