Seminar presenters

The Research Skills Seminar and Workshop Series have a range of guest presenters that volunteer their time and expertise towards enriching the series. All presenters bring their experiences with scientific research to ensure our series covers topics that are important and useful to our audience. 

Our Presenters

 Dr Kenneth Lee  

Dr Kenneth Lee

Senior Lecturer, Pharmacy Practice, University of Western Australia 

Dr Lee is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice and a clinician. As a clinician, he works in a large medical centre as the in-house pharmacist, as well as in private consultancy, where he primarily delivers comprehensive medication management review services to domiciliary patients. Dr Lee is passionate about integrating practice, research, and teaching.

Presenting

  • Research Fundamentals - 9 February 2024
  • Research Skills Workshop: Manuscript Writing - 11 June 2024
Michael Dymock  

Michael Dymock

Biostatistician, Telethon Kids Institute

Michael is a biostatistician and PhD candidate based at the Telethon Kids Institute. His research interests involve the use of Bayesian methods in adaptive clinical trials, computational statistics, and novel methods for vaccine safety surveillance. He aims to bridge the gap between clinical research design and decision-making by enhancing research methodology and encouraging statistical literacy and communication.

Presenting

  • Introductory Biostatistics -16 February 2024
  • Sample Size Calculations - 2 August 2024
  • Statistical Tips for Interpreting Scientific Claims - 25 October 2024
 Profile pic of Dr Amy Page, Senior Lecturer, School of Allied Health, UWA  

Dr Amy Page

Senior Lecturer, School of Allied Health, University of Western Australia 

Dr Amy Page is a registered pharmacist and qualified biostatistician. Her vision is to reduce medicines-related harm while balancing symptom control to align with individualised treatment goals for older people to improve well-being. She undertakes knowledge creation and translation through implementation, practitioner development, communication and media, engagement with professional bodies and policy for sustained impact on pharmacy practice.

She has received over $5 million in research funding and published over 130 articles including more than 90 peer reviewed papers. She has presented on medicine safety and the quality use of medicines for older people nationally and internationally. Her research is frequently profiled in the professional and lay media.

Presented

  • Using Social Media in Research - 8 March 2024
 Profile pic of Alexandra Robertson, Director of Operations, CAHS  

Alexandra Robertson

Director of Research Operations, Child and Adolescent Health Service

Ali has joined CAHS from The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), Melbourne where she was the Director of Research Operations. She has a wealth of experience in health service management, research governance and operations at tertiary academic hospitals, both paediatric and adult.

Ali worked across RCH and with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute to strengthen the partnership, implement systems and processes to streamline research governance and ethics. Her primary focus was to support clinicians of all disciplines to conduct research by breaking down barriers and developing enablers.

Presenting

 Profile pic of Tracy Chapman, Manager Clinical Research Governance  

Tracy Chapman

Manager, Clinical Trials Governance

Tracy has worked within Clinical Research for more than 22 years, with 17 of those years as a Study Coordinator within the Oncology and Haematology department at PMH/PCH responsible for all ethics and governance submissions.

For the last 5+ years Tracy has developed her ethics and governance knowledge whilst working within the Research Ethics and Governance offices at the Child and Adolescent Health Service and the Department of Health prior to recently re-joining the Research Governance team at CAHS.

Presenting

 Profile pic of Dr Natalie Giles against colourful CAHS arc logo  

Dr Natalie Giles

Manager, Ethics and Compliance, Research Department CAHS

Natalie has a background as researcher prior to moving into research ethics. She initially worked in the field of immunology and later completed a PhD in biomedical science from Murdoch University. She worked as a post-doctoral researcher for the Fiona Wood Foundation, known as the McComb Foundation at the time. Natalie then took on a research ethics role at the University of Notre Dame Australia and later at South Metropolitan Health Service prior to joining CAHS.

Presenting

 Presenter A/Prof Tony Kemp profile pic with colourful arcs logo  

A/Prof Tony Kemp

School of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia

Tony completed his PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra, and held research positions in the UK, Japan and the USA, before relocating to UWA in 2011 as an ARC Future Fellow. He has > 100 peer reviewed publications, including first authored papers in Nature and Science, is an expert assessor for a number of national research funding bodies (including ARC, NERC, NSF) and serves as Associate Editor for two international journals.

