Catriona Matheson is Professor in Substance Use at the University of Stirling, her research interests span 25 years. She is a freelance Research Consultant, a Trustee of the Society for the Study of Addiction and Convenor of the Drugs Research Network Scotland (DRNS)...

Iona is a social worker by background. The North Ayrshire Integrated Joint Board (IJB) was formed on 2 April 2015 and Iona was appointed as Chief Officer for the North Ayrshire HSCP at that meeting. Iona became the Scottish Government’s Chief Social Work Adviser in April 2017.

Fiona has worked in Public Health for over 17 years and with Borders ADP since 2012. She has strategic responsibility for ensuring the implementation and performance of local drug and alcohol strategies on behalf of the ADP as well as lead for adult and communities health improvement.

Allan has been in recovery from opioid dependency for 26 plus years. Allan is currently a senior social work addictions team worker in Glasgow. Over his 25 years working in the field he has occupied many roles including, youth work, homelessness and addictions.

Colin joined the board of Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs in June 2017 and recently took over as Chair. Colin trained as a SMART facilitator before he and his wife established a group for Family and Friends in West Lothian in 2015. His personal experiences have convinced him of the need to extend support for families and their key role in saving lives.

Rebecca Lawrence trained as a GP before becoming a psychiatrist, and now works as a consultant psychiatrist in addictions in Edinburgh, with a particular interest in chronic pain and misuse of prescribed medication. She is Chair of the Scottish Addictions Faculty of the RCPsych in Scotland.

Carey is a GP partner in one of Edinburgh's Deep End practices. Her priorities during her time as RCGP Chair include a focus on the role of general practice in reducing health inequality, improving the interface between primary and secondary care, and growing and retaining the GP workforce. She is a passionate advocate of generalism and its crucial role in the sustainability of the NHS, and has consistently called for the need to engage the public in a 'national conversation' about the realistic role of the modern NHS and the importance of collective social responsibility for its use.

Phil heads the Scottish Public Health Network (ScotPHN), which links together all Health Board and national public health functions across Scotland. ScotPHN is there to do those things for which there is a recognised national need, but for which there is no national capacity. He also leads the Scottish Managed Sustainable Health Network, which is part of ScotPHN. Previously, Phil held public health service appointments in Lothian and in the north of England, covering a very wide range of health and social care remits and the commissioning and evaluation of priority and community services.

Duncan spent about ten years living and working in South America, South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa for UK and US based academic, government and charity organisations; mainly in the area of primary care, sexual health and HIV with deprived populations such as sex workers and people in remote and rural areas. Over the last eight years he has been working as a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in the Scottish Government and the NHS.

Karyn is a Scottish forensic scientist who is currently the Chief Executive of Community Justice Scotland (since 2016). Previously, Karyn worked for the West Mercia Police force before taking on the role of head of intelligence analysis for the Strathclyde Police in 2002. It was in this role that she was tasked with creating a report on how to reduce violence in Glasgow in 2004; the report led directly to the establishment of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). The VRU played a vital role in reducing violence and violent crime in Scotland, particularly in Glasgow.

Lesley joined the Scottish Prison Service at HMP & YOI Cornton Vale in 1997 as a practitioner nurse and later held the post of Clinical Manager and then Head of Care. When the responsibility for the delivery of healthcare in prisons transferred to NHS Health Boards in 2011 she remained with SPS as the Clinical Advisor, providing advice to NHS and operational colleagues and contributing to prisoner health care strategy and policy. She now holds the position of Head of Health Strategy with responsibility for the co-production of all health related strategies in prisons, including suicide prevention, mental health and drugs and alcohol.

Anthony is Head of COPFS Policy and Engagement, with particular responsibility for engagement with Scottish Government and stakeholders in relation to legislative change and the development of Prosecution Policy. He has over 20 years’ experience as a prosecutor.

In 2012, Susanne became the Assistant Director for Social Work Services in Glasgow. In 2014, Susanne took on the role of Chief Officer for Planning, Strategy & Commissioning for Glasgow City HSCP and currently holds the post of Interim Chief Officer. Recently Susanne has been involved in the transition of Home Care services from an arm’s length organisation into Glasgow HSCP and will be responsible for strategy operations and management of this group of staff. Susanne has always worked in Glasgow, and is committed to partnership working to address the many, varied and complex issues which contribute to the need for people of Glasgow to access health and social services.

