Professor Jennifer Whitty is an applied health economist at the University of East Anglia , affiliated with the Norwich Medical School and the Centre of Research Excellence in Telehealth . Her research bridges health economics, patient preferences, and health policy, with a focus on quality of life valuation and economic evaluation. Education: Doctor of Philosophy (Griffith University, 2008), Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (University of Queensland, 2002), Bachelor of Pharmacy (University of Wales, 1992) Her work emphasizes person-centered methodologies , particularly discrete choice experiments, to evaluate patient and public preferences for healthcare delivery and outcomes. Key research areas include: Treatment burden and quality of life in chronic diseases like cystic fibrosis Economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals and health technologies Asset-based approaches to community health Priority-setting frameworks in health policy Prof. Whitty has secured over AU$27 million in research funding from organizations including the NHMRC and National Institute for Health and Care Research , and serves on editorial boards for Medical Decision Making and Applied Health Economics and Health Policy .
Dr. Rene Ferdinands is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney's School of Health Sciences, specializing in sports biomechanics, particularly in cricket and golf. He leads research programs focused on optimizing techniques and minimizing injury risks, such as lumbar load analysis in fast bowlers and spin bowling biomechanics. His work includes developing 3D models for analyzing bowling actions and spin delivery mechanics. Education: MSc and PhD from the University of Waikato. Research Themes: Cricket biomechanics, golf swing dynamics, equine biomechanics, and injury prevention. Professional Roles: Editor of the Cricket Coaching Information service for the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, Honours Committee Member. His research interests span biomechanical analyses of sports techniques, including the development of smart cricket balls for performance assessment and injury mitigation. Key contributions include refining bowling action legality criteria and advancing understanding of lumbar kinetics in elite athletes. He actively supervises Honours and PhD students in biomechanics research across cricket, golf, and other sports. Notable grants include studies on hydration status in cricket performance (2008), lumbar injury prevention (2013), and biomechanical modeling of fast bowling (2009). His work bridges applied research with practical applications in sports technology and athlete development. Dr. Ferdinands collaborates with the Biomechanics Research Team at the University of Sydney, focusing on innovative tools like smart balls and advanced motion analysis techniques to improve sports performance and safety.
Professor Victor Fung is a leading academic in neurology and motor control at the Sydney Medical School , University of Sydney. He serves as Director of the Movement Disorders Unit at Westmead Hospital and holds prominent roles in the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (President) and the Asia Pacific Affairs Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists. His research focuses on Parkinson's disease , dystonia , tremor , and movement disorder genetics , with over 250 peer-reviewed publications and an h-index of 61. His work spans Clinical trials for Parkinson's treatments (e.g., foslevodopa/foscarbidopa infusion, incobotulinumtoxinA) Genetic studies on dystonia and Parkinsonism Neurophysiological assessments of tremor and balance Development of screening tools for dystonia and Parkinson's complications Key article trends highlight genetic diversity in dystonia, neuroinflammatory mechanisms in tremor, and behavioral neurology in Parkinson's disease. He contributes to editorial boards of npj Parkinson's Disease , Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders , and Faculty Opinions . While no explicit student lists are provided, his collaborations span global institutions. His clinical work at Westmead Hospital addresses device-assisted therapies and complex movement disorders.
Lee Yong Lim is a Professor of Pharmaceutics at The University of Western Australia (UWA), leading the Laboratory for Drug Delivery. She specializes in innovative drug delivery systems, particularly for pediatric populations and marine aquaculture. Her work focuses on overcoming medication challenges for children through taste-masked formulations and stable drug-loaded scaffolds for ear diseases. She has secured over $4.5 million in research grants from diverse funding bodies. Education: BSc (Pharmacy) Hons, National University of Singapore PhD, University of Manchester Research: Her team developed a patented chocolate-based formulation for bitter drugs and conducts pediatric trials. Collaborations include WA hospitals for safe compounded medicines and international projects in nanotechnology. Key research areas include pediatric medicinal products, veterinary drug delivery, and sustainable drug formulations aligned with UN SDGs. Grants & Funding: Major supporters include NHMRC, ARC, Telethon, and industry partnerships. Current active grants focus on pre-procedural chewables for children and perioperative analytics. Labs/Teams: Heads the Laboratory for Drug Delivery and collaborates with the Centre for Optimisation of Medicines and Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence.
