Find an expert

Dr Michael Waller: is a biostatistician working on the Australian Longitudinal Study of Womens Health (ALSWH). He has previous experience working on cancer screening, and military health studies. His current research focus is using linked data sources to assess dementia rates and risk factors.

Prof. Guy Wallis studies visual recognition and visuomotor behaviour. His investigations combine computational modelling with data drawn from behavioural studies. Many of these behavioural studies are conducted in computer-controlled, virtual environments.

Guy holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Imperial College, London) and a PhD in Visual Neuroscience (Oxford University, UK). He joined the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences in 1998 after a three year period as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany. His research has been funded by the Australian Research Council, the Human Frontier Science Program, and the Wellcome Trust, as well as through industry partnerships with the Queensland Construction Training Centre, the Australian Coal Association Research Program, Queensland Health, the US Air Force and Boeing.

• ARC Medical Research Advisory Group (2022-2024)
• Elected Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022)
• ARC College of Experts (2019-2021)
• CSIRO CSS Human Research Ethics Committee member (2020-2022)
• UQ Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty, HDR Supervision Award (2018)
• ARC Future Fellowship (2011-2014)
• ARC QEII Fellowship (2003-2007)
• UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2003)

Professor Katharine Wallis MBChB, PhD, MBHL, Dip Obst, FRNZCGP, FACRRM, GAICD is Mayne Professor and Head, Mayne Academy of General Practice and Head, General Practice Clinical Unit at the University of Queensland Medical School and lead of the RELEASE program of research. Professor Wallis is a clinically active general practitioner and Fellow of both the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Professor Wallis’s research centres around safer use of medicines in general practice, in particular developing and evaluating interventions designed to support people to stop antidepressants safely. Current projects include the RELEASE (REdressing Long-tErm Antidepressant uSE) effectiveness-implementation trial in general practice funded by a Medical Research Future Fund 2020 Clinician Researchers: Applied Research in Health grant and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Professor Wallis also leads a project funded by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Foundation in the Princess Alexandra Hospital Occupational Therapy Driving Assessment & Rehabilitation Service developing and testing the 3-Domains screening toolkit for older driver medical assessment in general practice.

Professor Wallis is the Queensland Academic Lead for the PARTNER network, a national network of rural and remote practices established to support rural participation in clinical trials funded by the Medical Research Future Fund as part of the Australian Teletrials program, and is Founding Director of the UQGP Research practice-based research network.

Professor Wallis is a member of the Oxford International Primary Care Research Leadership Programme, University of Oxford.

Prof Ward's research program has focused on adult acute services, including head and neck cancer management, critical care, and general dysphagia management. She conducts research into improving services, evaluating new models of care and new workforce models, digital service delivery models eg., telehealth, as well as clinical training models eg., simulation. Liz is also engaged in exploring the role and benefits of the clinician-researcher workforce within health services.

Prof Ward currently holds a joint position as the Director of the Centre for Functioning and Health (CFAHR), in Metro South Hospital and Health Service, Queensland Health, and, Conjoint Professor with the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland. Her research has a clinical focus with particular emphasis on projects designed to improve patient outcomes within health services. She has published extensively with over 450 publications to date and has a track record of competitive grant funding across a number of research fields. Liz has been awarded multiple UQ teaching awards and has supervised >40 students to successful completion of their research higher degree. In 2014 Liz was awarded the title of Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia in recognition of her contributions to the profession.

Professor James Ward is a Pitjantjatjara and Narungga man, and a national leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. He is currently the Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland. As such he leads a research program focused on urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and an infectious diseases research program and associated issues. Having held various roles in Aboriginal public health policy for both government and non-government organisations, in 2007 he was appointed as the Inaugural Program Head of the Aboriginal Program at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales. In 2012 he moved to Alice Springs to become Deputy Director of the Baker Institutes' Aboriginal Health Program, after which he joined the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. James has been awarded funding applications totalling $23M since 2013; including $7.14M as CIA on NHMRC funded grants and has authored 160 publications. He has led national research projects on health services research http://cre-ash.org.au/participating-sites/clinical-hubs/; in health promotion www.youngdeadlyfree.org.au; and methamphetamines https://wecandothis.com.au/ to name a few.

His work has influenced policy and practice significantly contributing to national guidelines, policy and practice. During 2020 he has contributed to the national COVID—19 response nationally through membership of the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander COVID-19 Taskforce.

Maiden name: Ellen Maree Leslie

Dr Ellen Wessel is a Research Fellow in the School of Public Health, with backgrounds in both public health and criminology. Her research interests include women's health, alcohol and other drug use, and policing.

Dr Wheeler is a proud Ngarabal person and Accredited Exercise Scientist (ESSA). Dr Wheeler specilises in implementation science in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

Dr Wheeler was the first Aboriginal person to graduate with a PhD from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Dr Wheeler’s research examines how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities can co-design programs that build community capacity and engage children and young peoples in a broad range of development areas. Dr Wheeler’s research strengths consist co-designing physical movement-based programs, ensuring a trauma informed and culturally-responsive approach towards community engagement and empowerment.

