Find an expert

Sheleigh Lawler is a health psychology expert, with research interests in understanding and intervening on health behaviours, particularly the psychosocial sequelae in relation to disease and intervention outcomes. Her breadth of knowledge across public health, health promotion and health psychology allows for a unique perspective, particularly on understanding the importance of communication. Her work involves multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, industry partners, and government organisations.

I am an applied linguist specializing in intercultural and public health communication. I am deeply engaged in using multimodal discourse analysis to understand how language, gestures, eye gaze, and material objects co-create meaning in social life. Previously, I investigated the processes of language and cultural learning while studying abroad or in classroom settings.

My recent work focuses on communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have published in top-tier international journals on public health topics, including mask wearing as well as reporting and narrating pandemic events. My COVID-19 project draws on over 600 hours of press-conference recordings and more than two million public online comments to understand what worked and did not in public health crisis communication. The project received the 2021 Humanities Traveling Fellowship from the Australian Academy of the Humanities. In 2025, I published a research monograph, Health crisis communication: Multimodal classification for pandemicpreparedness. The book explores multimodal classification’s role in promoting pandemic preparedness and offers a list of ready-to-use strategies for explaining pandemic categories to public audiences.

My new project explores the communication of food safety crises, such as the mushroom poisoning in Australia and the rice-noodle poisoning in Taiwan. I am writing my second monograph titled Numbers talk in health crisis discourse. The book will show how during public health emergencies, such as a mass food-poisoning incident, public health professionals used communication to infuse statistics with qualitative meanings. Through talk about numbers, the professionals shape social perception of and response to a health emergency. I aim to use my research to help health professionals effectively communicate public health and update health communication guidelines.

I am available to supervise PhD/MPhil/Honours projects on the following topics: health discourses, intercultural communication, and language learning and teaching. Please contact me to discuss your proposal.

Professor Lee is a public health psychologist with research interests in gender and health. She has been a CI on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health since its initiation in 1995, and has been Project Manager (2000-2003) and National Coordinator (2003-2005).

Professor Lee is a former Head of the School of Psychology (2006-2010) and former Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences (2014-2019). As an Emeritus Professor she is actively involved in research grant application development and support.

Jennifer is a post-doctoral researcher at the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre. Her areas of research expertise and interests include cognitive psychology, music rehabilitation, and co-designing services for people living with disability.

Jennifer is currently working on a project which aims to improve web accessibility for people with aphasia.

Dr Stuart Leske is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Manager of a Centre of Research Excellence in Urban Indigenous Health at UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Adjunct Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP).

Stuart currently endeavours to support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait researchers by seeking to provide more in technical (e.g., literature review, writing, editing, data interpretation and visualisation) and leadership skills then he takes in cultural knowledge from Indigenous staff.

Stuart has reviewed 27 times for the Lancet Group journals (13 x The Lancet Public Health, 7 x The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, 5 x The Lancet Psychiatry, 2 x The Lancet Regional Health - Americas and 1 x eClinicalMedicine).

Stuart enjoys two-way learning with all people he works with.

A/Prof Janni Leung (PhD) is an NHMRC Development Fellow at National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR) at The University of Queensland. Their program of research includes investigating the epidemiology of substance use and mental health because they are both major public health issues that commonly occur together. This research program had made paradigm-changing development through 100+ articles, which have recognised impact (15,000+ cites, 30% output in the top 1% citation percentile). Many of their work involves conducting systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and applying statistical models to epidemiological data on addiction and mental health issues to better understand their impacts on populations. Her work is used to inform policies on how to reduce the disease burden caused by addiction and mental health problems in Australia and overseas. Janni is committed to conducting high-quality rigorous research to generate empirical epidemiological evidence to inform decisions to prevent addiction-related harms in the population.

Teaching and supervision: They have qualifications and training in public health, sociology, and psychology. In addition, they have strong research and teaching experience in epidemiology and biostatistics. Janni has worked with a range of students from diverse demographic and cultural backgrounds, including mature-aged students and students with family responsibilities. She currently has a topic available for a self-motivated student interested in addiction research. Janni’s current research focus is on the epidemiology and disease burden associated with mental and substance use disorders across the globe.

Consultation: Janni is available for private consultation and workshop presentations on request for various research methodological and statistical topics, e.g. systematic reviews and meta-analysis, questionnaire and survey designs, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Where can you find Janni: Janni is based at the UQ St Lucia campus with regular visits to the Long Pocket and Herston campuses. You may also catch Janni at the APSAD conference.

Dr Meron Lewis is a Research Fellow with the University of Queensland’s food pricing research team in the School of Public Health. Her research has included supporting Prof. Amanda Lee with the development and implementation of the Healthy Diets ASAP suite of protocols in the co-creation of transformative food systems for public health and wellbeing, equity and environmental sustainability, including invited work for remote First Nations communities. This research has also been used by the QLD Council of Social Services (QCOSS) in preparation of household budget standards for inclusion in their Living Affordability in Queensland 2022 & 2023 Reports.