Presenting

 Profile pic of Melanie Wright, Director of Research South Metropolitan Health Service  

Melanie Wright

Director of Research, South Metropolitan Health Service 

Mel has 39 years of healthcare experience and for the past 6 years has led strategic transformation of the research environment in SMHS, achieving significant cultural change, to one where researchers are supported, enabled and empowered to conduct high quality local, state and international research projects. Mel is passionate about project management, research and involving consumers with lived experience in every aspect pf healthcare as equal and active partners,

Mel has over 10 years of healthcare project management experience. Mel is also passionate about teaching, coaching and mentoring staff to achieve their very best.

Presenting

Dr Charlie McLeod - Paediatric Infectious Diseases Clinician Researcher, Research Fellow, Raine Fellow, Deputy Director of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases   

Dr Charlie McLeod

Paediatric Infectious Diseases Clinician Researcher, Research Fellow, Raine Fellow,
Deputy Director of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases

Charlie McLeod is an Infectious Diseases clinician researcher, RAINE clinical research fellow (2021-24), deputy director at the Wesfarmers Centre for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases (Telethon Kids Institute) and a clinical lead in the Infectious Diseases Implementation Research Team at Telethon Kids Institute. McLeod’s interest lies in patient-centred, policy driven research using innovative clinical trial methodologies and analytic approaches. They are currently co-leading the Platform Trial in COVID-19 priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO), an MRFF-funded adaptive platform trial evaluating different COVID-19 booster strategies in immunocompetent Australians.

Presenting

 Profile pic of Dr Giulia Peacock, CAHS Research Education Program Research Fellow  

Dr Giulia Peacock

Research Fellow, CAHS Research Education Program

Giulia graduated medical school from the University of Notre Dame Fremantle in 2014. She supplements her clinical work as an Advanced Paediatric Trainee by conducting and publishing research in paediatric cardiology and through active involvement in medical education. She is currently completing her Masters in Clinical Science, Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. She hopes to ensure easy accessibility to research education and support, to create best outcomes for all patients.  

Presenting

  • Oral Presentation of Research Results - 26 July 2024
  • Research Skills Workshop: Oral Presentation of Research Results - 13 August 2024
  • Data Collection and Management - 11 October 2024
  • Survey Design and Techniques - 1 November 2024
  • REDCap for Data Capture and Management - 2024 date tba
  • REDCap Workshop Series - Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Troubleshooting sessions - 2024
 A circular profile photo of Dr Tamika Heiden on colourful semi-arcs.

Dr Tamika Heiden

Founder and Principal, Research Impact Academy, Victoria

The Research Impact Academy is a consulting service supporting researchers since 2014.

Coming from a background in health and medical research, Tamika now helps researchers, research organisations, funding bodies, government agencies, and industry organisations to create, capture, evaluate and communicate research impact.

Since 2018, Tamika has worked with over 600 researchers to perfect their NHMRC impact statements for the Investigator Grants. To date, she has supported researchers in securing more than $100 Million in research funding, with her clients enjoying an average success rate of 30%. Tamika also hosts the annual Research Impact Summit, the first global online and free conference dedicated to research impact. 

Presenting

 Belinda Frank  

Belinda Frank

Involvement Coordinator, Telethon Kids Institute

 

Belinda is the Involvement Coordinator at Telethon Kids Institute. She started her consumer advocacy work in 2002, originally as a board member and then state manager for a not for profit organisation. In 2016 she started work at the Telethon Kids Institute as the Consumer Advocate then moving into the Development Team with the establishment of the Consumer and Community Health Research Network.  Belinda currently serves on state and national research committees.

Presenting

 Presenter profile picture Natalie Strobel

Dr Natalie Strobel

Senior Research Fellow, Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University

Natalie is a Senior Research Fellow employed as the team leader on the evidence synthesis stream for the Centre for Improving Health Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families (ISAC) at the Edith Cowan University. She has been working in health services research and epidemiology to improve service delivery to children, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Dr Strobel has been consulting with WHO on various neonatal guidelines including for preterm and low birth weight infants. Her work has had a strong focus on ensuring projects delivered are needs based and inform policy and practice.