Dr Wheeler has led high performing teams working on education programs that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families through a strength-based and holistic framework. Extending this work, Dr Wheeler's research focuses on developing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce to better address the complex health needs of community. Dr Wheeler has provided FIrst Nations leadership to a range of projects that have catered for the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and through this experience has partnered to deliver diverse governance solutions and educational engagement frameworks.

Dr Wheeler also specialises in biomechanics, sport analytics and performance analysis as well as strength and conditioning research. Dr Wheeler works currently with a range of sporting organisations to implement best-practice sport servicing, testing and athlete management to achieve excellence. Dr Wheeler is the lead researcher in partnership with Indigenous Basketball Australia. Dr Wheeler has worked with a variety of professional sporting organisations and teams such as the Wallabies, Brumbies Rugby and World Rugby as well as the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra Raiders, Canberra Comets, Canberra Meteors and GWS Giants. Dr Wheeler co-design training programs to promote optimal performance in a range of sports. Dr Wheeler is a passionate about how sport and exercise can be used to enrich community as well as health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Dr Wheeler is the Chair of the ESSA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy Working Group for Exercise and Sport Science Australia.

Dr Wheeler is the Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy for the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences.

Dr Wheeler is the Program Convenor for Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Sciences, the University of Queensland.

Dr Wheeler was named in the top 52 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changing the world from COSMOS.

Awards

2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scientist Award from the Australian Academy of Science

2022 LSQ Merck Life Science Rural and Regional Service Award from Life Sciences Queensland

2020 Accredited Exercise Scientist of the Year Award from Exercise and Sport Science Australia

2021 Science Peoples Choice Award from National Science Week

2021 Outreach Award from National Science Week

2020 Science Leadership Excellence Award from National Science Week

2017 NAIDOC Award from Fraser Coast NAIDOC Committee

Brooke-Mai is a Lecturer in Speech Pathology and a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist. Her research interests include the rehabilitation of motor speech disorders, brain mechanisms underpinning speech recovery, and the application of telerehabilitation to improve access to speech pathology services.

Professor Whiteford is Director of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research. His research interests are in psychiatric epidemiology and burden of disease measurement, mental health policy and service reform.

Professor Whiteford trained in medicine, psychiatry and health policy at the University of Queensland, Stanford University and the Australian National University. He has held senior clinical and administrative positions, including those of Director of Mental Health in the Queensland and Federal governments in Australia. He worked for ten years on the design and implementation of Australia’s Mental Health Strategy and was Chairman of the Working Group which oversaw this initiative. He was appointed to the first mental health position in the World Bank in Washington DC with the task of developing the Bank’s capacity to respond to the rising global burden of mental, neurological, and substance use disorders. He has worked as a consultant to national governments, the Commonwealth and State governments in Australia, the World Bank, and the World Health Organisation.

I am a physiotherapist with a clinical specialty in the management of individuals with neurological conditions and vestibular disorders. I have a keen interest in examining how the body's balance systems, including the inner ear (vestibular system), eyes (ocular system), and sensory modalities (touch, proprioception), interact with the brain to optimize movement control, functionality, physical activity, and participation outcomes for individuals affected by neurological and vestibular pathologies. This includes conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebellar dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson's disease, myasthenia gravis, motor neuron disease, concussion, Meniere's disease, vestibular migraines, acoustic neuromas, and age-related vestibular dysfunction. Additionally, I am interested in the influence of lifestyle choices on vestibular system functioning and integration, particularly how factors such as physical activity, community integration, sleep, and overall wellness affect both neurological and vestibular conditions, including Meniere's disease, vestibular migraines, and age-related vestibular dysfunction.

I am a cognitive neuroscientist with a research focus on the neural basis of language. My research is focused on three related questions:

1. How is language processed in the brain?
2. How does brain damage affect language processing in individuals with aphasia, i.e. acquired language disorders?
3. What brain mechanisms support the recovery of language processing in people with aphasia who improve over time?

To address these questions, my lab studies individuals with aphasia, as well as healthy participants with normal language, using a range of state-of-the-art functional and structural neuroimaging techniques. We combine our multimodal imaging approach with comprehensive language assessments designed to quantify deficits in different components of the language processing system, such as syntactic structure, word meanings, and the selection and assembly of speech sounds.

Language Neuroscience Laboratory

James Woodforde is a lecturer in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland. His research centres on physical activity in children and young people, with a specific focus on the school setting. James’s PhD research examined physical activity in the before-school segment, drawing on a variety of data sources and engaging with school stakeholders to develop a comprehensive understanding of physical activity patterns and influences during this time of day.

Dr Lee Woods is a clinician researcher at the Queensland Digital Health Centre at The University of Queensland, Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health and practicing primary care registered nurse. Her research program focuses on safe, effective, and equitable digital transformation in healthcare. Dr Woods’ Digital Health CRC funded postdoctoral work involved the first Australian state-wide, academic-led digital maturity assessment across Queensland, spanning all 16 healthcare systems. Findings from the Queensland Health digital maturity assessments have been used by regional health services executives for local IT infrastructure business cases, have informed the refresh of Queensland Health’s Digital Health Strategy 2022 and the lessons learned have been translated internationally. Dr Woods has a national profile for her work on building the digital health capabilities of the Australian health workforce. Dr Woods is often invited to speak at national forums, teaches digital health into the clinical degrees at The University of Queensland and is engaged in academic consulting. Her previous roles in government, education sector and healthcare organisations across three states and in private, public and primary health services positions her well for clinical translation and policy reform. Her work has informed federal digital health strategy through project management of two foundational workforce and education documents at the Australian Digital Health Agency. Dr Woods was on the Project Leadership Team to develop Australia’s first national Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program, a partnership between academia and two national peak bodies. 