Dr Ming Li commenced with UQ’s School of Public Health in Jan 2024 as a Senior Research Fellow in cancer research under Prof Gail Garvey leading The First Nations Cancer and Wellbeing Research (FNCWR) program after a 16-year research in chronic disease epidemiology at University of South Australia. Her research is focused on understanding the impact of social and environmental factors on health-related behaviours and health conditions such as overweight and obesity, metabolic disorders, and cancer in children and adolescents and adults from different cultures in both developing and developed countries.

Ming has worked on projects on diabetes and cancer among the first nations peoples in the spectrum of prevention, treatment, complications and survival using linked data at national, state, and local level. Her research has a profound impact on developing guidelines, clinical practice, health policy, and health education. Ming has established sustained international and national collaborations and successful completion of master’s and PhD programs.

Ming is an overseas trained medical doctor and a high achiever at her PhD program and has received extensive training in epidemiological research methodology, nutritional epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, health education and promotion, social medical science at the University of Newcastle. Her multidisciplinary training provides the foundation for exploring the pathways of cancer and other chronic diseases and for developing effective approaches in tackling these health risks and improving the wellbeing of First Nations peoples.

Ming is working on funded projects including Healthy Hearts, CostMod, Canco, Synergy, and Blood Cancer with a growing passionate team comprised of PhD students and early to mid-career researchers.

Zhiqi Liang is a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. She teaches on the Master of Physiotherapy (Musculoskeletal) Program and maintains a clinical role at the Headache Clinic in the University of Queensland. Her research is on neck pain and headache, especially migraine, exploring mechanisms of neck pain in headache and treatment directions, including patient preferences, for individualised management. In 2024, she was awarded the David Lamb Award by the International Federation of Manual and Musculoskeletal Physical Therapists Incorporated (IFOMPT) for high quality research that has made an impact to musculoskeletal physiotherapy internationally. Zhiqi has been a musculoskeletal physiotherapist for more than 15 years and her clinical expertise is recognised by Fellowship within the Australian College of Physiotherapists, where she has been actively involved as an examiner and facilitator for the Specialisation Training Program and currently serves on the Board of Censors.

Jacki Liddle is a research fellow and occupational therapist researching quality of life, participation and life transitions. She uses innovative technology, along with qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate the needs and experiences of people living with neurological conditions (dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke), older people and their caregivers. She has worked with a multi-disciplinary team co-designing technology with people living with dementia and their care partners to support communication. Currently, she is in a conjoint position with Princess Alexandra Hospital, supporting the development, conduct and application of research that improves outcomes for patients.

She has also been involved in developing technology to measure outcomes including lifespace, time use, and activity and role participation to help monitor and improve community outcomes. Dr Liddle's PhD focused on researching the experiences related to retirement from driving for older people, which led to the development of the CarFreeMe program to improve outcomes related to driving cessation. Versions of the program for older drivers, people living with dementia and people with traumatic brain injury have been developed and trialled.

Kieren is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Science Research. His research examines experiences of inequality and discrimination, with a particular emphasis on the relationships between social identity, health, political ideology, and collective action. For example, his doctoral thesis examined the causes, consequences, and development of perceived relative deprivation over time, focusing on how different ethnic groups respond to perceived inequality. Kieren is also passionate about LGBTQIA+ research, leading and supporting projects examining (a) the relationships between identity, health, and well-being among LGBTQIA+ populations and (b) attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people and social policy.

As part of his role at ISSR, Kieren works on several externally funded projects monitoring and evaluating public programs related to substance use, criminal justice, and healthcare service provision. He applies various research methods, including longitudinal, multilevel, person-centred, and quasi-experimental approaches, and has expertise in managing large-scale panel and administrative data sets.

Carmen is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. She is passionate about understanding why young people start using substances and dedicated to advance public health through her research. She leads a research program focused on the etiology of youth vaping and drug use, using social media data for surveillance to track trends and tackle emerging challenges. Carmen is also interested in exploring the disparities in substance use in low- and middle-income countries where she aims to deepen her understanding of substance use patterns and develop effective preventative initiatives, striving to create equitable solutions that address the unique challenges faced in these region.

Carmen has qualifications in biostatistics, public health and epidemiology and experiences in teaching and mentoring. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in addiction and mental health (Google Scholar: >8.8K citations, h-index = 37, 31% output in top 10% citation percentile). She has supported and mentored students from diverse demographic and cultural backgrounds. She’s on the lookout for self-driven, curious students with backgrounds in public health, psychology, epidemiology, or statistics to join her team.

Mark Liu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow focusing on the potential for clinical trials to affect change on a larger, longer-term scale. He was the interning early-career researcher for a multidisciplinary patient safety trial conducted at eight hospitals across Sydney, Melbourne and regional New South Wales. His doctoral research program involved physical activity for cancer patients, with an emphasis on creating long-term behaviour change for underserved groups.