Presenting

  • Rapid Critical Appraisal of Scientific Literature - 9 August 2024
 Associate Professor Fenella Gill  

Prof Fenella Gill

Acute Paediatric Nursing, Perth Children's Hospital and Curtin University

Fenella was an NHMRC Translating Research into Practice Fellow for post-doctoral research on partnering with parents in the care of their deteriorating child in hospital. She has undertaken training in implementation science in Canada and Australia and has held two further Implementation Science Fellowships. Fenella led the development of an evidence based paediatric early warning system with integrated family involvement and sepsis recognition. The ESCALATION System has been recently implemented throughout all WA hospitals where children are cared for and also adopted in pre-hospital emergency care by St John Ambulance WA. She now leads a research program Safer care for children in hospital to optimise the ESCALATION System.

Presenting

  • Knowledge Translation - 23 August 20234
 Professor Sonya Girdler  

Prof Sonya Girdler

Professor of Occupational Therapy and Director of the Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG)
and Director of Program 3 of the ‘Living with Autism’ Cooperative Research Centre

Sonya has published over 100 papers, including publishing more than 20 reviews (Systematic and Scoping), supervised 12 PhD students to completion and has extensive experience in conducting research in health and community settings.

Presenting

  • Conducting Systematic Reviews - 30 August 2024
 profile pic of Cheryl Bridge, TKI  

Cheryl Bridge

Head, Kulunga Aboriginal Unit, Telethon Kids Institute 

As the Head of the Kulunga Aboriginal Unit, Cheryl plays a senior role in the full integration of Aboriginal health research as a core business focus of the Telethon kids Institute. She leads her team in providing support, cultural training and building awareness and understanding of Telethon Kids research involving Aboriginal communities across the state. Cheryl's vision is to see TKI's important research continue to translate into a positive impact for our Aboriginal children and families.

Co-presenting

  • Involving Aboriginal Communities in Research - 6 September 2024
 Dr Tegan McNab  

Dr Tegan McNab

Grants & Research Development Manager, Telethon Kids Institute 

Tegan undertook her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Murdoch University. She managed the Western Australian DNA Bank (an NHMRC Enabling Resource) for a number of years before moving into research development roles at both The University of Western Australia and Curtin University. Tegan joined Telethon Kids in early 2019. Tegan has a particular interest in supporting researchers to secure research funding. She is responsible for the Institute's grants research operations.

Presenting

  • Grant Applications and Finding Funding - 11 October 2024
 Profile pic of Dr Lorna Davin, University of Notre Dame  

Dr Lorna Davin

Senior Lecturer Medical Education, University of Notre Dame Australia

Lorna is an experienced educator, facilitator, and researcher, in the area of emotional well-being. She has worked in the health and education sectors for the last 30 years.

Lorna is a qualitative researcher who uses stories as the basis of her research. Her areas of interest are compassion and self-compassion, our values and beliefs, the stories we tell ourselves, and the way they shape our lives. She is a regular presenter at state and national conferences, has contributed a range of publications to the field, and supervises and mentors students undertaking research in health professional education.

Her emphasis is to use education as a mechanism to enhance care for the vulnerable. She currently ‘teaches’ into the SoMs professional development program, and is reviewing aspects of the curriculum to reflect contemporary society, including gender diversity and inclusion.

Presenting

  • Qualitative Research Methods - 22 November 2024
Ashley Schoof from Telethon Kids Institute

Ashley Schoof

Commercialisation Officer, Telethon Kids Institute

As the Commercialisation Officer at the Telethon Kids Institute, Ashley is responsible for the identification, protection and commercialisation of Intellectual Property at Telethon Kids to support the development of new discoveries, preventions and cures.

Co-presenting

  • Innovation and Commercialisation - 29 November 2024
 Colourful logo with presenter Helga Mikkelsen profile pic

Dr Helga Mikkelsen

Investment Analyst, Brandon BioCatalyst

Helga Mikkelsen is a WA-based Investment Analyst at Brandon Capital, which manages Australia and New Zealand’s largest large life science investment fund, Brandon BioCatalyst. Following degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Helga completed her PhD in microbiology at the University of Cambridge and postdoctoral research in bacterial genetics at Imperial College London. She has since worked with medical innovation and has managed development of devices and drug treatments in the UK and Australia. Helga is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Director and co-founder of Respirion Pharmaceuticals, which develops an inhaled treatment for chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Co-presenting

  • Innovation and Commercialisation - 29 November 2024
 

Our previous presenters

- some seminar recordings are still available to watch via the links below

 Profile picture of Dr Jane Mugure Githae

Dr Jane Mugure Githae

Research Fellow, CAHS Research Education Program

Mugure joins us from Kenya where she practiced as a General Surgeon & Honorary Lecturer in General Surgery. She has experience in clinical research, clinical audits and medical education. She is keen to simplify the process of integrating day-to-day clinical work with research.

