Background

Michael completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) at Monash University in 2011 and worked in adult intensive case management, homelessness, and youth out-of-home care. Michael joined Burnet Institute as a research assistant in 2014, working primarily on alcohol and other drug and justice-related cohort studies.

Michael commenced as a PhD Student in the Justice Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs groups in 2019 under the supervision of Professors Mark Stoové and Paul Dietze. His research is investigating how the use of opioid substitution therapy during incarceration and post-release influences substance use, health and mortality outcomes among people who inject drugs.

Qualifications

• 2012: Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Social Work (Hon) – Monash University, Victoria, Australia

Awards

• 2019: Monash Addiction Research Centre PhD top-up scholarship
• 2012: Peter Boss Prize – Highest final year aggregate mark for Bachelor of Social Work (Hon) program

Projects (10)

Current (7)

• 

  Blood-borne virus and STI self-testing❗Student Projects Available

• 

  Breaking the cycle: supporting people with drug use histories to avoid reincarceration

• 

  Feasibility study for a potential medically supervised injecting centre/drug consumption service for the ACT

• 

  IDRS: Illicit Drug Reporting System

• 

  Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Snapshot Study

• 

  Sexual health and STIs among people who use drugs❗Student Projects Available

• 

  SuperMIX: The Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study

Past (1)

• 

  PATH Cohort Study

Publications (21)

2023 (2)

• Discontinuation of opioid agonist treatment following release from prison in a cohort of men who injected drugs prior to imprisonment in Victoria, Australia: A discrete-time survival analysis.
  Curtis M, Dietze P, Wilkinson AL, Agius PA, Stewart AC, Cossar RD, Butler T, Walker S, Kirwan A, Winter RJ, Stoové M
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 2023 Jan; 242:109730
• Non-fatal opioid overdose after release from prison among men who injected drugs prior to their imprisonment: a prospective data linkage study.
  Curtis M, Dietze P, Winter RJ, Rathnayake K, Smith K, Stoové M
  Med J Aust. 2023 Jan; 218(3):94-95

2022 (8)

• Reflections on the in-prison recruitment and participation of men with a history of injecting drug use, in a longitudinal cohort study in Australia.
  Walker S, Curtis M, Woods E, Pierce L, Kirwan A, Stewart AC, Cossar R, Winter R, Dietze P, Kinner SA, Ogloff JRP, Butler T, Stoové M
  J Criminol. 2022 Sep; 55(4):586-603
• High rates of resumption of injecting drug use following release from prison among men who injected drugs before imprisonment.
  Curtis M, Winter RJ, Dietze P, Wilkinson AL, Cossar RD, Stewart AC, Agius PA, Butler T, Aitken C, Kirwan A, Walker S, Stoové M
  Addiction. 2022 Jun; 117(11):2887-2898
• Hepatitis C antibody testing among opioid agonist therapy recipients, Victoria, Australia, 2012 to 2020.
  Dawe J, Wilkinson AL, Asselin J, Carter A, Pedrana A, Traeger MW, Thomas AJ, Curtis M, Cooper M, Howell J, Doyle JS, Hellard ME, Stoové M; EC Victoria Partnership and the Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections (ACCESS).
  Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Apr; 104:103696
• Emergency department presentations in the first weeks following release from prison among men with a history of injecting drug use in Victoria, Australia: A prospective cohort study.
  Cossar RD, Stewart AC, Wilkinson AL, Dietze P, Ogloff JRP, Aitken C, Butler T, Kinner SA, Curtis M, Walker S, Kirwan A, Stoové M
  Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Mar; 101:103532
• The feasibility of a drug consumption room in the Australian Capital Territory.
  Kirwan A, Winter R, Gunn J, Djordjevic F, Curtis M, Gough C, Dietze PM
  Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 Jan; 41(6):1440-1443
• Switching of opioid agonist treatment modality during imprisonment: A novel marker for increased support need during and following release from prison.
  Curtis M, Berk J, Larney S, Rich JD, Stoové M
  Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Jan; 100:103572
• It is time for us all to embrace person-centred language for people in prison and people who were formerly in prison.
  Harney BL, Korchinski M, Young P, Scow M, Jack K, Linsley P, Bodkin C, Brothers TD, Curtis M, Higgs P, Mead TS, Hart A, Kilroy D, Bonn M, Bartlett SR
  Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Jan; 99:103455
• Psychiatric well-being among men leaving prison reporting a history of injecting drug use: A longitudinal analysis.
  Stewart AC, Cossar R, Wilkinson AL, Scott N, Dietze P, Quinn B, Kinner SA, Aitken C, Walker S, Curtis M, Butler T, Ogloff JRP, Stoové M
  Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2022 Jan; 56(8):1034-1043

