Sansom Institute Research Fellows
Externally Funded Research Fellows
- Professor Doug Brooks
- Professor Ross Butler
- Dr Margaret Cargo
- Associate Professor Leanne Dibbins
- Dr Coralie English
- Dr Cara Fraser
- Dr Rebecca Golley
- Dr Matt Haren
- Dr Kylie Johnston
- Dr Revecca Kakavanos-Plew
- Dr Shona Kelly
- Dr Saravana Kumar
- Dr Michelle McDonnell
- Dr Antonina Mikocka-Walus
- Associate Professor Janna Morrison
- Dr Karen Murphy
- Dr Catherine Paquet
- Professor Nicholas Procter
- Professor David Roder
- Professor Michael Roberts
- Associate Professor Libby Roughead
- Dr Natalie Sinn
- Dr Gabrielle Todd
- Dr Jiping Wang
- Professor Cory Xian
- Dr Roger Yazbek
UniSA Supported Research Fellows
- Dr Narelle Berry
- Associate Professor Jon Buckley
- Dr Alice Clark
- Professor Mark Daniel
- Dr Yuri Dancik
- Professor Adrian Esterman
- Professor Roger Eston
- Dr Svetla Gadzhanova
- Professor Andrew Gilbert
- Dr Andrea Gordon
- Professor Karen Grimmer-Somers
- Professor Peter Howe
- Dr Lisa Kalisch
- Associate Professor Jennifer Keogh
- Dr Matthew Leach
- Dr Ming Li
- Professor Robyn McDermott
- Professor Howard Morris
- Professor Lorimer Moseley
- Professor Kerin O'Dea
- Professor Leonie Segal
- Dr Susan Semple
- Dr Natalie Sinn
- Dr May Song
- Dr Rebecca Thomson
- Professor Richard Upton
- Dr Agnes Vitry
Externally Funded
Professor Doug Brooks
With a research career spanning three
decades, Professor Brooks is an NHMRC funded
Senior Research Fellow and leader of the
Cell Biology of Diseases research group at UniSA. He has particular expertise in
immunochemistry, protein chemistry and cell
biology, and is renowned for his work
looking into lysosomal diseases - a group of
over 50 genetic diseases predominantly
affecting children.
Professor Ross Butler
From his early work identifying how an
interaction between diet and genetic
predisposition can cause colorectal cancer,
to recent achievements in developing
non-invasive tests to assess gut function,
Professor Butler has a longstanding
commitment to advancing public health
capacity. An industry funded research chair
and a specialist in paediatric and women's
gastrointestinal health, he is a leading
authority on breath testing, small intestine
function and probiotics and prebiotics.
Associate Professor Leanne Dibbins
An internationally-regarded geneticist specialising in epilepsy,
Leanne Dibbins has been a key driver in a number of world firsts,
including the discovery of mutated gene that causes epilepsy and
intellectual disability in women. Formerly a researcher at the
Department of Genetic Medicine at the Women's and Children's
Hospital, she recently joined the Sansom Institute where heads the
Epilepsy Research Group.
Dr Coralie English
Before joining UniSA as a lecturer in the
School of Health Sciences, Dr English worked
as a physiotherapist for seven years, mainly
in stroke and spinal cord injury
rehabilitation. An NHMRC Postdoctoral
Training Fellow, Dr English is
currently working as a trial manager on a
research project examining circuit class
therapy for rehabilitation after stroke. Her
postdoctoral work will also focus on changes
in body composition after stroke.
Dr Cara Fraser
Dr Fraser is an Australian
Government-Enterprise Connect 'Researcher in
Business' Postdoctoral Research Fellow, with
the Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory, and
is
partnered with pharmaceuticals company BTG
Australasia Pty. Ltd. Dr Fraser is an
immunologist with specialist knowledge of
vaccine vector construction, immunisation
protocols and procedures, fluorescent
microscopy, and numerous other laboratory
techniques. Her PhD research evaluated immunomodulatory properties of dasatinib for
improved application in combinatorial
immunotherapy regimens.
