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Dr Thomas Santo Jr

Dr Thomas Santo Jr

Postdoctoral Fellow
2019 – 2022: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia 

Fields of Research: Epidemiology, Mental health services & Causes and prevention of crime 

Title: Examining childhood trauma and comorbid mental disorders among people with opioid use disorder

2017 – 2018: Master of Public Health (MPH)

School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

2011 – 2015: Bachelor of Arts (Biological Sciences, Public Health) Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Medicine & Health
National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre 
Dr. Thomas Santo Jr., BA, MPH, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney, focused on the epidemiology and treatment of drug dependence in prison and community settings. His research aims to reduce health and social harm related to drug dependence, particularly those in the criminal justice system, by supporting evidence-based policy and improving treatment access.

Dr. Santo is currently leading the Global Reviews of Injecting Drug Use in Prisons as part of the Global Consortium to Advance Data on the Epidemiology and Health Impacts of Illicit Drug Use, in collaboration with the United Nations Office of Drugs & Crime, World Health Organization, and other international partners. This work aims to estimate the prevalence and treatment coverage of injecting-related harms, including blood-borne viruses, in carceral settings. Additionally, he plays a leading role in the Prison Outcomes Study (POST), which uses routinely collected data to examine health and recidivism outcomes for over 200,000 formerly incarcerated individuals in NSW, focusing on enhancing treatment options during and after incarceration. Dr. Santo also leads the NSW Opioid Dependence Survey, which gathered data from 400 participants in 2024 to assess and improve access to treatment and harm reduction services for people with opioid dependence. He has secured over $5.7 million in research funding as a co-investigator and has published in JAMA Psychiatry and The Lancet Psychiatry, with findings informing international policies and recommendations for expanded access to treatment and harm reduction.

