My Expertise
Qualitative methods; injecting drug use; harm reduction; hepatitis C; stigmatisation and identity; politics of care; narrative, post-structuralist, & new materialist theories
Fields of Research (FoR)
Sociology of health, Social theory, Public healthSEO tags
Biography
Jake joined the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH) following nearly a decade working in harm reduction services in Sydney’s Kings Cross. This included outreach work with the Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) and a number of years as the Counselling Unit Manager of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC). Jake has a disciplinary background in social anthropology, philosophy, politics and cultural studies, graduating from...view more
Jake joined the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH) following nearly a decade working in harm reduction services in Sydney’s Kings Cross. This included outreach work with the Kirketon Road Centre (KRC) and a number of years as the Counselling Unit Manager of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC). Jake has a disciplinary background in social anthropology, philosophy, politics and cultural studies, graduating from The University of Sydney in 1991 with a BA (Hons) Class 1 in Social Anthropology and completing his PhD from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 2018.
Jake's research primarily concerns people who inject drugs, including those affected by hepatitis C and/or incarceration. Combining qualitative methods, empirical data, and social theory — particularly Foucauldian and new materialist approaches — his work endeavours to make sense of the complexities of lived experience. Jake's work is strongly informed by a sense of the ethical and political responsibilities that lie at the heart of knowledge production in the field of illicit and injecting drug use.
Jake sits on the editorial board of the International Journal of Drug Policy and the Harm Reduction Journal. He works closely with government and non-government organisations engaged in advocacy, health promotion, and service provision for people who use inject drugs. Jake is secretary and board member of Harm Reduction Australia, a national organisation committed to reducing the health, social and economic harms potentially associated with drug use. Jake is also a longstanding community member of NUAA, the state's drug-user organisation.
Jake is currently working on FOpIT, the Feasibility of Opioid injectable Treatment, Australia's first-ever trial of injectable opioid treatment.
My Grants
Treloar, T. Lancaster, K., Rhodes, T., Bryant, J., Brener, L., Rance, J., Lafferty, L. (2022-2023). Finding the ‘missing’ in the hepatitis C response in NSW: A systemic response. NSW Health ‘BRISE’ (BBV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis Research Program 2020-2024) UNSW Grant number: RG191231-Q RE399. $44,904
Bryant, J., Rance, J., Treloar, C. & Brener, L. (2022-2023). A study of social media messages to promote hepatitis B testing and connection to care among the Vietnamese community in NSW. UNSW Grant number: RG221593. $69,920
Brener, L., Bryant, J., Rance, J., Broady, T., Mao, L. & Treloar, C. (2020-2022). Informing hepatitis B prevention, testing and treatment programs in Chinese and Vietnamese communities in Australia through the international student body. Australian Government Department of Health. UNSW Grant number: RG192416-A. $165,000
Brener, L., Bryant, J., Rance, J. & Treloar, C. (2020-2021). The impact of COVID-19 on harm reduction services. NSW Health ‘BRISE’ (BBV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis Research Program 2020-2024) UNSW Grant number: RG191231-J. $115,000
Brener, L., Rance, J., Bryant, J., Treloar, C., & Ritter, A. (2018-2019). Evaluation of NADA’s Consumer Participation Project. Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies (NADA) UNSW Grant number: RG180231. $62,714.
MacLean, S., Bryant, J., Best, D., Room, R., Wilson, A., Bruun, A., Rance, J. (2012-2014) Characteristics of vulnerable young people in inner-city areas who use alcohol and other drugs: policing and pathways to diversion and care. National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF) UNSW Grant number: RG133659. $173, 942
Treloar, C., Rance, J. (2012-2014) Evaluation of NUAA’s Consumer Participation in Drug treatment Project. NSW Users & AIDS Association (NUAA) UNSW Grant number: RG114311. $104,102
My Qualifications
BA (Hons) Class 1, The University of Sydney, 1991
PhD, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 2018
My Awards
UNSW ADA ECAN (Early Career Academics Network) Award for Research Excellence 2021, for Rance, Lancaster & Rhodes (2021) article (see above)
ANZSOG/Australian Political Studies Association Policy Studies Prize 2020, for Lancaster, Rhodes & Rance (2020) article (see above)
New Investigator Scholarship, 7th International Symposium on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users (INHSU) Cascais, 2018
‘Best Social Science Abstract’, 7th International Symposium on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users (INHSU) Cascais, 2018
My Engagement
Jake is secretary of Harm Reduction Australia (HRA), a national membership-based organisation committed to reducing the health, social and economic harms potentially associated with drug use. He is also a member of the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA), the peak drug-user advocate organisation in NSW, Australia, and Unharm, a not-for-profit charity committed to campaigning for fair and pragmatic alternatives to existing drug policies.
Jake works closely with government and non-government organisations (NGO) engaged in advocacy, health promotion and service provision for people who use illicit drugs.
Jake currently sits on a number of advisory boards: the User’s News Editorial Advisory Committee (NUAA); South East Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Hepatitis C Health Promotion & Prevention Advisory Group; and the SESLHD Drug and Alcohol Consumer Participation Project Advisory Committee.
Contact
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Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7782-1235
