Gail Alvares

Dr. Gail Alvares is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the UWA Medical School and affiliated with the UWA Centre for Child Health Research (part of The Kids Research Institute Australia). Her work focuses on neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders in children, particularly autism spectrum disorders and developmental coordination disorder. She actively supervises PhD and HDR students through the University of Western Australia.

Research & Grants

• Leading/co-investigator in multiple grants including studies on telehealth interventions for autistic children, mental health outcomes in developmental coordination disorder, and precision medicine approaches in autism treatment.
• Recent grants include projects funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and the Department of Health (WA), addressing topics like compression garments for autistic children’s mental health and youth suicide prevention initiatives.

Research Interests

Her research spans autism spectrum disorders, developmental coordination disorder, and child mental health. Key themes include behavioral interventions, caregiver support, psychosocial impact of neurodevelopmental conditions, and diagnostic reliability of assessment tools.

Publications

Recent publications highlight innovative interventions (e.g., telehealth-based sleep programs for autism) and cross-setting analyses of developmental coordination disorder impacts. Her work emphasizes translational research addressing clinical and community challenges.