Dr. Santo is committed to working with community stakeholders to support and advocate for policy reforms in drug treatment and harm reduction across both prison and community settings.
Phone
+61 2 8936 1007
E-mail
t.santo@unsw.edu.au
Location
National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), 22-32 King St, Randwick NSW 2031
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Leung J; Lim C; Sun T; Vu G; McClure-Thomas C; Bao Y; Tran L; Santo T; Fausiah F; Farassania G; Chan GCK; Sebayang SK, 2024, 'Preventable Deaths Attributable to Second-Hand Smoke in Southeast Asia—Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019', International Journal of Public Health, 69,
    Journal articles | 2024
    Santo T; Gisev N; Campbell G; Colledge-Frisby S; Wilson J; Tran LT; Lynch M; Martino-Burke D; Taylor S; Degenhardt L, 2024, 'Prevalence of comorbid substance use disorders among people with opioid use disorder: A systematic review & meta-analysis.', Int J Drug Policy, 128, pp. 104434,
    Journal articles | 2023
    , 2023, 'Errors in Results and Tables.', JAMA Psychiatry, 80, pp. 972,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Colledge-Frisby S; Jones N; Degenhardt L; Hickman M; Padmanathan P; Santo T; Farrell M; Gisev N, 2023, 'Incidence of suicide and self-harm among people with opioid use disorder and the impact of opioid agonist treatment: A retrospective data linkage study', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 246,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Santo T; Gisev N; Campbell G; Nelson E; Degenhardt L, 2023, 'The effects of childhood trauma and mental disorders on treatment engagement, contact with the criminal justice system, and mortality among people with opioid dependence', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 243,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Santo T, 2023, 'Errors in Data Reported in Meta-Analysis on Opioid Agonist Treatment and Mortality', JAMA Psychiatry, 80, pp. 971 - 972,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Leung J; Santo T; Colledge-Frisby S; Mekonen T; Thomson K; Degenhardt L; Connor JP; Hall W; Stjepanović D, 2022, 'Mood and Anxiety Symptoms in Persons Taking Prescription Opioids: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analyses of Longitudinal Studies', Pain Medicine (United States), 23, pp. 1442 - 1456,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Santo T; Campbell G; Gisev N; Degenhardt L, 2022, 'Exposure to childhood trauma increases risk of opioid use disorder among people prescribed opioids for chronic non-cancer pain', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 230,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Santo T; Campbell G; Gisev N; Martino-Burke D; Wilson J; Colledge-Frisby S; Clark B; Tran LT; Degenhardt L, 2022, 'Prevalence of mental disorders among people with opioid use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 238,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Tran AD; Chen R; Nielsen S; Zahra E; Degenhardt L; Santo T; Farrell M; Larance B, 2022, 'Economic analysis of out-of-pocket costs among people in opioid agonist treatment: A cross-sectional survey in three Australian jurisdictions', International Journal of Drug Policy, 99,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Zahra E; Chen R; Nielsen S; Tran AD; Santo T; Degenhardt L; Farrell M; Byrne J; Ali R; Larance B, 2022, 'Examining the cost and impact of dosing fees among clients in opioid agonist treatment: Results from a cross-sectional survey of Australian treatment clients', Drug and Alcohol Review, 41, pp. 841 - 850,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Ferraro CF; Stewart DE; Grebely J; Tran LT; Zhou S; Puca C; Hajarizadeh B; Larney S; Santo T; Higgins JPT; Vickerman P; Degenhardt L; Hickman M; French CE, 2021, 'Association between opioid agonist therapy use and HIV testing uptake among people who have recently injected drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis', Addiction, 116, pp. 1664 - 1676,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Grebely J; Tran L; Degenhardt L; Dowell-Day A; Santo T; Larney S; Hickman M; Vickerman P; French C; Butler K; Gibbs D; Valerio H; Read P; Dore GJ; Hajarizadeh B, 2021, 'Association between Opioid Agonist Therapy and Testing, Treatment Uptake, and Treatment Outcomes for Hepatitis C Infection among People Who Inject Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis', Clinical Infectious Diseases, 73, pp. E107 - E118,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Peacock A; Tran LT; Larney S; Stockings E; Santo T; Jones H; Santomauro D; Degenhardt L, 2021, 'All-cause and cause-specific mortality among people with regular or problematic cocaine use: a systematic review and meta-analysis', Addiction, 116, pp. 725 - 742,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Santo T; Campbell G; Gisev N; Tran LT; Colledge S; Di Tanna GL; Degenhardt L, 2021, 'Prevalence of childhood maltreatment among people with opioid use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 219,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Santo T; Clark B; Hickman M; Grebely J; Campbell G; Sordo L; Chen A; Tran LT; Bharat C; Padmanathan P; Cousins G; Dupouy J; Kelty E; Muga R; Nosyk B; Min J; Pavarin R; Farrell M; Degenhardt L, 2021, 'Association of Opioid Agonist Treatment with All-Cause Mortality and Specific Causes of Death among People with Opioid Dependence: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis', JAMA Psychiatry, 78, pp. 979 - 993,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Larance B; Degenhardt L; Grebely J; Nielsen S; Bruno R; Dietze P; Lancaster K; Larney S; Santo T; Shanahan M; Memedovic S; Ali R; Farrell M, 2020, 'Perceptions of extended-release buprenorphine injections for opioid use disorder among people who regularly use opioids in Australia', Addiction, 115, pp. 1295 - 1305,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Larney S; Peacock A; Tran LT; Stockings E; Santomauro D; Santo T; Degenhardt L, 2020, 'All-Cause and Overdose Mortality Risk among People Prescribed Opioids: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis', Pain Medicine (United States), 21, pp. 3700 - 3711,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Larney S; Tran LT; Leung J; Santo T; Santomauro D; Hickman M; Peacock A; Stockings E; Degenhardt L, 2020, 'All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality