Kirsten has worked at SDF for over a decade, having previously worked in drug treatment services as a mental health nurse. Kirsten has held various positions within SDF prior to her appointment as CEO.
Kirsten is a strong advocate for the changes necessary to improve Scotland’s response to problem drug use, with extensive experience of working with the full range of stakeholders in Government, Alcohol & Drug Partnerships, local and emergency services and people with lived and living experience of drug use.
Her work over the years has been focussed on supporting local and national services to implement drug death prevention strategies. This has included the coordination of Scotland’s National Naloxone Programme, her experience of which she has used to support other countries in their implementation of naloxone provision, including as a member of the guidelines development group for the World Health Organisation’s Community Management of Opioid Overdose and as training consultant for the WHO/UNODC ‘Stop Overdose Safely’ (SOS) project.
