Substance Use Research and Evaluation (SURE) Program

The NCETA team are thrilled to announce the launch of the Substance Use Research and Evaluation (SURE) Program, which will provide independent, expert research, monitoring and evaluation services to the South Australian Government. Co-directed by Professors Jacqueline Bowden and Richard Edwards, the SURE Program will monitor progress against key South Australian Strategies including the SA Tobacco Control Strategy and SA Alcohol and Other Drug Strategy, and inform strategic initiatives on alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes and other drugs.

SURE Team.png

This program will be delivered by the following core team:

  • Dr Ashlea Bartram – Manager (as of July 2026). Ashlea has a PhD in Public Health and extensive experience in alcohol and drug policy research, evaluation, and health promotion. She brings strong project management skills and expertise in translating research into policy and practice.
  • Victoria Kostadinov – Acting Manager (Jan – June 2026). Victoria has a background in psychology and over a decade of experience in alcohol and other drug research. She has expertise spanning trend monitoring and reporting, program evaluation, and research dissemination. 
  • Dr Stine Høj – Research Analyst. Stine is an accomplished public health researcher with over a decade of experience in epidemiology, substance use, and health policy evaluation across Australia and Canada. Stine brings strong analytical skills and a track record of impactful research.
  • Nathan Harrison – Research Fellow. Nathan is finalising his PhD on smoking cessation within lung cancer screening and has a strong background in tobacco control, alcohol policy, and implementation science, with a wealth of experience in research translation for health policy.
  • Chloe McDonough – Research Assistant. Chloe recently graduated with First Class Honours in Psychology and has worked as a research assistant at Flinders University in NCETA and Caring futures, assisting with the administration and implementation of numerous projects in mental health and AOD.
  • Sarah Powell - Operations Manager. Sarah has strong business management experience across various sectors in not for profit, small and large organisations. She oversees the day-to-day, strategic business and financial management of all research programs in NCETA. 

 

This exceptional core team will also be supported by a strong team of academics across Flinders University including Prof Edwards (role of Academic lead, tobacco and e-cigarettes), Prof Bowden (role of alcohol and illicit drugs), A/Prof Courtney Ryder and Prof Tamara McKean (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research), Prof Shahid Ullah (Biostatistics), Prof Caitlin Hughes (illicit drugs), and a long list of alcohol, tobacco and other drug researchers across Flinders and Australia.

We’re excited to see the great work this team will deliver for the SURE Program.

If you have any queries, please contact Victoria Kostadinov on victoria.kostadinov@flinders.edu.au or 08 8201 7576.​​​​