among People Using Extramedical Opioids: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis', JAMA Psychiatry, 77, pp. 493 - 502,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Santo T; Larance B; Bruno R; Gisev N; Nielsen S; Degenhardt L; Campbell G, 2020, 'Correlates of indicators of potential extra-medical opioid use in people prescribed opioids for chronic non-cancer pain', Drug and Alcohol Review, 39, pp. 128 - 134,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Gisev N; Nielsen S; Campbell G; Santo T; Mant A; Bruno R; Cohen M; Hall WD; Larance B; Lintzeris N; Farrell M; Degenhardt L, 2019, 'Antidepressant Use among People Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Noncancer Pain', Pain Medicine (United States), 20, pp. 2450 - 2458,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Lintzeris N; Santo T; Nielsen S; Degenhardt L; Campbell G, 2019, 'Estimating Centre for Disease Control and Prevention-defined overdose risk in people prescribed opioids for chronic non-cancer pain: implications for take-home naloxone provision', Internal Medicine Journal, 49, pp. 1054 - 1055,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Stockings E; Tran LT; Santo T; Peacock A; Larney S; Santomauro D; Farrell M; Degenhardt L, 2019, 'Mortality among people with regular or problematic use of amphetamines: a systematic review and meta-analysis', Addiction, 114, pp. 1738 - 1750,
  • Conference Presentations | 2024
    Santo Jr T, 2024, 'Global coverage of interventions to prevent and manage injecting drug use related harms in prisons: a systematic review', presented at 2024 NDARC Annual Research Symposium, Wesley Conference Centre, Sydney NSW, 20 September 2024,
    Conference Posters | 2024
    Santo Jr T, 2024, 'Modelling the impact of opioid agonist treatment on suicide-related deaths among people with opioid use disorder', Wesley Conference Centre, Sydney NSW, presented at 2024 NDARC Annual Research Symposium, Wesley Conference Centre, Sydney NSW, 20 September 2024
    Conference Posters | 2024
    Santo Jr T, 2024, 'Socio-demographic characteristics and treatment experiences of people with opioid dependence in New South Wales, Australia', Wesley Conference Centre, Sydney NSW, presented at 2024 NDARC Annual Research Symposium, Wesley Conference Centre, Sydney NSW, 20 September 2024
    Conference Abstracts | 2024
    Santo T; Gisev N; Campbell G; Colledge-Friday S; Wilson J; Tran LT; Lynch M; Martino-Burke D; Taylor S; Degenhardt L, 2024, 'Prevalence of comorbid substance use disorders among people with opioid use disorder: A systematic review & meta-analysis', in International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 128,
    Reports | 2023
    Asare-Doku W; Stolk S; Peacock AMY; Shakeshaft A; Waller E; Nathan S; Economidis G; Ravulo J; Meo-Sewabu L; D'Este C; Thapa P; Abbott T; Satour T; Tulele L; Wilson K; Doran C; Mhey-Rivas T; Macpherson G; Lynch M; Taylor S; Santo T; Graham D; Baillie G; Tran A; Aiken A; Harwood E; Turner A; Reeve R; Degenhardt L; Farrell M, 2023, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Kava Pilot Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney,
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Colledge-Frisby S; Jones N; Degenhardt L; Farrell M; Kwa J; Padmanathan P; Santo T; Hickman M; Gisev N, 2022, 'Suicide and self-harm among people prescribed opioid agonist treatment in New South Wales: A retrospective data linkage study', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 41, pp. S47 - S48,
    Theses / Dissertations | 2022
    Santo Jr T, 2022, Examining childhood trauma and comorbid mental disorders among people with opioid use disorder,
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Santo T; Gisev N; Campbell G; Degenhardt L, 2022, 'Associations with childhood trauma and comorbid mental disorders among people with opioid dependence', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 41, pp. S124 - S125,
    Conference Papers | 2022
    Santo T; Campbell G; Gisev N; Martino-Burke D; Wilson J; Colledge-Frisby S; Clark B; Tran LT; Degenhardt L, 2022, 'Prevalence of mental disorders among people with opioid use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis', in Drug and Alcohol Dependence,
    Conference Abstracts | 2021
    Santo T; Clark B; Hickman M; Grebely J; Campbell G; Sordo L; Chen A; Tran LT; Bharat C; Padmanathan P; Cousins G; Dupouy J; Kelty E; Muga R; Nosyk B; Jeongmin ; Pavarin R; Farrell M; Degenhardt L, 2021, 'ASSOCIATION OF OPIOID AGONIST TREATMENT WITH ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY AND SPECIFIC CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG PEOPLE WITH OPIOID DEPENDENCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 40, pp. S131 - S131,
    Conference Papers | 2021
    Santo T; Gisev N; Campbell G; Degenhardt L, 2021, 'EXPOSURE TO CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND OPIOID USE DISORDER AMONG PEOPLE PRESCRIBED OPIOIDS FOR CHRONIC PAIN: A LATENT CLASS AND DISCRETE-TIME ANALYSIS', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, pp. S131 - S132,
    Conference Abstracts | 2019
    Larance B; Degenhardt L; Grebely J; Nielsen S; Bruno R; Dietze PM; Lancaster K; Larney S; Santo T; Shanahan M; Memedovic S; Ali R; Farrell M, 2019, 'PERCEPTIONS OF EXTENDED-RELEASE BUPRENORPHINE INJECTIONS FOR OPIOID DEPENDENCE PRIOR TO AVAILABILITY IN AUSTRALIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF PEOPLE WHO USE OPIOIDS REGULARLY', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 38, pp. S63 - S64,
    Conference Abstracts | 2019
    Santo T; Larance B; Campbell G; Bruno R; Gisev N; Lintzeris N; Nielsen S; Blyth F; Mattick RP; Degenhardt L, 2019, 'CORRELATES OF ABERRANT BEHAVIOUR IN A COHORT OF PEOPLE PRESCRIBED OPIOIDS FOR CHRONIC NON-CANCER PAIN', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 38, pp. S92 - S92,
    Conference Abstracts | 2019
    Tran LT; Peacock A; Stockings E; Larney S; Santo T; Santomauro D; Jones H; Farrell M; Degenhardt L, 2019, 'MORTALITY IN PEOPLE WHO USE STIMULANTS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 38, pp. S99 - S99,
    Conference Abstracts | 2019
    Tran LT; Santo T; Degenhardt L; Santomauro D; Peacock A; Stockings E; Larney S, 2019, 'MORTALITY IN PEOPLE WHO USE OPIOIDS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS', in DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, WILEY, Vol. 38, pp. S99 - S99, 

