Our people
Meet the UQ Clinical Trial Centre team
We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians and professional staff who offer a range of expertise across the clinical trial lifecycle.
Centre Director
Professor Nadine Foster is the program lead for the Health Research Accelerator (HERA) program ULTRA, an experienced clinical trialist and the Academic Director of the UQ CTC.
Nadine provides academic leadership and research direction to the interdisciplinary CTC team, ensuring collaboration across a broad portfolio of clinical trials. With other academic staff, Nadine is responsible for designing and conducting high quality clinical trials, mentoring and supporting the next generation of clinical trialists.
Associate Director and Head of Operations
Laura Pareezer leads the Centre's operational strategy and supporting the delivery of its strategic goals. Working closely with the Academic Director, she oversees the systems, processes, workforce capability, and quality frameworks that enable the efficient and compliant delivery of clinical trials, while building partnerships that strengthen clinical trail capability and impact.
Team
Mark Chatfield, Senior Statistician
Mark is an experienced statistician and clinical trialist. Since 2002, he has been involved in numerous trials of various designs across a broad range of fields including: infectious disease, nutrition, respiratory disease, cerebral palsy and Indigenous health. He joined The University of Queensland in 2018 to collaborate with health and medical researchers. He plays an active role in the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Statistics in Trials Interest Group. In the UQ CTC Mark provides statistical input into trial design, conduct, analysis, presentation and interpretation. Learn more about Mark's role at the CTC.
Trudi Cattley, Senior Trials Manager
Trudi provides expert leadership and advice across all stages of the clinical trial lifecycle. Working closely with the Centre's leadership team, Trudi plays a key role in growing the UQ CTC research portfolio, fostering strong partnerships with researchers, healthcare providers, industry, and funding bodies, and helping to advance impactful clinical research that improves health outcomes.
Anna Morris, Project Manager, Operations
Anna leads strategic projects that support the growth and integration of UQ's clinical trials ecosystem. Working closely with our researchers, and our internal and external stakeholders, she coordinates project delivery, stakeholder engagement, partnerships, and operational initiatives that enhance UQ's capacity to develop and deliver high quality clinical trials.
Dr Angela (Angie) Ching, Trial Manager
Angie is an experienced trial manager, working with Professor Nadine Foster and managing the FORENSIC-Australia trial, which investigates the clinical and cost-effectiveness of lumbar fusion surgery for patients with persistent, severe low back pain: FusiOn veRsus bEst coNServative Care (FORENSIC-Australia).
Dr Katherine Roberts-Thomson, Trial Coordinator
Katherine is an experienced trial coordinator, working with Associate Professor Natalie Collins on the ACTIVEKNEECAPS! trial and with Professor Shaun O'Leary on the MATCH trial (Matching a multidisciplinary management strategy to patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: an internal pilot and feasibility stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial).
Jennifer Chong, Senior Trial Coordinator
Jennifer is an experienced trial coordinator, working with Dr Emmah Doig on the FISS-Australia trial, which investigates falls and fall prevention in stroke survivors across Australia.
Meet the ULTRA program team
The ULTRA program brings together a highly skilled interdisciplinary team focused on creating innovation in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that leads to higher quality trials, more robust and rapid results and improved outcomes for patients and the public.
Our vision is to create Australia’s most successful interdisciplinary team leading innovative RCTs that deliver results rapidly, translated for public good.
Biostatistics
Professor Andrew Martin is the inaugural Professor of Innovative Clinical Trials and leads the University of Queensland’s ULTRA program. He has made original, innovative and distinguished contributions to methodological research, as well as the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of clinical research that has had an impact at an international level policy, practice, and subsequent research programs. Listen to Andrew explain his role in ULTRA.
Dr Ding Ma is a post-doctoral research fellow in biostatistics within the ULTRA team, specialising in the development of estimation methods for semiparametric survival models and their extensions. He is dedicated to advancing statistical methodologies for biostatistics applications, including the design and analysis of clinical trials.