Laura Robinson is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology , University of Wollongong. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology and extensive teaching experience in behavioral sciences, statistics, and applied psychology. Education : PhD in Psychology (2017), Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (2010), Bachelor of Psychology (2009), and Bachelor of Aviation (2004) Her research focuses on vulnerable populations, particularly women and youth, with expertise in substance use disorders, eating disorders, mental health comorbidity, and health equity. She has published extensively on residential treatment outcomes, continuing care interventions, and stigma reduction in mental healthcare. Recent publications highlight longitudinal analyses of psychological distress, weight stigma, and integrated approaches to substance use and physical health. She supervises PhD students on topics like veterans' mental health, methamphetamine use, and suicide prevention. Laura has received funding from internal and external sources, including grants for stimulant use interventions and health literacy studies. She serves on committees like the Australasian Professional Society for Alcohol and Drugs and contributes to peer-reviewed journals as a reviewer.
Dr Virginia Hagger is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at Deakin University's School of Nursing & Midwifery, part of the Faculty of Health and the Institute for Health Transformation. She specializes in diabetes education, self-management, and psychological wellbeing. Her research focuses on structured education programs, diabetes distress, and workforce development. She holds a PhD and Master of Public Health from Deakin University. Dr Hagger has led numerous national and international studies, including interventions targeting diabetes distress, insulin therapy barriers, and telehealth support. She is affiliated with the Quality and Patient Safety (QPS) Strategic Research Centre and the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes . Awards include the 2019 Alfred Deakin Medal and 2017 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate nursing, including units on diabetes pathophysiology and psychosocial contexts. Current doctoral students focus on diabetes distress, social support in Ethiopia, and autonomy in insulin management. Over 30 peer-reviewed articles and grants (e.g., MRFF-funded HypoPAST and LISTEN trials) underscore her contributions to diabetes care innovation and workforce training.
Marita Dale is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Physiotherapy at the University of Sydney and an Early Career Researcher affiliated with the Charles Perkins Centre. She specializes in cardiorespiratory physiotherapy, focusing on exercise interventions for chronic respiratory and cardiac diseases, particularly asbestos-related and dust-related conditions. Her work emphasizes improving accessibility to pulmonary rehabilitation services and leveraging mHealth technologies for patient care. Education: PhD in Physiotherapy (2016, University of Sydney). Her research interests include optimizing pulmonary rehabilitation through mobile health platforms, such as the m-PR™ app, and investigating pediatric burn injury rehabilitation, including orthosis use and scar prevention. She also explores multimorbidity management and simulation-based learning in healthcare education. Recent studies have highlighted her contributions to COPD care protocols, telehealth implementation during the pandemic, and qualitative analyses of patient experiences. Major awards: Sydney School of Health Sciences Teaching Citation (2022), Ashurst Prize for Outstanding Oral Presentation (2015), Helga Pettitt FHS Postgraduate Study Award (2010). Marita supervises Honours, Masters, and PhD students, including Mitchell Taylor on airway clearance in bronchiectasis. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate programs in cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal physiotherapy. She collaborates on projects like the Lung Support Service, a nationwide text message program for chronic respiratory patients during the pandemic, and contributed to the commercialization of the Perx-R app for pulmonary rehab. Labs/teams: Active member of the Charles Perkins Centre, focusing on interdisciplinary chronic disease research and healthcare innovation.
Emmanuel Stamatakis is a Professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Population Health at the University of Sydney's School of Health Sciences (Faculty of Medicine and Health). He holds NHMRC Leadership Fellowships (2021-2025 and 2026-2030) and leads the Charles Perkins Centre's Physical Activity & Exercise Theme. His research focuses on lifestyle behaviors' impacts on cardiometabolic conditions, cancer, and cardiovascular health, using large-scale cohort studies and wearable device data. Key roles include directing the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub and co-chairing WHO's Physical Activity Guidelines Development Group. Education: PhD from University of Bristol (2003), post-doctoral training at University College London. He leads the ProPASS consortium, involving 45 cohorts with wearable data. Over 460 peer-reviewed publications, including Clarivate's Highly Cited list since 2019. Research interests integrate physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep analytics with clinical outcomes. Current projects explore wearables-based measurement innovations, SPAN (sleep-physical activity-nutrition) synergies, and intervention designs for GLP-1 receptor agonist users. Recent articles emphasize VILPA (vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity) benefits, sleep-cardiovascular links, and multimodal lifestyle optimization. Awards include Australia's Top Researcher in Sports Medicine and multiple NHMRC grants. Supervises PhD projects on physical activity measurement and intervention design. Active in 50+ peer-reviewed journals and national/international funding bodies.