Grants recieved:

Degenhardt, L., Hickman, M., Martin, N., Barocas, J., Stone, J., Jones, H., Vickerman, P., Santo Jr, T., Borquez, A., Macmadu, A., Bharat, C., McAuley, A., Westergaard, R., Marshall, B., Hutchinson, S., Wang, J. Reducing opioid overdose mortality. National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R01. 2024–2029. AU$5,399,224.

Degenhardt, L., Farrell, M., Byrne, M., Pearson, S., Dore, G., Grebely, J., Settumba, S., Clark, B., Bharat, C., Santo, T., Gisev, N., Brett, J., Jones, N. Procurement of research to investigate PBS opiate dependence treatment program medicines including issues of access and affordability. Pharmacy Branch, Australian Government Department of Health. 2022. AU$241,501.

Santo Jr, T. Impact of trauma and mental disorders among people with opioid use disorder. NDARC HDR Scholarship. 2017–2020. AU$145,000.

Gibbs, D., Siefried, K., Shakeshaft, A., Santo, T., Rodgers, C., Noghrehchi, F., Larney, S., Farnbach, S. Optimising retention in opioid agonist therapy: a retrospective evaluation. NDARC Seed Funding. 2017–2021. AU$40,000.

Gisev, N., Degenhardt, L., Jones, N., Lappin, J., Larney, S., Santo Jr, T. The impact of severe mental illness on treatment outcomes for opioid dependence. NDARC Seed Funding. 2017–2021. AU$40,000.

 

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  • National Institute on Drug Abuse Travel Award – National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2024
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse Travel Award – National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2023
  • CPDD Early Career Research Travel Award – College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), 2023
  • Wayne Hall Publication Award – National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), 2022
  • Highest Ranked Abstract for Epidemiology & Public Health Research – International Network on Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU), 2021
  • NDARC Excellence in Higher Degree Research Award – National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), 2021

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