Professor Wayne Hall

Research Interests

Over the past 20 years I have worked in the fields of addiction, mental health and public health, addressing socially important and intellectually challenging scientific and policy questions that lie at the intersection between human biology and history. In 2001, I moved to the University of Queensland to work on the public policy and ethics of new biotechnologies arising from the sequencing of the human genome. I now work on the social and ethical implications of research in genetics and neuroscience on addiction and mental disorders. My work involves asking the following type of questions:

What are the potential uses that can be made of evidence that there is a genetic basis for the likelihood of developing drug dependence?
Should we screen the entire Australian population for genetic susceptibility to addiction?
Should we use genetic tests or neuroimaging to match addicted persons to treatments that give them the best chance of quitting?
Should we vaccinate children and adolescents to prevent cocaine, nicotine and other types of addiction?
Should we use consider neurosurgical treatments for intractable addiction?
Should we allow the courts to legally coerce addicted persons to undergo treatments that involve the implantation of long-acting drugs to block the effects of addictive drugs?
Should we allow adults to use pharmaceutical drugs to enhance their normal cognitive functioning?

The award of an NHMRC Australia Fellowship in 2009 enabled me to assemble a team of bright young researchers to critically examine the most promising applications of neurobiological research on addiction and present our analyses in ways that will inform public policy debates about these applications.

In The Media

Marijuana users twice as likely to cause car crash - 10 February 2012
Healthy image up in smoke as nation lives the high life - 6 January 2012
Australia's illicit drug use the highest in world, study finds - 7 January 2012
Aussies, Kiwis lead world in cannabis use - 6 January 2012
200 million people use illegal drugs; what is the toll on health? - 5 January 2012

Research Projects

Among our recent and current research projects are:

Assessing the global prevalence of illicit drug use and the contribution of harms related to their use to the global burden of disease;
The ethical and social implications of drug-induced compulsive behaviour in patients with Parkinsons' Disease treated with dopamine agonists;
The effects of neurobiological understandings of cigarette smoking on smokers’ beliefs about quitting;
The ethical implications of proposals to treat addiction using deep brain stimulation;
The ethical and social implications of using drugs to enhance human cognitive performance ("neuroenhancement ").

Key Publications

Hall, W. The prospects for immunotherapy in smoking cessation. Lancet, 2002, 360, 1089-1091.

Hall, W. and Pacula, R.L. Cannabis Use and Dependence: Public Health and Public Policy. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2003.

Gartner, C. Hall, W., Lim, S., Vos, T., Bertram, M. and Wallace, A. Assessment of Swedish snus for tobacco harm reduction: an epidemiological modelling study. Lancet. 2007, 369, 2010-2014.

Carter, A., Capps, B., Hall, W. (eds) New Developments in Neuroscience and Genetics: Implications for Policy and Practice. European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, 2009.

Hall W, Gartner C, Carter A. The genetics of nicotine addiction liability: ethical and social policy implications. Addiction. 2008, 103, 350-359.

Hall, W. and Degenhardt, L. The adverse health effects of nonmedical cannabis use. Lancet. 2009, 374, 1383-1391

Gartner, C., Barendregt, J. and Hall, W. Multiple genetic tests for susceptibility to smoking do not outperform simple family history. Addiction. 2009, 104, 118-126.

Hall, W. and Gartner, C. Supping with the devil? The role of the law in promoting tobacco harm reduction using low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco products. Public Health, 2009, 123, 1-5.

Lucke, J., Diedrichs, P.C., Partridge, B. and Hall, W. Anticipating the anti-ageing pill: Lessons from the history of the oral contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy. EMBO Reports, 2009, 10. 1-6.

Carter, A., Capps, B., Hall, W. (eds) New Developments in Neuroscience and Genetics: Implications for Policy and Practice. European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, 2009.