Dr Rebecca Golley
A public health nutrition researcher with a
particular interest in children's nutrition,
health and families, Dr Golley is
co-author of the book 'CSIRO Wellbeing Plan
for Kids'. An NHMRC Postdoctoral Training
Fellow focusing on nutrition interventions
to support obesity prevention and nutrition
promotion in young children, she is an
accredited practicing dietician and member
of the International Society of Behavioural
Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Dr Matt Haren
Currently an NHMRC Postdoctoral Training
Fellow, Dr Haren works with the Spencer
Gulf Rural Health School and the Population
Health and Epidemiology research
concentration. His research interests
include rural health and the science of
complex public health interventions,
disorders of the endocrine system, and
nutrient metabolism that affect the
composition of the human body and its
functional capacity.
Dr Revecca Kakavanos-Plew
An ARC Australian Postdoctoral Industry
Fellow with the Cell Biology of Diseases
research concentration, Dr Kakavanos-Plew has specialist knowledge of
lysosomal biology, immunochemistry,
genetics, neuronal cell culture, neuronal
targeting antibodies and chemical
conjugation. She is currently working to
develop a neuronal gene delivery system that
can successfully access neuronal cells by
investigating different intracellular
delivery pathways for gene delivery.
Dr Shona Kelly
A Centre for Intergenerational Health (CIH)
Research Fellow in Social Epidemiology and
Evaluation who has worked on projects in
Europe, China and North America, Dr Kelly
is committed to interdisciplinary research
that considers physical, psychological,
social and environmental determinants to
address major health issues. Her research
interests include identifying the
physiological pathways by which stress
affects health, identifying the
physiological links between socioeconomic
status and health, and environmental health.
Dr Saravana Kumar
With expertise in quality measurement and
health service evaluation, Dr Kumar is
an NHMRC-NICS-MAC Research Fellow at UniSA's
Centre for Allied Health Evidence. He is
interested in bridging the gap between
research evidence and clinical practice, and
teaches topics on evidence-based practice,
evidence implementation and knowledge
transfer to students and health
professionals nationally and
internationally.
Associate Professor Jennifer Keogh
A dietitian for more than 35 years, Jennifer
Keogh qualified in Ireland and has worked in
clinical practice in London and Australia.
Her research interests are in obesity,
diabetes and heart disease in particular on
the effects of salt on vascular function and
in developing strategies for reducing salt
intake. Jennifer is a contributor to the
CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet and to the CSIRO
Healthy Heart program.
Dr Michelle McDonnell
An NHMRC Public Health Postdoctoral Training
Fellow with the School of Nursing and
Midwifery, Dr McDonnell worked as a
physiotherapist in Australia and the UK,
specialising in acute care, before moving
into teaching and research. She is currently
working on a project examining aerobic
exercise to improve cardiovascular and
neurological health outcomes for stroke
patients.
Dr Antonina Mikocka-Walus
With an Angela McAvoy Fellowship from Crohn's and Colitis of Australia Dr
Mikocka-Walus is a medical psychologist with
an interest in psycho-gastroenterology and
the psychological aspect of inflammatory
bowel disease, in particular. Some of her
research interests include the role of
antidepressants and cognitive-behavioural
therapy in chronic gastrointestinal
conditions, and the biopsychosocial model
and its application to management of chronic
disease.
Associate
Professor Janna Morrison
An accomplished researcher in the field of
fetal development, Dr Morrison is a Heart
Foundation and NHMRC Career Development
Award Research Fellow, and co-head of the Sansom
Institute's Early Origins of Adult Health
Research Group. Dr Morrison received a
South Australian Tall Poppy Science Award in
2006, in recognition of her work examining
the link between low birth weight and heart
disease in adulthood.
Dr Karen Murphy
An NHMRC Industry Research Fellow and
Registered Nutritionist with the
School of Health Sciences' Nutritional
Physiology Research Centre, Dr Murphy is a
recipient of a South Australian Tall Poppy
Science Award in 2009. Dr Murphy is
currently researching how dietary
interventions including dairy, protein rich
diets, antioxidants and omega-3 can reduce
obesity and improve cardio-metabolic health
and cognitive function. Dr Murphy is
president of the Australasian American Oil
Chemists Society and Acting Treasurer of the
Nutrition Society of Australia.
Dr Catherine Paquet
An NHMRC Public Health Postdoctoral Training
Fellow with Social Epidemiology and
Evaluation Research Group,
Dr Paquet has a long-standing interest in
mind-body relationships and how physical and
social environs affect health. Her current
work looks at the
mechanisms through which residential area
characteristics and individual psychological
factors interact to influence health
behaviours and cardiovascular health
outcomes. Before joining the Sansom
Institute for Health Research in 2008, she
was a post-doctoral fellow in social
epidemiology in the Département de Médecine
Sociale et Préventive at Université de
Montréal.
