Associate Professor Gary Chung Kai Chan

Principal Research Fellow

National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
c.chan4@uq.edu.au
+61 7 344 32533

Overview

Dr. Gary Chan is a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. His principal research interest lies in the field of substance misuse prevention and the application of cutting-edge statistical method for longitudinal analysis and causal inference. His recent publications have been focused on polysubstance use (including alcohol, tobacco and cannabis) profiles in adolescent populations, examinations of urban-rural differences in substance use, and the epidemiology of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use. He collaborates extensively with leading researchers in major national and international institutes, including the University of Washington, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne, and University College London. He has also served as a consultant at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime to improve exisitng methods for monitoring global trends of illicit substance production, trafficking and use. This work has made significant impact on how global data will be collected, and these new data will be used by the United nations and many national governments to inform drug policy decision making. He is a Deputy Statistical and Methodology Editor for the journal Addiction.

Dr. Chan is also a statistical advisor at the School of Psychology, providing statistical advice to academic staff and RHD students. Since 2016, he has also delivered several advanced statistcal workshops at the School on R and statistical modelling.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

  • Leung, Janni, Ellem, Rhiannon, Glasgow, Sophia, Rowe, Amy-Leigh, Gardner, Lauren, Davidson, Lily, Campbell, Gabrielle, Pocuca, Nina, Tisdale, Calvert, Chan, Gary and Hides, Leanne (2024). The use and knowledge around vaping and their correlates among university students—a cross-sectional Australian Study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-17. doi: 10.1007/s11469-024-01281-5

  • Puljevic, Cheneal, Meciar, Isabel, Holland, Alice, Stjepanovic, Daniel, Snoswell, Centaine L., Thomas, Emma, Morphett, Kylie, Kang, Heewon, Chan, Gary, Grobler, Etienne and Gartner, Coral (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of text messaging interventions to support tobacco cessation. Society For Research On Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT) Conference 2024, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 20-23 March 2024. Madison, WI United States: Society For Research On Nicotine & Tobacco.

  • Black, Nicola, Noghrehchi, Firouzeh, Yuen, Wing See, Aiken, Alexandra, Clare, Philip J., Chan, Gary, Kypri, Kypros, McBride, Nyanda, Bruno, Raimondo, Slade, Tim, Boland, Veronica, Mattick, Richard and Peacock, Amy (2024). Transitions to polysubstance use: Prospective cohort study of adolescents in Australia. Addiction. doi: 10.1111/add.16468

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • It is well known that adolescence is a period of experiementation and many adolescents may experience with illicit substance during this period. While many of them do not progress into problematic use (e.g. abuse and dependence), some have escalated their use during their 20s and maintained their habits into 30s and 40s. This project will take a life course approach to understand risk factors for substance initiation and escalation, and factors that are linked to natural remission of substance us in mid-adulthood.

  • With the proliferation of handheld devices, video gaming has penstrated nearly every corner of the world and every age groups. This project will focus on quantifying the benefit of gaming, such as increased connectivity with friends in the virtual world and overcoming loneliness during difficult time (e.g., COVID lockdown), and the potential harms such as addiction.

  • Electronic cigarettes and personal vaporisors have been gaining popularity in many developed countries such as the US, Canada and the UK. It has been promoted as a cessation device for smokers, thus it holds the potential to reduce smoking related burden on the society. However, it also raises concerns that its uptake among young people may renormalise cigarette smoking. This projects will evaluate the overall evidences of its benefit and harms on public health.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • It is well known that adolescence is a period of experiementation and many adolescents may experience with illicit substance during this period. While many of them do not progress into problematic use (e.g. abuse and dependence), some have escalated their use during their 20s and maintained their habits into 30s and 40s. This project will take a life course approach to understand risk factors for substance initiation and escalation, and factors that are linked to natural remission of substance us in mid-adulthood.

  • With the proliferation of handheld devices, video gaming has penstrated nearly every corner of the world and every age groups. This project will focus on quantifying the benefit of gaming, such as increased connectivity with friends in the virtual world and overcoming loneliness during difficult time (e.g., COVID lockdown), and the potential harms such as addiction.

  • Electronic cigarettes and personal vaporisors have been gaining popularity in many developed countries such as the US, Canada and the UK. It has been promoted as a cessation device for smokers, thus it holds the potential to reduce smoking related burden on the society. However, it also raises concerns that its uptake among young people may renormalise cigarette smoking. This projects will evaluate the overall evidences of its benefit and harms on public health.