Centre for Allied Health Evidence staff

Professor Karen Grimmer-Somers is a Professor in the School of Health Sciences (Physiotherapy) and is the Director of the Centre for Allied Health Evidence (a collaborating centre of the Joanna Briggs Institute). For more information view Karen's UniSA home page.

Dr Saravana Kumar is the Post Doctoral Fellow and Deputy Director of CAHE. Saravana has keen interest in quality measurement and evaluation of health service delivery. His interests also include research into bridging the gap between research evidence and clinical practice. Underpinning this interest is identifying and breaking down of barriers in uptake of research evidence into clinical practice and its influence in the quality of health care service delivery. Additional information about Saravana can be found on Dr Saravana Kumar's webpage.

Dr Susan Hillier, Senior Lecturer with the School of Health Sciences, has been with the University of South Australia for the past 8 years. She divides her time between her University schedule and her private practice, which she established 17 years ago. Susan now runs her practice from home or the UniSA City East Campus, and also conducts home visits to cater to the specific needs of her clients. Dr Hillier enjoys the diversity and challenges that all these environments bring to her professional life. You can contact Dr Susan Hillier through her UniSA webpage.

Associate Professor Caroline Smith
Associate Professor Caroline Smith is a member of CAHE and contributes to CAHE activities with project consultancy work and the undertaking of systematic reviews. Caroline has expertise in acupuncture research and clinical skills.  She also has a background in evidence based research in relation to acupuncture and other complementary therapies and medicine, and the integration of Chinese medicine and biomedical research protocols, predominately in the areas of womens health.  Caroline has undertaken nine studies in the complementary medicine field, four of which have involved large randomised controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in relation to womens health, and has extensive experience in the design, conduct and analysis of acupuncture randomised controlled trials. Carolyn has published 37 manuscripts, and presented at 38 conference presentations.

Leah Jeffries is a part time project officer at the Centre for Allied Health Evidence. She completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) in 2001 and a Bachelor of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide in 1997. Leah comes from a background of private practice and continues to work in this field part-time. Leah is the CAHE team leader for JBIConnect Physio.  Leah provides highly skilled technical support to a range of CAHE projects.

Peter Lekkas is a full-time project officer within the Centre for Allied Health Evidence. Peter has a Masters Degree in Physiotherapy.  Prior to commencing work at CAHE Peter was involved with clinical research examining both the efficacy of new and emerging prosthetic implants utilised in hip and knee arthroplasty surgery as well as the cognitive effects of major elective procedures.  Peter's work at CAHE has involved systematic reviewing and guideline development.  His research interests include clinical trail design, critical appraisal and clinical audit of administrative processes which underpin healthcare practices. 

Anthea Worley holds a Bachelor of Management, Master in International Community Development and Post Graduate Diploma in International Health.  She began working with CAHE at the start of 2007, and is currently working on a number of major CAHE research projects in addition to her editorial work of AH texts.  More information on Anthea and her research can be found on her UniSA home page

Michelle Guerin initially started with the Centre for Allied Health Evidence as their first Clinical Fellow and has now worked with CAHE for over 3 years.  She works as both researcher and PhD candidate.  Michelle Thesis Topic is Community Services Involvement in Discharge Planning. 

Judith Lowe, a UK physiotherapist, qualified from the University of the West England in 1997.  Judith worked for the UK National Health Service as well as private practice prior to moving to Queensland, Australia in 2003, where she commenced her Masters in Manipulative Therapy at the University of Queensland. Her interest in evidenced-based practice and clinical networks was initiated in the UK and continues with her work with CAHE.  Judith took up her position as research assistant, CAHE, in 2008 and is currently working full-time on a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) review as well as other CAHE projects.

Yamini Deenadayalan, is a part-time Research Officer at the Centre for Allied Health Evidence. Yamini's expertise lies in identification and evaluation of research evidence and subsequent synthesis of research evidence for clinical practice. Her keen interests in alternative and complimentary therapies, as evidenced by her involvement in teaching of yoga, compliments the Centres mandate to provide support to all allied health clinicians, including alternative and complimentary health care practitioners. Yamini is also currently employed as a physiotherapist in Adelaide. 

Deborah has been working with CAHE since late 2007 as a Research Associate and is an internationally recognised speech pathologist. Debbie James is also a Director of Novita Childrens Services (formerly the Crippled Childrens Association of SA Inc) and the Channel 7 Childrens Research Foundation. Up until the end of 2007 she was a senior lecturer in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Flinders University, She has worked full-time in the profession of speech pathology for over 30 years, as a clinician, researcher, lecturer, consultant and advisor in the public and private sectors and specialises in the management of children with primary speech and language difficulties.

Matthew Sutton is part time project officer at the CAHE. He completed Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 2000 and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in 1991. Previously Matthew worked for the University of South Australia in the Centre for Allied Health Research prior to its change to the Centre for Allied Health Evidence (CAHE). Matthew has worked as a physiotherapist for over five years in the public and private sectors, both interstate and overseas. Matthew is currently working on projects in collaboration with the Joanna Briggs Institute developing best practice guidelines in multiple physiotherapy fields. 

Helen Walker has worked with the Centre for Allied Health Evidence since inception in early 2003.  Helen assists the centre in a marketing capacity, producing the centre's newsletters, administrating the CAHE Journal Clubs, managing the centre's website, and a host of other duties.  Helen is a UniSA graduate, with a BA Communications and Certificate of Public Relations and can be contacted at Helen.Walker@unisa.edu.au

Ellie King is a PhD student at Waite Campus, University of Adelaide. She has worked as a part-time research assistant in CAHE for 5 years. She has been involved in a number of projects, and has undertaken a range of tasks including library searches, data cleaning and analysis, report preparation, formatting, filing and updating documents. She has been involved with student tutoring in data handling and analysis using MS Excel.