Professor Susan Goodwin is a leading academic at the University of Sydney, specializing in social policy, gender studies, and social justice. She holds a BA(Hons) from ANU and a PhD from the University of Sydney. Her work focuses on collaborative research projects with government and civil society organizations, emphasizing participatory methodologies to address poverty and inequality. Educations: PhD, University of Sydney BA(Hons), Australian National University Her research interests span social structures, gender relations, and community development, with a focus on policy analysis methodologies. Notable projects include participatory approaches to community revitalization in Australia and Hong Kong, and interrogating constructions of motherhood in Australia. Professor Goodwin is affiliated with the Sydney Policy Lab, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and the Charles Perkins Centre. Her awards include the 2016 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research Supervision and a 2014 residency at Hong Kong Baptist University. Key Grants & Projects: ARC Linkage Project on participatory community development in public housing neighborhoods NSW Refugee Youth Policy Initiative Research on gender, social policy, and adolescent girls' sexuality in Indonesia She actively contributes to policy networks like the Social Policy Research Network and co-convenes the Sydney Social Justice Network. Her work bridges academic research with practical policy impact, emphasizing grassroots engagement and equity.
Dr. Xue Dong (Sarah Dong) serves as a Research Fellow at the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics within the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. Her work focuses on Indonesian socio-economic development, particularly labor markets, gender equality, and policy interventions in education and business formalization. Education: PhD in Economics from the University of Western Ontario Research Focus: Dr. Dong employs empirical methods including randomized controlled trials to investigate electoral impacts on public spending, financial aid accessibility for low-income students, and microenterprise registration barriers. Her fingerprint analysis reveals 100% concentration on Indonesian contexts with strong emphasis on labor markets (90%) and gender equality (71%). Publication Trends: Recent outputs (2023-2025) demonstrate methodological rigor in causal analysis of policy reforms, with consistent regional specialization in Indonesia. Her work bridges academic research and practical development solutions through partnerships with Indonesian institutions. Project Leadership: As Co-Investigator on three major grants, she examines corporate social responsibility in emerging economies (2022-2026), tax registration for MSMEs (2018-2020), and foreign aid effectiveness (2016-2021). These projects involve multi-institutional collaborations across Australia and Indonesia. Academic Service: Registered to supervise graduate students at ANU, she contributes to gender equality discourse through editorial work including the 2023 ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute publication on Indonesian gender dynamics.
Professor Luke Prendergast is the Deputy Dean of the School of Computing, Engineering & Mathematical Sciences (SCEMS) at La Trobe University (LTU) and holds a Professorship in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He previously served as Head of Department (2014–2020) and led LTU's Statistics Consulting Platform. His research focuses on robust statistics, meta-analysis, dimension reduction, and applied statistics, leading the DRAMA research group. Collaborations span fields like endocrinology, disability studies, and respiratory health. He actively contributes to research grants, including projects on Prader-Willi syndrome and exercise for disability populations. Professor Prendergast's recent work emphasizes statistical software development (e.g., the rquest package) and applications in biostatistics, such as metabolomics analysis and health intervention fidelity. His articles address topics like quantile-based hypothesis testing, geospatial accessibility for disability care, and motivational interviewing efficacy. Professional roles include NHMRC grant review panels, editorial boards for Nutrients and Respirology , and leadership in the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA Vic). His teaching includes courses in meta-analysis, linear models, and data-based critical thinking. Grants funded projects on exercise programs for cerebral palsy populations and community-university partnerships for disability inclusion. Luke's work bridges statistical theory with real-world health challenges, emphasizing robust methodologies and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Professor Adrienne O'Neil is a leading academic at Deakin University's Food & Mood Centre, where she holds an NHMRC Emerging Leader (2) Fellowship. As a behavioral scientist, she specializes in evidence-based lifestyle medicine and rehabilitation for mental health and cardiac conditions. Director, Heart and Mind Research (2022–present) Deputy Director, Food & Mood Centre (2022–present) Her research focuses on: Shared pathways between mental and physical disorders Lifestyle interventions for mental health Cardiac rehabilitation and psychosomatic medicine Social determinants of health Epidemiology of comorbid conditions Key contributions include: Leading the CALM trial (2024) showing lifestyle interventions match psychotherapy effectiveness Co-chairing international lifestyle mental health guidelines (2022) Advancing the MAGNET clinical trial network Groundbreaking work on stress-cardiovascular disease relationships Scientific awards: NHMRC Emerging Leader (2) Fellowship Email: adrienne.oneil@deakin.edu.au
