Luke Downey Email and Phone Number

I am currently Professor of Neurocognition and Director of the Drugs & Driving Research Unit (DDRU) at Swinburne University. I received a PhD in 2010, then undertook postdoctoral research at Swansea University, UK (Prof. Andy Parrott), with the support of an NHMRC CJ Martin Overseas Biomedical Research Fellowship (GNT1054279: 2013-2016) and completed further training in addiction medicine in 2015 as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School (Assoc. Prof Howard Shaffer). Upon returning to Australia, my independent research has focused on linkages between drug usage, neurocognition, driving performance and neuropharmacology which has been supported by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (GNT1122577: CDF: 2017-2020). I currently lead a multidisciplinary research group focused on conducting rigorous clinical trials exploring the effects of consumption of psychoactive substances, including medical cannabis products, with a specific focus on driving impairment.

During this tenure I led the Drugs and Driving Research Unit (DDRU) at Swinburne, managing a team of research assistants, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. I was awarded an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (2017-2020) at this time, focused on identifying driving impairment due to sedative drugs and alcohol.

My research experience and expertise is in the area of human neurocognitive assessment andneuropsychopharmacology of human cognition and behaviour. I am active member of the Centrefor Human Psychopharmacology research group, which involves the development of cognitive testing batteries for a variety of illicit drugs and natural medicines or herbal extracts. I have considerable experience conducting and managing large-scale clinical trials of illicit drug and nootropic interventions in human volunteers, as well as knowledge of GCP procedures and contractual/IP issues related to industry and other organisational partnerships.Further to this, I have comprehensive experience in the design, development and implementation of rigorous research methods for the assessment of pharmacology-cognition and drug cognition associations. My most significant contribution to research in the field of illicit drug research are myrecent publications focusing on the acute and residual effects of consumption of illicit drugs upon brain electrical activity, cognitive performance, simulated driving, and field assessments of intoxication.During this role, I held an NHMRC CJ Martin - Overseas Biomedical Fellowship (2013-2016) aimed at examining the short and longer term effects of Ecstasy (MDMA) usage upon neural and biological processes that underlie performance degradation and mood alterations caused by illicit drug use. I currently supervise five PhD students, with one focusing on the effects of THC on cognition and simulated driving; and have over 60 peer-reviewed journal publications which are being increasingly cited.

Founding board member of the Wellness in Infrastructure organisation. Wellness in Infrastructure is a non-profit organisation aimed at identifying and delivering initiatives to tangibly and sustainably improve the mental health outcomes for employees within the infrastructure construction sector.

In August of 2018, a group of senior business leaders from the infrastructure construction industry established Wellness in Infrastructure in response to the findings of the Downey-Swinburne Report. The primary objective of this initiative is to bring about systemic change within the industry. To achieve this, senior leaders from nine major infrastructure construction companies, in collaboration with key government authorities and relevant industry association stakeholders, offer their time voluntarily to cohesively identify strategies that will enhance the wellbeing of current industry employees while ensuring that the industry remains the industry of choice for future generations.

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