Rate My Professor Kate Conigrave

Professor Kate Conigrave is a Conjoint Professor in the Discipline of Addiction Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, at the University of Sydney, a position she has held since January 2012. She is also a Senior Staff Specialist in the Drug Health Service at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, where she works as an addiction medicine physician and public health physician. Conigrave holds an MBBS (Hons 1), a PhD from the University of Sydney awarded in 1998, and fellowships as FAChAM and FAFPHM. Her career includes leadership as Joint Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in Indigenous Health and Alcohol. She chaired the expert committee responsible for reviewing Australia's alcohol drinking guidelines, released in 2020. Conigrave has received NHMRC funding, including leading a $2.5 million Centre for Research Excellence in Indigenous Health grant in 2016, and support through an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship.

Conigrave's research specializations encompass alcohol and drug dependence, biomarkers of alcohol use, screening and brief interventions such as the AUDIT tool, and culturally informed approaches to substance use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including harm reduction and primary health care. Her influential publications include 'Roles of drinking pattern and type of alcohol consumed in coronary heart disease in men' (New England Journal of Medicine, 2003), 'The AUDIT questionnaire: choosing a cut-off score' (Addiction, 1995), 'Traditional markers of excessive alcohol use' (Addiction, 2003), 'CDT, GGT, and AST as markers of alcohol use: the WHO/ISBRA collaborative project' (Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2002), and 'Predictive capacity of the AUDIT questionnaire for alcohol-related harm' (Addiction, 1995). Recent works address alcohol screening in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and digital tools for reducing methamphetamine use in First Nations peoples. Through her research, grants, and guidelines contributions, Conigrave has significantly impacted addiction medicine, public health policy, and Indigenous health equity in Australia.