Katinka van de Ven
Katinka van de Ven focuses on how people actually use alcohol and other drugs across the life course, and what health systems can do to reduce harm without increasing stigma. Her coverage for The Conversation centres on practical, evidence-based guidance for safer use, early risk detection and behaviour change, with particular attention to older adults and everyday, non‑specialist settings.
Alcohol and other drugs across adulthood and older age
Van de Ven writes regularly about patterns of drug use in older adults and the health consequences that follow when prescribing, monitoring and support do not keep pace. In her coverage of overdose data, she shows that people in their 50s now account for the largest share of unintentional drug overdose deaths, and explains how prescription opioids, benzodiazepines and other medicines combine with age‑related changes in liver and kidney function to drive risk. She distinguishes between intentional and unintentional overdoses and points to polypharmacy, chronic pain and long‑term substance use as recurring themes.
Her work treats “older people who use drugs” as a diverse group rather than a niche, highlighting how long‑term illicit use, prescribed medications and alcohol interact. She writes about how health professionals can identify hazardous combinations, and how open conversations about substance use in routine care can catch problems before they become life‑threatening. The tone is clinical and data‑driven, but she consistently translates technical findings into plain language that makes overdose trends and mechanisms understandable to a general audience.
Van de Ven is described by The Conversation and other professional bios as an internationally recognised expert in alcohol and other drugs, with a focus on client‑centred care and harm reduction. Her academic and advisory work sits behind the journalism: she draws on research into substance use among older adults, performance and image‑enhancing drugs, and health‑system responses to problematic use, then writes for readers outside specialist circles. This gives her pieces an applied, service‑oriented character that is consistent across topics.
Cutting back, quitting and the physiology of alcohol
A second strand of her coverage explains what happens in the body when people cut down or stop drinking, and how even modest changes can reduce long‑term risk. In a widely republished article on the timeline of health benefits after quitting alcohol, she walks through the first days, weeks and months of abstinence, linking specific time points to improvements in sleep, mood, liver function, insulin resistance, blood pressure and cancer‑related growth factors. She uses figures from population studies and clinical research to show how relative risk of alcohol‑related cancers and chronic diseases declines as drinking decreases.
Van de Ven returns to this theme in practical guides such as “8 ways to drink less during the silly season”, where she provides concrete strategies to manage social drinking at high‑risk times of year. She emphasises planning, setting limits, alternating alcoholic and non‑alcoholic drinks, and enlisting social support to keep consumption in check. Her framing is non‑moralising and focuses on achievable behaviour changes, making the pieces usable for people who are not ready for abstinence but want to reduce harm.
Across these articles she links individual choices to broader public health concerns, noting that alcohol contributes to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, several cancers and mental health issues. She explains that any reduction in drinking yields some benefit, but also sets out the difference between “moderate” and heavy patterns as reflected in research. Her work often includes referral information for national alcohol and drug hotlines and general practitioners, underscoring that self‑help strategies sit alongside professional support rather than replacing it.
Moderation, new drinking cultures and harm reduction messaging
Van de Ven also covers the cultural side of changing alcohol use, including emerging trends such as “damp drinking” and “zebra striping” among younger adults. In this work she examines how Gen Z and other groups are experimenting with moderation instead of all‑or‑nothing abstinence, and how these shifts might influence long‑term health and service demand. She treats these trends as part of a continuum of alcohol behaviours rather than isolated fads.
Her pieces on moderation use harm reduction principles, encouraging readers to understand their own patterns, anticipate high‑risk situations and use tools like alcohol‑free days to reduce cumulative exposure. The writing stays grounded in research, but the practical examples and vocabulary of contemporary drinking cultures make the content accessible to audiences who might not engage with traditional health messaging. She is careful to differentiate between marketing language around “healthy drinking” and what current evidence supports, and she uses recent studies to guide those distinctions.
Role beyond journalism
Alongside her contributions to The Conversation, van de Ven works as a consultant and researcher in the alcohol and other drugs field. Professional profiles describe her as a principal consultant in a specialist alcohol and other drugs advisory firm, a research manager with a behaviour‑change organisation focused on alcohol, and an associate professor affiliated with a university centre. She founded the Human Enhancement Drugs Network and serves as editor‑in‑chief of a journal on performance enhancement and health, reflecting long‑standing interest in substances used to modify the body beyond traditional recreational drugs.
This combination of academic, clinical and consultancy roles shapes her journalism. Her articles frequently include clear, actionable advice for health professionals, community workers and people who use substances, and she writes in a way that bridges specialist knowledge and everyday decision‑making. Stories that touch on older adults, prescription medicines, performance‑enhancing drugs and contemporary drinking patterns all sit within a consistent frame: reducing harm through informed, client‑centred care and realistic behaviour change.
4 more health journalists.
Abida Tasnim
Abida Tasnim is a health writer for The Daily Star who focuses on clear, practical guidance that helps readers recognise risks early and act before everyday illnesses turn into wider public health problems. She reports on infectious disease prevention, using measles coverage to show how outbreaks start with individual decisions and behaviours, not just hospital statistics. Her work explains what happens during an outbreak and then anchors the story in simple steps people can take, such as avoiding crowded places when symptoms appear, practising good hygiene, and seeking medical advice early. She writes direct, action‑oriented health explainers that turn clinical questions about contagion and disease burden into everyday choices. Across her beat, she stresses early recognition, timely care, and prevention as the foundations of healthier communities.
Adrián Carballo Casla
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Ahmed Elbediwy
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Amanda Sheppeard
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