Nicole Lee

Jul 15, 2024 | medicalxpress.com | Nicole Lee |Monica Barratt

Earlier this month, drugs sold as cocaine in Melbourne were found to be contaminated with a powerful group of opioids, known as nitazenes. These new synthetic drugs were also the suspected cause of four people being in Sydney in May. And in April, nitazenes were found in drugs used by around 20 people who overdosed in outer Sydney. So what are nitazenes, why are they so dangerous, and how can we minimize the harms they cause? What are nitazenes? Nitazenes are a group of synthetic opioids.

Jul 15, 2024 | theconversation.com | Nicole Lee |Monica Barratt

Earlier this month, drugs sold as cocaine in Melbourne were found to be contaminated with a powerful group of opioids, known as nitazenes. These new synthetic drugs were also the suspected cause of four people being in Sydney in May. And in April, nitazenes were found in drugs used by around 20 people who overdosed in outer Sydney. So what are nitazenes, why are they so dangerous, and how can we minimise the harms they cause? What are nitazenes? Nitazenes are a group of synthetic opioids.

Jun 24, 2024 | theconversation.com | Nicole Lee

This week Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announced the state will trial a drug checking service beginning this summer festival season, describing it as a “simple and commonsense way to save lives”. Allan has since confirmed the service will become permanent in Victoria following an 18-month trial. Last week, the Australian Capital Territory government announced an extension to its successful drug-checking pilot, CanTEST, for the next three years.

May 6, 2024 | theguardian.com | Nicole Lee

Feeling safe to socialise should be everyone’s right. Reports of Queensland MP Brittany Lauga alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted during a recent night out have sparked a sense of heightened risk for women visiting bars and clubs. At a time when the nation is grappling with a crisis of gender-based violence, the community concern is understandable. But it’s important that while we do all we can to keep women safe, we don’t overstate the risk and cause unnecessary alarm.

Apr 10, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Nicole Lee |Serena Tijoriwalla |Thiloma Liyanage |Thilina U.B. Herath

AbstractThe food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes uses actin-based motility to generate plasma membrane protrusions that mediate the spread of bacteria between host cells. In polarized epithelial cells, efficient protrusion formation by Listeria requires the secreted bacterial protein InlC, which binds to a carboxyl-terminal Src Homology 3 (SH3) domain in the human scaffolding protein Tuba.