2021 (5)

• Strategies to maximise study retention and limit attrition bias in a prospective cohort study of men reporting a history of injecting drug use released from prison: the prison and transition health study.
  Stewart AC, Cossar R, Walker S, Wilkinson AL, Quinn B, Dietze P, Winter R, Kirwan A, Curtis M, Ogloff JRP, Kinner S, Aitken C, Butler T, Woods E, Stoové M
  BMC Med Res Methodol. 2021 Sep; 21(1):185
• The Prison and Transition Health (PATH) cohort study: Prevalence of health, social, and crime characteristics after release from prison for men reporting a history of injecting drug use in Victoria, Australia.
  Stewart AC, Cossar RD, Wilkinson AL, Quinn B, Dietze P, Walker S, Butler T, Curtis M, Aitken C, Kirwan A, Winter R, Ogloff J, Kinner S, Stoové M
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Aug; 227:108970
• Integrating episodes of imprisonment and the cascade of care for opioid use disorder.
  Cossar R, Stewart A, Winter R, Curtis M, Dietze P, Ogloff JRP, Stoové M
  Addiction. 2021 Feb; 116(2):427-428
• ‘Not my child’: parenting, pornography, and views on education.
  Davis AC, Wright C, Curtis M, Hellard ME, Lim MSC, Temple-Smith MJ
  J Fam Studies. 2021 Jan; 27(4):573-588
• Initiation of medications for opioid use disorder shortly before release from prison to promote treatment retention: Strong evidence but compromised policy.
  Curtis M, Larney S, Higgs P, Cossar RD, Winter RJ, Stewart AC, Stoové M
  J Addict Med. 2021 Jan; 15(6):525-526

2019 (2)

• Prison-based harm reduction measures as part of hepatitis C virus treatment.
  Curtis M, Higgs P, Stoové M
  Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Dec; 4(12):903
• The Prison and Transition Health (PATH) Cohort Study: Study Protocol and Baseline Characteristics of a Cohort of Men with a History of Injecting Drug Use Leaving Prison in Australia.
  Kirwan A, Curtis M, Dietze P, Aitken C, Woods E, Walker S, Kinner S, Ogloff J, Butler T, Stoové M
  J Urban Health. 2019 Apr; 96(3):400-410

2018 (3)

• Lifetime prevalence and correlates of self-harm and suicide attempts among male prisoners with histories of injecting drug use.
  Stewart AC, Cossar R, Dietze P, Armstrong G, Curtis M, Kinner SA, Ogloff JRP, Kirwan A, Stoové M
  Health Justice. 2018 Oct; 6(1):19
• Acceptability of prison-based take-home naloxone programmes among a cohort of incarcerated men with a history of regular injecting drug use.
  Curtis M, Dietze P, Aitken C, Kirwan A, Kinner SA, Butler T, Stoové M
  Harm Reduct J. 2018 Sep; 15(1):48
• The associations of poor psychiatric well-being among incarcerated men with injecting drug use histories in Victoria, Australia.
  Cossar R, Stoové M, Kinner SA, Dietze P, Aitken C, Curtis M, Kirwan A, Ogloff JRP
  Health Justice. 2018 Jan; 6(1):1

2016 (1)

• Take-home naloxone programs and calls to emergency services.
  Kirwan A, Curtis M, van Beek IA, Cantwell K, Dietze PM
  Med J Aust. 2016 Mar; 204(4):143

News Articles (3)

2023 (1)

• Reducing the overdose rate for people who inject drugs after they’re released from prison

2021 (1)

• Burnet Student Symposium

2018 (1)

• NHMRC grants for Burnet research