Associate Professor Stephen Carter is an Associate Professor in Pharmacy Practice at the University of Sydney's Sydney Pharmacy School within the Faculty of Medicine and Health. He serves as the Program Director for Undergraduate Pharmacy programs and is a registered pharmacist with clinical specialisation in medication management review. Stephen holds qualifications including BPharm, MSc, PhD, and Grad Cert Edu (Higher Ed). He is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (FPS), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and holds other professional accreditations. His research focuses on optimizing the role of pharmacists in healthcare, particularly examining how consumers and caregivers obtain and use medicines, designing effective pharmacist services, and supporting pharmacists throughout their professional journey. His work spans areas including osteoporosis care, medication adherence, service quality in community pharmacies, and the application of advanced statistical methods like Structural Equation Modelling. Stephen's publications demonstrate a strong focus on practical pharmacy interventions, with significant work on osteoporosis management services, perinatal depression screening in pharmacies, and digital health approaches to improve medication adherence. His research employs diverse methodologies including randomized controlled trials, qualitative studies, and advanced psychometric analyses. Early Career Investigator Award Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA) for 2017 Lesmuller Award for Best Oral Communication - Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe Working Conference, Berlin, 2013 Recipient of the 2013 Annual Best Paper Award by Elsevier publication, Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy Best Poster Presentation Award: International Social Pharmacy Workshop, Boston, USA, 2014 Top reviewer, Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) Stephen actively supervises several graduate students including PhD candidates Fatima Rezea, Steven Tran, Veronika Seda, Kingston Leung, and Joel Hillman, as well as MPhil student Linda Krogh. He has secured significant research funding, including co-leading a $2.36 million Randomized Controlled Trial and managing four current competitive grant-funded projects totaling over $6.3 million. His work has particular emphasis on translating research into practical pharmacy services that improve patient outcomes. Stephen is actively involved in major research initiatives including the #STOP trial (Safer medicines To reduce falls and refractures for OsteoPorosis) and the TICTOC trial (Timely post-discharge medication reviews to Improve Continuity – the Transitions Of Care stewardship), both focusing on innovative pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication safety and effectiveness.
Dr Philip Haywood is an Associate Professor of Practice in Health Systems and Financing at the Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data, part of the Sydney School of Public Health and the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. His career spans academia, clinical practice in emergency medicine, and policy development. He has advised governments globally on health system resilience, particularly during the pandemic, and focuses on funding reforms, equity, and virtual care. Research interests include health system resilience, funding policy, equity, and integrated care. He leads the Centre for Research Excellence on Value-Based Payments in Cancer Care and contributes to cancer patient population projections. Currently supervising one PhD student, David GOLDSBURY, his work emphasizes applied health economics and policy. Publications span health economics, policy, and system resilience, with recent focus on pandemic responses, healthcare costs, and equity. His research has informed global health policies and is disseminated through platforms like the OECD and ICCONIC (International Comparisons). Labs/teams include the Leeder Centre, where he collaborates on projects like the Victorian Healthy Homes Program and resilience testing frameworks. No scientific awards are explicitly listed, but his contributions to policy and research are widely recognized.
Scarlett Smout is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Matilda Centre, part of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. Her email is scarlett.smout@sydney.edu.au . Her research focuses on adolescent mental health, lifestyle behaviors, and the development of school-based interventions to address risk factors such as diet, physical activity, and substance use. She has contributed to studies on pandemic mental health impacts, the Health4Life eHealth intervention, and the role of parental monitoring in dietary habits. Her work also explores social determinants of loneliness during crises and the mental health trajectories of young adults during the pandemic. Key research areas include adolescent mental health outcomes, behavioral interventions, and the intersection of lifestyle factors with psychopathology. She has collaborated on large-scale trials and systematic reviews, including an umbrella review of global mental health during the pandemic and analyses of longitudinal data in gender-diverse populations. Her findings have informed policy recommendations for youth mental health recovery plans and public health strategies. Smout has secured grants including the 'Mentally Healthy Future Project' (2023) and a BHP Foundation grant for pandemic mental health response research (2020). Her contributions address both academic and policy domains, emphasizing evidence-based approaches to safeguard mental health in diverse populations. Labs/Teams: The Matilda Centre, where her work aligns with broader initiatives in mental health research and public health interventions.