Patrick Maher is a PhD student in statistics at The University of Queensland and a Senior Research Assistant within the ULTRA team. His research focuses on variational inference and approximate inference methods for complex Bayesian models in clinical trials. He also has interests and experience in joint modelling of longitudinal and survival outcomes, adaptive trial design, and prior elicitation.
Implementation science
Associate Professor Ingrid Hickman is the principal research fellow in implementation science, and brings methodological expertise in implementation science in clinical trials and supporting the clinical trial workforce to embed implementation science into innovative trial design and delivery. She has been recognised internationally for her investment in implementation science and clinical workforce capacity building in research translation. Listen to Ingrid explain her role in ULTRA.
Dr Mark Liu Mark is an implementation scientist within the ULTRA team, with experience in behaviour change research on the patient, clinician and organisational level. He has methodological expertise in conducting pragmatic research in real-world settings, implementation and behavioural theory, and leveraging routinely collected health data as research outcome measures. He is also a strong advocate for consumer involvement across all stages of research.
Qualitative and mixed-methods research
Dr Nathalia Costa is a senior research fellow. She works collaboratively with researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders to shape and enhance trial designs and processes through innovative qualitative methods and methodologies – from developing relevant research questions to improving trial recruitment and informing implementation of trial findings. Her work seeks to make meaningful contributions to clinical trials and healthcare more broadly. Listen to Nathalia explain her role in ULTRA.
Dr Kate Aitchison is a postdoctoral research fellow and registered music therapist with expertise in qualitative methods. Kate's role with ULTRA is to support the use of qualitative methods and methodologies within clinical trials. Kate also has experience researching and evaluating creative arts therapies within mental health settings and a passion for arts-based methods with a focus on equity and inclusion.
Dr Polyana Moura Ferreira is a Senior Research Assistant within the ULTRA team, with a background in dentistry and a PhD in orofacial pain awarded by The University of Sydney. Originally from Brazil, she is passionate about creative, people-centred research, with a particular interest in mental health and in making care more empathetic, inclusive, and effective. Her role focuses on supporting a range of projects that integrate innovative qualitative methods and methodologies with clinical trials.
Dr Liane Macedo is a Senior Lecturer in the Physiotherapy Department at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, with teaching, research, and leadership responsibilities. Her research expertise lies in clinical trials and low back pain. She secured a fellowship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) to work with the ULTRA team and explore how qualitative methods and methodologies are contributing to RCTs in the field of low back pain.
Gashaw Ayehu is a PhD student working on a project to understand and optimise recruitment to the FORENSIC trial. His work is poised to make a meaningful impact in the field by developing evidence-based approaches that can be applied to future clinical trials, making them more efficient, inclusive, and impactful, ultimately enhancing the success of trials. Drawing on his background, he is actively cultivating a foundation in mixed-methods research, blending analytical rigor with qualitative insight to advance clinical trial methodology.
Consumer and community involvement (CCI)
Dr Bec Jenkinson is a senior research fellow. As a health consumer advocate turned researcher leader in the Australian health consumer movement, she works collaboratively with researchers, consumers and other stakeholders to enhance consumer and community involvement in clinical trial designs and processes. Listen to Bec explain her role in ULTRA.
Dr Claire Reilly is an early career clinician researcher with expertise in mixed methods research and a strong interest in priority setting in health and medical research. Her ULTRA work focuses on integrating consumer and community perspectives into the design and conduct of clinical trials, ensuring that research addresses the needs and values of those it aims to serve.
Maryanne Cleetus is researching the impact of consumer and community involvement on retention in Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs). Her work will generate novel knowledge on how CCI shapes the validity of RCTs using mixed methods including a Study Within a Trial (SWAT). Drawing on her expertise in operationalising RCTs, epidemiology, and healthcare leadership and management, Maryanne’s program of research will advance impactful and innovative approaches to designing and conducting RCTs that reduce research waste and accelerate meaningful public benefit.