Presented

 A circular profile photo of A/Prof Peter Richmond on colourful semi-arcs  

Prof Peter Richmond

Head of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia
Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Immunologist at Perth Children’s Hospital

Peter’s main research focus is the development and evaluation of new vaccines created to prevent bacterial and viral infections from spreading among young children. Peter has 26 years experience working in Clinical Trials. More recently, Professor Richmond has focused on the prevention and treatment of meningitis, respiratory infections and middle ear infections.

In relation to meningitis, he conducted a controlled study to assess the Novartis Meningococcal B recombinant vaccine, which led to the vaccine being routinely adopted around Australia.

Peter was a member of the CAHS HREC from 2007-2022.

Presented

 Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM  

Prof Jonathan Carapetis AM

Director, Telethon Kids Institute

Professor Jonathan Carapetis is Director of the Telethon Kids Institute and a Professor at UWA. His research interests include rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, other group A streptococcal diseases, vaccine preventable disease, Indigenous child health, youth health and education, and skin sores and scabies. He has supervised 23 PhD, Masters, Honours, Clinical Trainees and others in research.

Presented up to end 2022

 Profile pic of A/Prof Sunalene Devadason with CAHS logo  

A/Prof Sunalene Devadason

Senior Researcher at Perth Children's Hospital
and Graduate Research Coordinator, UWA Medical School, Division of Paediatrics

Sunalene has extensive supervision experience having supervised 22 PhD and Masters students, and also has experience in more informal types of supervision. She also oversees the progress of many other students as a Graduate Research Coordinator in the Medical School.

 

Sunalene is currently the Deputy Chair of the Board of the Graduate Research School at UWA.

Presented

  • Getting the most out of Research Supervision - 19 May 2023
 Profile pic of Keryn McKinnon against colourful CAHS arc logo  

Keryn McKinnon

Head Strategic Communications, Telethon Kids Institute

Keryn is a corporate communications specialist with more than three decades experience as a senior journalist, newspaper editor, government media adviser and public relations executive.

With expertise in crisis communications, stakeholder engagement and media management, Keryn was Agency Director at Perth PR firm Hunter Communications prior to taking on the role as Head, Strategic Communications at Telethon Kids Institute in April this year.

A highly respected leader of communications teams, Keryn is an expert storyteller who thrives on delivering compelling, relevant and engaging content to targeted audiences. She cut her teeth on news reporting in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, where she become the first woman, and youngest person, to be appointed editor of the State’s only regional daily newspaper – the Kalgoorlie Miner.

Presented

  • Media and Communications in Research - 18 August 2023
 Dr Shirley McGough  

Dr Shirley McGough

Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University

Shirley has a wide range of experience conducting health research in the area of mental health using a mix of research designs. She is a registered nurse and a credentialed mental health nurse.

Presented up to 2022

  • Qualitative Research Methods (2022)
 Profile pic of presenter A/Prof Bep Uink  

A/Prof Bep Uink

Dean Indigenous Knowledges, Murdoch University

Associate Professor Bep Uink (Master of Applied Psychology (Clinical), PhD) is a Noongar woman from Perth, WA. Her research focuses on understanding how socially determined disadvantage impacts the social emotional wellbeing of young people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and how social systems such as higher education can support young peoples’ wellbeing.

Co-presented

  • Involving Aboriginal Communities in Research - 1 September 2023
 Profil pic of presenter Shakara Liddelow-Hunt  

Shakara Liddelow-Hunt

Research Assistant, Telethon Kids Institute/UWA

Shakara Liddelow-Hunt is a queer Wajarri Yamatji who grew up on Noongar country. They are a Research Assistant in the Youth Mental Health Team at the Telethon Kids Institute and PhD student at the University of Western Australia, focused on the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people.

Co-presented

  • Involving Aboriginal Communities in Research - 1 September 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 22/03/2024