Partridge, B., Hall, W., Lucke, J., Underwood, M., and Bartlett, H. (2009) Mapping community concerns about radical extensions of life expectancy. American Journal of Bioethics. 2009, 9, 12, W4-W5.

Lucke, J., Herbert, D., Partridge, B. and Hall, W. Anticipating life extension technologies: Possible pointers from the adoption of assisted reproductive technologies. EMBO Reports, 2010, 11, 334-338.

Hall, W. and Lucke, J. Legally coerced treatment for drug using offenders: ethical and policy issues. Crime and Justice Bulletin, 2010, 144. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney.

Carter, A., Racine, E., Bird, E. and Hall, W. Ethical issues raised by proposals to use deep brain stimulation to treat addiction. Neuroethics, 2010, 1-14.

Hall, W., Mathews, R, and Morley, K. Being more realistic about the public health benefits of preventive genomic medicine. Public Library of Science Medicine, 2010, 7(10): e1000347. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000347.

Hall, W. and Lucke, J. The enhancement use of neuropharmaceuticals: more scepticism and caution needed. Addiction, 2010, 105, 2041-3.

Carter, A. and Hall, W. Proposals to trial deep brain stimulation for addiction are premature. Addiction, 2011, 106, 235-237.

Ambermoon, P., Carter, A. Hall, W., Dissanayaka, N. and O’Sullivan. J. Impulse control disorders among patients with Parkinson’s Disease treated with Dopamine Agonists: prevalence, correlates and theoretical implications. Addiction, 2011, 206, 283-293.

Hall. W. and Carter, A. Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinsons’ Disease: Implications for trialing DBS in intractable psychiatric disorders. American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience, 2011, 2, 14-15.

Lucke, J., Bell, S.K., Partridge, B. and Hall, W.D. Academic doping or Viagra for the mind? EMBO Reports, 201112, 197-201.

Hall, W and Gartner, C. Ethical issues in using drug vaccines to treat and prevent cocaine and nicotine dependence. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 2011, 24, 191–196.

Collins PY, Patel V, Joestl SS, March D, Insel TR, Daar AS, Bordin IA, Costello EJ, Durkin M, Fairburn C, Glass RI, Hall W, Huang Y, Hyman SE, Jamison K, Kaaya S, Kapur S, Kleinman A, Ogunniyi A, Otero-Ojeda A, Poo MM, Ravindranath V, Sahakian BJ, Saxena S, Singer PA, Stein DJ, Anderson W, Dhansay MA, Ewart W, Phillips A, Shurin S, Walport M. Grand challenges in global mental health. Nature, 2011, 475, 27-30.

Lucke, J., Bell, S., Partridge, B. and Hall, W. Bursting the neuroenhancement bubble in bioethics. American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroethics, 2011, 2, 38-43

Carter, A.. Hall, W. and Illes, J. (ed) Addiction Neuroethics: The Ethics of Addiction Neuroscience Research and Treatment. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 2012.

Carter, A. and Hall, W. Addiction Neuroethics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.

Partridge, B., Bell, S., Lucke, J. Yeates, S. and Hall, W. Smart drugs as common as coffee: media hype about cognitive enhancers is based on inadequate evidence cited by bioethicists. Public Library of Science ONE, 2012 6 (11): e28416. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028416.

Gartner, C., Barendregt, J. Wallace, A. and Hall, W. Would vaccination against nicotine be a cost effective way to prevent smoking uptake in adolescents? Addiction, 2012 107, 800-809.

Haynes, A.S., Derrick, G.E., Redman, S., Hall, W., Gillespie, J.A, Chapman, S. and Sturk, H. Identifying trustworthy experts: How do policymakers find and assess public health researchers worth consulting or collaborating with. PLoS ONE 7(3): e32665. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032665.

Hall, W. What place do the cardiovascular benefits of drinking have in safer drinking guidelines? Drug and Alcohol Review 2012, 31, 194-7.

Mathews, R., and Carter, A. The implications of genetic research on alcohol dependence for prevention and treatment. In A. Chapman (ed) The Genetics of Alcohol Dependence. pp16-30. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.