Professor Nicholas Procter
UniSA's inaugural Chair in Mental Health,
Professor Procter has long standing
interests in social inclusion research and
policy development, culture change within
mental health services and community
engagement between mental health services
and the higher education sector. As the SA
Department of Health funded research Chair,
he is currently working with a range of
stakeholders to develop research based
integrated programs in mental health that
provide tailored assistance to people with
mental illness and mental health problems
living in South Australia.
Professor David Roder
Currently the Chair of Cancer Epidemiology
at the Sansom Institute, David Roder was
made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
in 2000 for contributions to cancer
epidemiology. A member of numerous national
advisory committees, he also has a breadth
of international experience, including as a
board member of the International
Association of Cancer Registries, and WHO
consultant on cancer registration in Penang,
Sarawak and Mongolia.
Professor Michael Roberts
An internationally-recognised scientist who
serves on numerous national health advisory
committees, Professor Roberts leads a wide
range of cutting edge medical research as an
NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, and
Professor of Therapeutics and Pharmaceutical
Science at UniSA and the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital. With more than 344 peer reviewed
research publications to his name, Professor
Roberts
has four current NHMRC grants concerned with
topical drug delivery, safety of
nanotechnology, critical care medicine and
therapeutics for liver disease.
Associate Professor Libby Roughead
A health systems scientist and
pharmacoepidemiologist, Assoc. Professor Roughead is an
ARC Future Fellow at the Sansom Institute
for Health Research and co-director of a
national program that aims to improve the
use of medicines by Australian veterans. A
leader of the Quality Use of Medicines and
Pharmacy Research Centre, her research
interests include public policy concerning
medicines, improving the use of medicines,
and studies of the patterns of medication
use and adverse drug events.
Dr Jiping Wang
A Research Fellow with the School of
Pharmacy And Medical Sciences, Dr Wang
has a range of research interests including
pathophysiology of pulmonary surfactant in lung injury, drug analysis,
pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism. He
obtained a Bachelor of Medicine with the
highest academic record nationally among all
of the medical graduates in China in 1983,
and a highlight of his career was working on
a World Health Organization project
monitoring the bioequivalence of drugs in
fixed-dose combination products for
tuberculosis.
Professor Cory Xian
An NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, and
Professor of Bone Research, Professor Xian
has an international reputation for his work
into the roles of growth factors in tissue
repair, mechanisms of bone growth and
regulation,
growth plate injury and repair, and cancer
chemotherapy-induced bone defects. Head of
the Bone Growth and Repair Research Group,
Professor Xian is a member of numerous biomedical and
clinical research professional societies and
serves on funding body research committees
and the editorial boards of various
international scientific journals.
UniSA Supported
Dr Narelle Berry
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the
Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, Dr
Berry is involved in research looking at
hypertension, cardiovascular regulation,
cerebral blood flow regulation and nutrition and
functional foods. Her PhD research examined
acute and long-term interventions to assess the
adaptability of cardiovascular responses to
orthostatic stress.
Associate Professor Jon Buckley
With research interests including the effects of
diet and exercise on cardiometabolic health,
brain health and physical function across the
lifespan, Assoc. Professor Buckley is Director
of the Nutritional Physiology Research Centre.
His
research has led to the registration of nine
patents for novel foods and other technologies
for improving health and athletic performance.
Dr Alice Clark
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Quality
Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre,
Alice Clark is currently working on the Ageing
Well Ageing Productively project, looking at
strategies to address poly-morbidity in older
people and the implications for health policy
planning, practitioners and patients. Alice
worked extensively as a social worker before
moving into research, social and health policy
analysis, community development and project
management.
Professor Mark Daniel
A leading epidemiologist and population health
expert, Professor Mark Daniel heads several
major projects into Social Epidemiology and
Evaluation. With interests including chronic
disease epidemiology, sociospatial epidemiology
and community-based disease prevention, his
research targets an understanding of the
biological pathways between social and physical
environments and important population health
outcomes.
Dr Yuri Dancik
A transdermal drug expert and chemical engineer,
Dr Dancik is a Research Fellow with the
Therapeutics and Pharmaceutical Science research
concentration. Dr Dancik studied at Princeton
University and State University of New York
College at Buffalo before moving to Australia.
