Harm reduction partnership
09 February 2009
President of International Harm Reduction Association visits LJMU to give his first professorial lecture.
Professor Pat O’Hare visited LJMU’s School of Natural Sciences & Psychology to deliver his first lecture to MSc Drug Use and Addiction students. Pat is the newest Visiting Professor to join LJMU and Professor Frank Sanderson, Dr Sally Woods and Mr Jim McVeigh warmly welcomed him to the university before his lecture.
Pat has a wealth of experience working and publishing in the field of Harm Reduction dating back over 20 years. He is currently President of the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), and was a founder of the first IHRA conference.
Sally (Programme Leader, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology) and Jim (Reader in Substance Use Epidemiology, Centre for Public Health), jointly co-ordinated a bid for Liverpool/LJMU to host the International Harm Reduction Association’s 21st annual conference in 2010. The bid was successful, thanks in part to Pat who worked closely with Sally and Jim behind the scenes.
The 21st IHRA conference will also be used to launch a Harm Reduction Academy. As the first and only academic affiliate of IHRA, LJMU will offer accredited CPDs to students around the world. In future years the MSc programme team intends to link this process with the MSc Drug Use and Addiction, which will be offered via distance learning as well as the current attendance mode.