Tessa is Deputy Convenor of the Drugs Research Network Scotland with expertise in the field of drugs and alcohol. Her research activity has centred on enhancing the experience of people who experience problems with alcohol or drugs when using health and substance use services, with a clear commitment to social justice, health equity, and advocacy for poorly served groups. She has recently served on the Dundee Drugs Commission.

Robert was a social worker for over 30 years and a Director at Angus Council. Robert was also Chair of the Angus Alcohol and Drug Partnership from 2003 until 2013. In January 2017, Robert was appointed as a Non-Executive Member of NHS Tayside Board. Since retiring Robert has worked as a consultant with 'Support in Mind Scotland' and is also a member of an Expert Panel with the Commissioner for Older People (Northern Ireland).

Neil Richardson joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1985. He gained a BA in Social Science from the Open University, an MBA with distinction from Napier University and a diploma in Applied Criminology from Cambridge University. In 2006, he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police Force and moved to Strathclyde Police Force when he was appointed Deputy Chief Constable. He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) in 2011 and appointed Deputy Chief Constable of Police Scotland in 2012. He was awarded an OBE for services to policing in Scotland in 2014 and became Chief Executive of Turning Point Scotland in 2017.

ACC Ritchie is the strategic lead for the Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing portfolio (reporting to DCC Local Policing) with responsibility for developing new approaches to working with other Scottish public services to achieve better outcomes for communities. He is also Police Scotland's lead for Drug Strategy.

In January 2019, Cameron joined the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service from the Scottish Government, where he was Head of Local Government Policy and Relationships. Cameron’s responsibilities within SCTS include leading the information governance, legislation implementation and management information functions within SCTS and responsibility for leading on future reform of services with specific focus on civil justice.

Richard is employed by the Department of Work and Pensions as an addiction specialist. He is responsible for delivering training and developing strategies that help support customers and staff. Richard is in recovery.

David qualified as a social worker in 1988 and worked for two years in Easterhouse and then seven years in Drumchapel as a social worker and senior social worker. He became Executive Director of Social Care Services in Glasgow in December 2012 and Chief Officer Designate for the Glasgow City Health and Social Care partnership in July 2014. He was appointed formally to the Chief Officer position by the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board at its first meeting on 8 February 2016. In May 2019 he was seconded to the Scottish Government in a new post, Director of Delivery, Health and Social Care Integration.

Rebecca Wood works in recovery development across two council areas, North Lanarkshire and Forth Valley. With her lived experience of recovery from addiction, including opiates, she has a unique understanding of issues for those who are using, their families and the impact of the wider community. Since finding sustained recovery at the beginning of 2016 she has been involved in local and national work in the recovery sector firstly to gain insight and support, then as a volunteer and with a professional background in care and community work, joined Forth Valley Recovery Community as a Recovery Development Worker in 2017. Rebecca is committed to creating a safe space for citizens to find and maintain recovery, give a voice to those who are stigmatised and support communities to flourish. Being a member of the DDTF supports this commitment.

Jason has been in recovery from substance use for over a decade. He is currently employed by Scottish Drugs Forum and manages the Volunteering and Engagement Team. He has been involved in Drug Death Prevention Work since 2006-07 (Glasgow naloxone pilot) He has worked in several roles and was the national lead for Naloxone Peer Education in Scotland. Jason has worked on several research projects in the last 10 years across Scotland and the UK.

Dr Hunter has extensive experience in community pharmacy across Scotland and England. Since 2002 she has been employed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where she is the Lead Pharmacist for the Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services with responsibility for planning , development and implementation of pharmaceutical services for drug and alcohol use. She was a member of the 2017 independent expert working group for the Drug Misuse and Dependence UK Guidelines on Clinical Management. In 2018 she was appointed to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

Angie Wood is Interim Chief Officer, Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership. She has worked in health and social care for over 30 years, having worked within mental health for much of that time before working in practice education delivering both pre and post registration training. Throughout her career in mental health, Angie specialised in psychosocial interventions and promoting recovery based interventions. She has also worked in a Nurse Consultant role within Substance Misuse Service.

Gary is the Patient Safety Manager for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). Gary is leading on work streams in SAS that have been funded by the taskforce, related to ‘take home naloxone’, staff development and education, and collaboration with drug support services. Gary is also part of the research team on a taskforce funded research project related to ambulance call-outs to people who have experienced an overdose.