Olivia is a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland and a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences (CNAFS), The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI). Olivia has a strong track record in leading multidisciplinary research. Her main research streams include clinical trials examining the bioavailability of nutrients and the impact on clinical outcomes and/or gene expression; the uptake and maintenance of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns; innovative models of service delivery to prevent nutritional decline and improve quality of life for older people; service co-design, delivery, and evaluation across various areas of dietetics practice. Olivia also collaborates with industry partners to trial novel foods and ingredients.

Olivia is a highly supportive postgraduate advisor, mentoring 13 PhD students (5 to completion, 3 as primary; 8 continuing). She regularly supervises Master of Dietetics Studies coursework research students (around 22 projects 2009-2022) and supervised 2 honours students (2011).

Olivia is an Associate Editor for the international journal, Nutrition Journal, (BMC, Springer Nature). In 2010, she received Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian status, as recognition of her professional leadership and expertise and in 2011 won the Women in Technology "Rising Star" Award. She has received significant research funding, including support from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Queensland Health and Horticulture Innovation Australia.

Yanfei has a discipline background as a physiotherapist. She completed her PhD at The University of Queensland in October 2021. Her PhD involved ultrasound shear wave elastography, quantitative sensory testing, and physical and psychological measures to uncover potential biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying work-related neck pain and disability in a high-risk occupation group. After her PhD, she was awarded a competitive UQ postdoctoral fellowship to conduct research related to musculoskeletal pain and injury at RECOVER Injury Research Centre. Her current research focuses on uncovering the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying musculoskeletal pain and injury, developing, and implementing effective and tailored pain treatments. She also has interests in occupational health and health equity. She has a broad range of research skills applicable across methodologies, including randomized controlled trials, case-control, and longitudinal study designs, systematic and scoping reviews, and meta-analysis. Yanfei has presented her work at national and international conferences and received several presentation awards.

Charlotte Young is a research fellow at the Institute for Social Science Research at The University of Queensland. Charlotte is a qualitative researcher with interdisciplinary interests spanning sociology, public health, health promotion, and migration studies. Her research focuses on the systemic drivers of migrant health inequities and how they can be redressed. Charlotte is also interested in the ways migrants adapt and respond to systemic and structural drivers of inequity. Recently, she has been exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted migrant and refugee background tertiary students and how young culturally and linguistically diverse social media influencers have been promoting COVID-safe behaviours online. Charlotte also explores immigrant organisations as critical settings to influence health and wellbeing. She is passionate about producing impactful research to affect positive change and tackling migrant health problems in solidarity with the communities they affect. Charlotte also has experience conducting evaluation research for large-scale health interventions.

I am an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (AdvAPD), and currently hold positions at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (Research Coordinator, Nutrition and Dietetics), and University of Queensland (Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Services Research).

My research program aims to improve nutrition care in Australian hospitals to prevent avoidable hospital-acquired complications and optimise patient outcomes, particularly for older inpatients. My research program consists of extensive observational research to establish the size and impact of the problem, qualitative research to understand patient, caregiver and staff perspectives and opportunities, and pragmatic implementation research to test, compare and evaluate different models of nutrition care in practice. Through my research, I am to improve care of people accessing health services across the continuum of care, with a particular interest in frailty, preventing delirium and functional decline, and person-centred care.

My research has been of interest nationally and internationally, receiving Research in Practice awards at national Dietitians Australia conferences, Young Achiever Award by the Dietitians Association of Australia in 2014 and New Researcher Award at the International Congress of Dietetics in 2012. My leadership and contribution to the dietetics profession was recently recognised through receiving the prestigious Barbara Chester Memorial Award.

I have an interest and developing expertise in consumer engagement in research and health service improvement, and I am regularly asked to speak on this topic at conferences, forums and panel discussions. I am proud of work I co-led with a health consumer to develop a co-design framework in Metro North Health. This framework is freely available online for anyone to use: https://metronorth.health.qld.gov.au/get-involved/co-design.

I am an implementation scientist and have facilitated workshops on this topic at UQ, QUT, University of Adelaide and Metro North HHS within a team of local and international experts. I was part of the team that developed the Allied Health Translating Research into Practice (AH-TRIP) initiative, which aims to increase knowledge translation capacity for health professionals. https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/database-tools/translating-research-into-practice-trip/translating-research-into-practice.

As a passionate advocate for the training and career pathways for clinician-scientists, I have supervised 3 PhDs to completion, and is currently supervising 6 research higher degree candidates (5 of whom are embedded health professionals within the health system), 4 early career research fellows and nearly 40 dietetics research honours students.