Mathews, R., Carter, A., and Hall, W. The public health implications of genetic research on addiction. In A. Chapman (ed) The Genetics of Alcohol Dependence. pp 155-173. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.

Bell, S., Lucke, J., and Hall, W. Lessons for enhancement from the history of cocaine and amphetamine use. American Journal of Bioethics Neuroethics, 2012, 3, 24-29.

Lucke, J., Hall, W Under what conditions is it ethical to offer incentives to encourage drug-using women to use long-acting forms of contraception? Addiction. 2012, 107, 1-36-1041,

Prichard, J., Lai, Y.P, Kirkbride, P., Bruno, R., Ort, C., Carter, S. Hall, W. Gartner, C. Thai, P.K, and Mueller, J. Hall, W. Measuring drug use patterns through wastewater analysis: a pilot study in Southeast Queensland. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 2012, 442, 1-8.

Boot, B, Partridge, B. and Hall, W. Better evidence for safety and efficacy is needed before neurologists prescribe drugs for neuroenhancement to healthy people. Neurocase. 2012,18, 181-184.

Carter, A., Miller, P. and Hall, W. The ethics of harm reduction, In Harm Reduction in Substance Use and High-Risk Behaviour. pp 111-123 (ed)R Pates and D. Riley. Wiley Blackwell, 2012.

Evans, N., Carter, A., Owen, N, and Hall, W. The neurobiology of over-eating: what are the policy implications? EMBO Reports, 2012, 13, 785-790.

Douglas, H., Hammil, J., Russell, A. and Hall, W. The importance of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder for criminal law practice: views of Queensland criminal lawyers. Queensland Lawyer, 2012, 32, 153-164.

Hall, W., Prichard, J., Kirkbride, P., Bruno, R., Thai, P.K, Gartner, C. Lai, Y.P, Ort, C. and Mueller, J. Ethical issues in potential uses of wastewater analyses to monitor illicit drug use in the population. Addiction, 2012, 107, 1767-1773.

Gartner, C., Scollo, M., Marquat, L. Mathews, R. and Hall, W. Analysis of national data shows mixed evidence of hardening among Australian smokers. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2012, 36, 408-414.

Partridge, B., Bell, S., Lucke, J., Carter, A. and Hall, W. Public attitudes towards the acceptability of using medications to treat depression and ADHD. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2012, 46, 958-965.

Hall, W., Edwards, G., West, R., Marsden, J., Miller, P. and Babor, T. Compulsory detoxification, confinement and forced labour are not ethically acceptable ways to treat persons with an addiction. Addiction, 2012, 107,1891-3.

Mathews, R., Hall, W. and Carter, A. Direct-to consumer genetic testing for addiction susceptibility: premature commercialization of genetic tests of doubtful validity and value. Addiction, 2012, 107, 2069-2074.

Gartner, C.E., Hall, W.D. and Borland, R. How should we regulate smokeless tobacco products and e-cigarettes? Medical Journal of Australia, 2012, 197, 611-612.

Carter, A. and Hall, W. Ethical implications of research on craving. Addictive Behaviors, 2013, 38, 1593-1599.

Degenhardt, L.D., Coffey, C., Romaniuk, H., Swift, W., Carlin, J., Hall, W. and Patton, G. The persistence of the association between adolescent cannabis use and common mental disorders into adulthood. Addiction, 2013,108, 124-33.

Forlini, C., Hall, W., Maxwell, B., Outram, S., Reiner, P., Repantis, D., Schermer, M., and Racine, E. Navigating the enhancement landscape. Ethical issues in research on cognitive enhancers for healthy individuals. EMBO Reports, 2013, 14, 123-128

Hall, W. and Carter, A. How may addiction neuroscience affect the way in which the criminal law deals with addicted offenders? Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility. pp 279-301. In N. Vincent (ed) Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.