Symposium 22: Drug Interactions in the Real World
Tracks
Track 6
| Thursday, July 16, 2026 |
| 11:15 AM - 1:15 PM |
Details
Most studies of drug interaction are done of pairs in healthy volunteers. In the real world, use of multiple medicines is the norm, allowing great scope to look for harmful or beneficial interactions across all populations. This symposium will showcase research using real world data that explores risks for adverse effects, death, overdose, adherence, and persistence. It will also explore barriers to translation of this research into product information and guidelines.
Talks:
1) Real world evidence on novel lethal drug interactions – and the barriers to translation into guidelines and practice.
2) Combinations of drugs linked to poisoning and suicide, making better use of post-mortem toxicology data.
3) Psychotropic drug polypharmacy – an evolving problem from childhood to old age.
4) Using Systems Pharmacology to generate hypotheses for pharmaco-epidemiological investigation
5) Polypharmacy and adherence trajectories – the complex connection between what you take and how well you stick to it.
Speaker
Prof Nick Buckley
The University of Sydney
Combinations of drugs linked to fatal poisoning and suicide, making better use of coronial and post-mortem toxicology data
Biography
Nick Buckley (MD FRACP FTAPNA FACMT FAACT FEAPCCT FAHMS) is Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Sydney, a consultant clinical toxicologist at the NSW Poisons Information Centre and admitting toxicologist at RPA Hospital Sydney, Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Australian Medicines Handbook, Chair of the Australian Therapeutic Guidelines Toxicology and Toxinology writing group, a past President of The Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology, and co-founder of the South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration (SACTRC- http://www.sactrc.org).
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/people/academics/profiles/nicholas.buckley.php
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6326-4711
Prof Jonathan Brett
UNSW Sydney & St Vincent's Hospital
Psychotropic Drug Polypharmacy – an evolving problem from childhood to old age
Biography
Dr Jonathan Brett is a senior staff specialist in clinical toxicology and addiction medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, clinical director of the Psychiatry and Non-Prescription Drug and Alcohol Unit and a clinical toxicologist with the NSW Poison’s Information Centre. He has fellowships with the Royal Australian College of Physicians in clinical pharmacology, toxicology and addiction medicine. He is a conjoint Professor with St. Vincent’s Clinical School, UNSW and a Senior NHMRC Research Fellow with the Medicines Policy Unit of Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW. He is president elect of the Royal Australian College of Physicians Chapter of Addiction Medicine. He completed his PhD in biostatistics in 2018 with a focus on the use of big data measure the quality use of psychotropics in mental health and has a research interest in psychopharmacology.
Assoc Prof Michael Falster
Associate Professor
UNSW Sydney
Polypharmacy and adherence trajectories – the complex connection between what you take and how well you stick to it
Biography
Michael Falster is an Associate Professor, Medicines Intelligence Research Program, and Deputy Director of Research at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney. He is a pharmacoepidemiologist and biostatistician with expertise using real-world data to measure variation in health system performance. Michael leads a program of research on quality use of cardiometabolic medicines, including uptake, adherence and outcomes of novel therapies for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal disease.
Session chair
Rose Cairns
Associate Professor In Pharmacy
The University Of Sydney
David Wood
Professor Of Clinical Toxicology And Consultant Physician
Guy's And St Thomas' Nhs Foundation Trust