Methodological expertise:

• Implementing trials in real-world contexts
• Behaviour change theory
• Consumer involvement
• Leveraging routinely collected healthcare data for research
• Other areas of interest: supportive care for people with cancer, inequities in healthcare

Benignus is a geriatrician who is passionate about working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams to deliver exceptional patient-centred care. He currently holds staff specialist appointments at Mater Hospital Brisbane and The Prince Charles Hospital.

He has a strong interest in research and has embarked on a PhD examining frailty and goals of care in patients living with chronic kidney disease. He holds an appointment working as a clinical academic in Professor Hubbard’s team at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Health Services Research with a particular remit to support interdisciplinary education and training about frailty.

Prior to his medical training Benignus worked for KPMG, a professional services firm.

Dr Kristiana Ludlow is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Sciences, the University of Queensland, and an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. She completed her Bachelor of Psychology with first class Honours in 2015, her Master of Research in Medicine and Health Sciences in 2017, and her PhD in in Health Innovation in 2020. Dr Ludlow has expertise in co-design, qualitative research and Q methodology. Her research interests include co-designing interventions and digital health tools with end-users, frailty, education, aged care, person-centred care, the role of family caregivers in care, missed care/unfinished care, and care prioritisation. She is passionate about collaborating with consumers, service users and health professionals to improve the delivery of healthcare and mental health services.

Annika Luebbe is an early career researcher with interests in rural mental health in Australia and abroad. Her works focus on strengths-based approaches to understanding the many contributions to mental health in rural, regional, and remote locations. Annika has experience in mixed-methods research, framework development, and mental health service evaluation. Her ongoing research in rural health contributes to the growing rural mental health literature, informing relevant rural solutions, policy, and practice.

Professor Mallett has enjoyed a distinguished career in elite coaching and academia. Prof. Mallett was an Olympic and World Championship medal-winning coach and won a National university teaching award (2011). In 2017, he was awarded the prestigious August-Wilhelm Scheer Professorial Fellowship at Technische Universität München (TUM) in Germany. He developed a world-renowned online program in sports coaching and consults nationally and internationally to many elite sporting organisations. Prof. Mallett is a leading international scholar in two broad and interrelated research areas - sport psychology and coaching; specifically:

Understanding the person-in-context

• Multi-layered understanding of the person-in-context (personality profiling of coaches and athletes)
• Motivation of elite coaches and athletes (Self-Determination Theory - SDT);
• Autonomy-supportive learning environments in sport (Self-Determination Theory - SDT);
• Mental toughness in elite sport (coaches and athletes).
• Players' leadership: A Social Identity Approach (SIA)

High Performance coach learning and development:

• How high performance coaches learn in the workplace;
• Coaches as sculptors, architects, performers and leaders.

In 2016, Professor Mallett led and completed an international research project examining what can we learn from some of the world's most successful coaches. Prof. Mallett was Chair and Co-Chair of the Research Committee for the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) from 2010-2019.

Background

Professor Cliff Mallett joined the School of Human Movement Studies in 2000 after a career in physical education and also in elite coaching as a National High Performance Coach in track and field with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS). He teaches undergraduate and graduate students and actively researches in the area of elite sport. Prof. Mallett regularly consults with elite coaches and athletes as well as coach developers in several national sporting organisations and international organisations.

Associate Professor Mamun is an internationally recognised leader in the areas of life course epidemiology and intergenerational perspectives. An approach that situates the individual risk factors and their interaction within a context that determines health outcomes has been the underlying basis of his research. He is one of the Principal Investigator’s of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) cohort. Over the past 14 years, he has been leading the respiratory and cardiovascular epidemiology research in the MUSP that included 30 years follow-up of the MUSP offspring cohort (Gen 2) and the first follow-up of the children-of-the-offspring cohort (Gen 3). In recent years, he expanded his research in the low & middle income countries focusing on the rapid socio-economic development and the demographic and epidemiological transitions.

Mamun has made significant contributions to understand the critical stages of life and early life determinants of health. From the life course perspective, some of his papers are influential while thinking about the early development of health and well-being. For instance, his research confirmed that parents, especially mothers, are the role model for offspring health and well-being development from early life to adolescence and then to young adulthood. His research shows that weight management and prevention of obesity should start as early as possible even before or during pregnancy. He is interested to contribute new knowledge about the extent that socioeconomic, family and environmental factors track from generation to generation and how this impacts on health and well-being of the future generations.

Mamun has received several national (e.g. ARC, NHMRC, and NHF) and international competitive grants. He was awarded several highly competitive fellowships (e.g. NHMRC CDF Level 2, 2012-2016, NHMRC CDF Level 1, 2008-2011) and awards (UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards, 2009 and NHF Grants-in-Aid 2008). He has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, most of which are published in high impact journals. He has an outstanding track-record of supervising RHD students. For instance, in the last five years, he has supervised 16 PhD students- 10 as Primary Advisor, who have been awarded their degrees.

Research Interests:

• Respiratory and cardiovascular health- development and early prevention
• Maternal and child health- early life environment and critical windows
• Social, structural and environmental basis of health and well-being
• Methodological innovation in longitudinal studies, administrative data and meta-analysis