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	Staff

Staff- International Harm Reduction Association

The operational running of IHRA is managed by a team of staff. Please visit the contact IHRA page for queries.

Professor Gerry Stimson

Professor Gerry Stimson, Executive Director

Professor Gerry Stimson was appointed as the Executive Director of IHRA in 2004, taking over from Pat O’Hare. He is a longstanding supporter of IHRA and has been the Programme Director for the International Conferences on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm since 2000. Professor Stimson is a public health sociologist committed to working to reduce the harms from psychoactive substance use, improving public health through social and health policy and working internationally to promote harm reduction.

From 1990 to 2004, Professor Stimson was Director of the Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour - one of the leading groups conducting research on reducing harm from drug and alcohol use. He has nearly 40 years’ experience of research in this field and has advised the UK government, World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNODC on issues relating to drugs, HIV infection and AIDS. Professor Stimson was instrumental in the development and evaluation of harm reduction in the UK as a response to HIV/AIDS. As well as his work at IHRA, he is also Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, a board member of the UK Harm Reduction Alliance and the Editor of the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Rick Lines, Senior Policy Advisor

Rick Lines was appointed Senior Policy Advisor in 2007, and is based at the London Office. He leads HR2, our Harm Reduction & Human Rights Monitoring and Policy Analysis Programme.

Rick has been working in HIV/AIDS and harm reduction policy and advocacy for more than 10 years, and is recognised internationally for his work on HIV/AIDS and harm reduction in prisons. Rick has previously worked as National Programs Coordinator for Prisoners’ HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (Toronto), Prison Policy Consultant for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (Toronto) and Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (Dublin). He has travelled to many countries working on HIV/AIDS and prison projects, and has held advisory roles on HIV/harm reduction with the prison services in Canada, Romania and Bulgaria. He regularly speaks and publishes internationally, and is the co-author of the new framework on addressing HIV/AIDS in prisons, published jointly by UNODC, WHO and UNAIDS in 2006. Rick holds Masters Degrees in both Sociology and International Human Rights Law.

Damon Barrett, Human Rights Analyst

Damon Barrett was appointed as Human Rights Analyst in 2007, and is based at the London Office. He is a member of HR2, our Harm Reduction & Human Rights Monitoring and Policy Analysis Programme. Damon holds an LL.B. degree in law and an LL.M. Masters Degree in International Human Rights Law, and has previously worked at Save the Children UK, focusing on UN systems and mechanisms and rights based approaches to development. His work at IHRA is focused on the development of a human rights based approach to drug policy at the international level. He was a member of the UK delegation to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2008 where he helped to argue through the first ever human rights resolution adopted by the Commission, and was again on the UK delegation in 2009. Damon has also worked to raise the profile of drug policies at the UN Human Rights Council, has authored numerous reports on human rights and drug policies and has spoken internationally and delivered training on human rights, the UN system and rights based approaches.

Jamie Bridge, Communications and Project Development Officer

Jamie Bridge was appointed as IHRA’s Communications and Project Development Officer in 2006 and is based at the London Office. Jamie has a degree in Psychology and an MSc in Drugs Policy from Imperial College, London. From 2004 – 2006, he was coordinating a needle exchange facility in Bedford, England. Jamie is also a member of the UK Harm Reduction Alliance and is on the National Needle Exchange Forum planning group. His role at IHRA includes developing the programme for the annual IHRA conferences, developing project proposals and grant applications, writing content for both the IHRA and conference websites and e-newsletters, and working on several projects such as IHRA’s new alcohol website - www.ihra.net/alcohol and the new Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network (GAHR-Net).

Catherine Cook, Research Analyst

Catherine Cook joined IHRA as a Research Analyst in 2007, and is based at the London Office. She is a member of HR2, our Harm Reduction & Human Rights Monitoring and Policy Analysis Programme. Catherine holds a BSc in Psychology from Sussex University and an MSc in Cross-cultural Psychology from Brunel University, London. Catherine previously worked as a Programme Assistant at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in a team providing international technical support on HIV/AIDS care and impact mitigation issues to non-governmental and community-based organisations in developing countries. At IHRA, Catherine oversees research and production of our annual report on The Global State of Harm Reduction, as well as contributing to IHRA reports and publications.

Jennifer Curcio, Administrator (Melbourne)

Jennifer Curcio was appointed to the Secretariat Office in 2001. Located in the Melbourne Office, she has a Bachelor of Business from La Trobe University in Melbourne. Her role at IHRA includes overseeing the website, e-newsletter, memberships and the administration of the Executive Committee.

Andreas Woreth, Senior Administrator (London)

Bio coming soon.

Annie Kuch, Administrator (London)

Annie Kuch joined IHRA as the Administrator in early 2007, and is based at the London office. Annie graduated from the University of Leeds in 2006 with a degree in History. In her final year she specialised in African History.
In previous years Annie has been involved with a Northern Ugandan Society, lead Amnesty International youth groups and currently volunteers at a soup kitchen in London. Annie’s role at IHRA entails office management including booking travel arrangements and assisting the team in projects.