Background

Rebecca Winter has over a decade experience in public health research. Primarily, she has worked on studies relating to risk behaviours and risk groups relating to communicable disease transmission, with a particular interest in drug user and justice-involved populations. Rebecca completed her doctoral studies on injecting drug-related harms among prisoners and ex-prisoners in 2016.

Appointments

• Burnet Fellow

Positions

• 2016: Research Officer, Burnet Institute
• 2011-2016: PhD candidate, Monash University and Burnet Institute
• 2005-2010: Research Assistant, Burnet Institute

Qualifications

• 2016: PhD, Monash University, Australia
• 2010: MPH, Latrobe University, Australia
• 2002: BA, Latrobe University, Australia

Awards

2016: Burnet Institute Travel Award - 2013: ICAAP (International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific) student scholarship, Bangkok, Thailand - 2012: NIDA Conference Scholarship, Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health, Atlanta, GA, USA - 2010: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) PhD Scholarship, Dora Lush Public Health Scholarship

Projects (4)

Current (2)

• co-EC Study: Eliminating hepatitis C/HIV coinfection
  Eliminating hepatitis C transmission by enhancing care and treatment among HIV co-infected individuals.
• The B-VAX Project: Hep B vaccinations for people who inject drugs
  Using assertive outreach to provide hep B vaccinations for people who inject drugs.

Past (2)

• Evaluation of a condom distribution trial in Victorian prisons
  The evaluation of a pilot program introducing condoms and dental dams into Victorian Prisons.
• Hit & Miss: Health needs of ex-prisoners with an IDU history
  Assessing drug use and health needs for six months post-release.

Publications (17)

2019 (3)

• Hepatitis C risk perceptions and attitudes towards reinfection among HIV-diagnosed gay and bisexual men in Melbourne, Australia.
  Schroeder SE, Higgs P, Winter R, Brown G, Pedrana A, Hellard M, Doyle J, Stoové M
  J Int AIDS Soc. 2019 May; 22(5):e25288
• Injecting drug use is an independent risk factor for reincarceration after release from prison: A prospective cohort study.
  Winter RJ, Stoové M, Agius PA, Hellard ME, Kinner SA
  Drug Alcohol Rev. 2019 Mar; 38(3):254-263
• Outcomes of treatment for hepatitis C in prisoners using a nurse-led, state-wide model of care.
  Papaluca T, McDonald L, Craigie A, Gibson A, Desmond P, Wong D, Winter R, Scott N, Howell J, Doyle J, Pedrana A, Lloyd A, Stoové M, Hellard M, Iser D, Thompson A
  J Hepatol. 2019 Jan; 70(5):839-846

2016 (2)

• A nurse-led intervention improved blood-borne virus testing and vaccination in Victorian prisons.
  Winter RJ, White B, Kinner SA, Stoové M, Guy R, Hellard ME
  Aust N Z J Public Health. 2016 Oct; 40(6):592-594
• Resumption of injecting drug use following release from prison in Australia.
  Winter RJ, Young JT, Stoové M, Agius PA, Hellard ME, Kinner SA
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016 Sep; 168:104-111

2015 (3)

• A longitudinal study of health outcomes for people released from prison in Fiji: the HIP-Fiji project.
  Kinner SA, Winter R, Saxton K
  Australas Psychiatry. 2015 Dec; 23(6 Suppl):17-21
• Correlates of property crime in a cohort of recently released prisoners with a history of injecting drug use.
  Kirwan A, Quinn B, Winter R, Kinner SA, Dietze P, Stoové M
  Harm Reduct J. 2015 Aug; 12(1):23
• Incidence and predictors of non-fatal drug overdose after release from prison among people who inject drugs in Queensland, Australia.
  Winter RJ, Stoové M, Degenhardt L, Hellard ME, Spelman T, Jenkinson R, McCarthy DR, Kinner SA
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015 Jun; 153:43-49

2013 (4)

• Non-fatal overdose among adult prisoners with a history of injecting drug use in two Australian states.
  Moore E, Winter R, Indig D, Greenberg D, Kinner SA
  Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Nov; 133(1):45-51
• Health in Prisoners in Fiji. Research report prepared by the Burnet Institute and Empower Pacific.
  Winter R, Saxton K, Kinner S
  Report prepared for the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) HIV Response Fund.. 2013 Sep
• Authenticity and diversity: enhancing Australian hepatitis C prevention messages.
  Winter RJ, Fraser S, Booker N, Treloar C
  Contemp Drug Problems. 2013 Jul; 40(4):505-529
• Hepatitis B virus exposure and vaccination in a cohort of people who inject drugs: What has been the impact of targeted free vaccination?
  Winter RJ, Dietze PM, Gouillou M, Hellard ME, Robinson P, Aitken CK
  J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013 Jan; 28(2):314-322

2012 (1)

• Mobile safe injecting facilities in Barcelona and Berlin.
  Dietze P, Winter R, Pedrana A, Leicht A, Majó I Roca X, Brugal MT.
  Int J Drug Policy. 2012 Mar; 23(4):257-260

2011 (1)

• Technical review of hepatitis C health promotion resources.
  Winter R, Fraser S, Booker N, Treloar C
  National Centre for HIV Social Research Monograph. 2011 May

2010 (1)

• An evaluation of a heroin overdose prevention and education campaign.
  Horyniak D, Higgs P, Lewis J, Winter R, Dietze P, Aitken C
  Drug Alcohol Rev. 2010 Jan; 29(1):5-11

2008 (2)

• Consecutive infections and clearances of different hepatitis C virus genotypes in an injecting drug user.
  Aitken CK, Tracy SL, Revill P, Bharadwaj M, Bowden DS, Winter RJ, Hellard ME
  J Clin Virol. 2008 Apr; 41(4):293-296
• Integrating enhanced hepatitis C testing and counselling in research.
  Winter R, Nguyen O, Higgs P, Armstrong S, Duong D, Thach ML, Aitken C, Hellard M
  Int J Drug Policy. 2008 Feb; 19(1):66-70

News Articles (2)

2016 (1)

• Travel award winners on the move

2013 (1)

• HIV and STI education needed to improve prisoner health in Fiji