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Catch up on our special webinar on the global overdose crisis, as we mark International Overdose Awareness Day 2024.
This webinar brings together a panel with diverse perspectives, insights, experiences, research, and solutions to the overdose crisis.
Overdose is an escalating issue worldwide, affecting countless individuals and communities. With the global spread of drug use, the surge of synthetic drugs and rising overdose deaths, it’s critical to focus on knowledge sharing and learning.
What can we learn from experts in other parts of the world? What insights can support our own overdose prevention initiatives and strategies?
Be part of this important conversation
This webinar is presented by Penington Institute, the proud convenors of International Overdose Awarenesss Day.
It is hosted by Penington Institute Board Member and former Canadian Senator, Dr Vern White, who leads a panel discussion with:
Chief of Staff to Canadian Ambassador to Denmark
Carolyn is Canada’s current Ambassador to Denmark and is a former Member of Parliament who dedicated her career to public service. A physician with a passion for social justice, she is a steadfast advocate for health, the environment, gender equality, and disability inclusion.
She was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 and was re-elected eight consecutive times, serving as Minister of State for Public Health, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health.
Carolyn is a strong advocate for change in current modeling of addictions programming.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Canada
Élisabeth Brière was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke in 2019. She previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec).
Ms Brière worked as a notary for nearly 30 years, most recently as a partner at the private firm Monty Sylvestre, focusing on human rights, real estate, and mediation. She has also worked as a lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke, where she enjoyed connecting with students and passing on her knowledge.
An active member of the Sherbrooke community, Ms Brière got involved in politics to serve her fellow citizens. The environment is at the heart of her concerns, and she has worked to raise awareness on the impact of personal choices. A woman and a mother, she wants to ensure a safe and equal environment for women. Her knowledge of the business community also gives her the right tools to support entrepreneurs in the local economy.
Ms Brière holds a Bachelor of Laws, a diploma in notarial law, and a certificate in business administration. A resident of Sherbrooke since 1987, she lives in the community with her husband and their three sons.
Chief of Staff to Director-General, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Jeremy has worked as the Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific overseeing and managing operations and strategy from Myanmar to the Pacific in the areas of the rule of law, non-traditional security threats, law enforcement, criminal justice and drug-related supply and health issues.
He was also the UNODC liaison to China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia and to regional organizations including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).
Jeremy was recently promoted and took on a new role in Vienna as the Chief of Staff to the Director-General.
Chief of Staff to Strategic Advisor at Kings County Public Health, Washington, USA
Brad has worked in direct service and administration in the mental health and substance use disorder populations for over two decades. He served as co-chair of the King County (Washington) Heroin and Prescription Opiate Task Force and is a Behavioral Health Strategic Advisor with Public Health of Seattle & King County.
Brad’s passion to advocate is deeply connected to his personal experience of losing his younger sibling to a substance use overdose. Due to his steadfast anti-stigma reduction work for people with substance use disorder (SUD), he has helped declare fentanyl use as a public health crisis in King County. His advocacy has supported the expansion of the “Laced and Lethal” fentanyl overdose awareness campaign.
John is a leader in public health and safety and the inaugural CEO of Penington Institute which convenes International Overdose Awareness Day each year.
He actively works to promote sensible approaches to drug use in the community.
John has held numerous non-executive director roles in policy, legal and health related organisations in Australia and internationally. He has also worked as a university researcher, government policymaker, and in frontline service delivery as a needle and syringe program worker.
John has provided non-partisan advice to state and federal governments and was until early 2023 the Chair of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room Review Panel, appointed by the Victorian Government.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from Monash University. In 2012, he received a Churchill Fellowship to study ways to enhance public health approaches to drug policy.
Professor at Freiburg University, Germany
Anke is a professor of social psychology at Freiburg Protestant University of Applied Sciences where she has been since 2010.
She has been studying political and socio-cultural conditions and structures around illegal drug use, scenes and markets in various countries including Great Britain, Canada, Sweden, and Germany since 2000.
Past Medical Director at Ottawa Inner City Health, Canada
In addition to a BSc (University of Toronto) and a Masters Degree in Education (University of Western Ontario), Dr Turnbull received his Doctorate in Medicine at Queen’s University and later achieved specialty certification in Internal Medicine through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1982.
Dr Turnbull has been the Vice Dean of Medical Education at the University of Ottawa (1996-2001), the President of the Medical Council of Canada (1998- 2001), the President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (2006-2007) and the President of the Canadian Medical Association (2010-2011).
Dr Turnbull was the Department Chair of Medicine from (2001-2008), the Chief of Staff at The Ottawa Hospital (2008-2017), and Chief, Clinical Quality for Health Quality Ontario (2014-2017), where he also held the position of Health Equity Clinical Lead. He also served as Senior Medical Officer for Correction Services Canada (2011-2014).
He remains committed as a medical educator with special interests in “Poverty and Health Equity” and associated health policy.
Dr. Turnbull has pursued an interest in poverty and its effect on health nationally and internationally. He is one of the founders and is the past Medical Director of Ottawa Inner City Health for the homeless which works to improve the health of people who are chronically homeless. He is the recipient of several national and international grants and awards, including the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and Honorary Degrees from Carleton University and The University of Western Ontario.
Vern White was a sitting Senator in the Senate of Canada until 2022 and is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Previously he has served as Police Chief for the city of Ottawa, Canada. Vern has also worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, moving through the ranks from Constable to Assistant Commissioner and has served in three provinces and three territories, spending almost 19 years in the three northern territories.
He has been an Adjunct, visiting or part-time professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and as a visiting fellow at the Australian Institute of Police Management. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University.
Vern has extensive background in all types of policing, both operational and administrative.
Vern shares Penington Institute’s belief that Australia cannot arrest its way out of its drug problems and that reducing drug-related harms requires an innovative, evidence-based policy response.