Areas of expertise include skin drug absorption
and diffusion, mathematical modelling of
transport phenomena in biological systems, and
microscopy/image analysis.
Professor Adrian Esterman
A Professor of Biostatistics at UniSA's School
of Nursing and Midwifery, Professor Esterman's
career has included seven years as a World
Health Organization staff member in Europe and
14 years as a principal epidemiologist with the
South Australian government. He is a chief
investigator on NHMRC grants worth over $6
million and has more than 130 publications,
mostly in the area of environmental health,
evidence-based practice and cancer epidemiology.
Professor Roger Eston
An expert in anthropometry and exercise
physiology, Roger Eston has authored over 170
papers on perceived exertion, exercise-induced
muscle damage, body composition, paediatric
exercise science and assessment of energy
expenditure and physical activity. The Head of
UniSA’s School of Health Sciences, he recently
joined the Sansom Institute after five years as
head of the School of Sport and Health Sciences
at the University of Exeter in the UK.
Dr Svetla Gadzhanova
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow with a PhD in
Health Informatics, Dr Gadzhanova is working
on a joint research project between the Quality
Use of Medicine and Pharmacy Research Centre and
the National Prescribing Service. Her research
interests include pharmacoepidemiology and
quality use of medicines, data mining from
electronic health records, and evaluating change
management behaviour in primary health care.
Professor
Andrew Gilbert
An award-winning pharmacist with a special
interest in medication use among the elderly,
Professor Gilbert is a leader of the Quality Use
of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre. A
reviewer for numerous journals, and a member of
many state, national and international
committees, he was named Australian
Pharmacist of the Year in 2005 by the
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
Dr Andrea Gordon
A pharmacologist who specialises in the area of
substance use and pregnancy, Dr Gordon is
a Research Fellow with the School of Nursing and
Midwifery. With particular expertise in opioid
maintenance substitution therapies, neonatal
abstinence syndrome and mental health, her
current research is focussed on risk in mental
health and various comorbidities in those with
serious mental health issues.
Professor Karen Grimmer-Somers
A Professor of Allied Health at the School of
Health Sciences and Director of the Centre for
Allied Health Evidence, Professor Grimmer-Somers
worked as a physiotherapist in Tasmania for 19
years before moving into research. Her interests
include the philosophy and practice of evidence
implementation, adolescent musculoskeletal
health and its public health implications,
posture and its determinants, allied health
service quality and outcome measurement,
discharge planning from hospitals, and the
systems that underpin good practice.
Professor Peter Howe
An authority on the cardiovascular and metabolic
health benefits of bioactive nutrients,
Professor
Howe is a Research Professor at the Nutritional
Physiology Research Centre. With a distinguished
career spanning 35 years in university, CSIRO,
hospital and pharmaceutical-industry based
research, Peter's current research focuses on
the role of diet and exercise in health
optimisation.
Dr Lisa Kalisch
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Quality
Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre,
Dr Kalisch is a pharmacist whose PhD research
explored the extent of brand substitution for
government-subsidised medicines in Australia.
Her research interests include pharmaceutical
policy, pharmacoepidemiology and generic
medicines and brand substitution.
Dr Matthew Leach
A Research Fellow with the Health Economics and
Social Policy Group, Dr Leach is a
registered nurse and naturopath with expertise
in herbal and complementary medicine, and has a
particular interest in diabetes, wound
management, and evidence-based practice. Dr
Leach
is managing a major ARC-funded study testing a
primary health care workforce planning model to
support best practice care of diabetes patients.
Dr Ming Li
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow in chronic
disease epidemiology in the Sansom's Population
Health and Epidemiology research concentration,
Ming Li is a chief investigator of a survey
investigating overweight and obese adolescents
and associated environmental and behaviour
factors in China. Research interests include
lifestyle and noncommunicable chronic diseases
such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and
physical activity and diet in children and
adolescents.
Professor Robyn McDermott
As a clinician and public health physician
Professor McDermott has a special interest in
clinical systems improvement and population
based pathways to prevent chronic disease and
its complications, particularly in Indigenous,
rural and disadvantaged populations. A research
leader who has attracted more than $6million in
NHMRC funding as chief investigator and more
than $8million as co-investigator, Professor
McDermott is Professor
of Public Health and Foundation Director of the
state-wide Data Linkage Unit, SA/NT Datalink, a
joint venture between the three South Australian
universities, SA and NT
governments.
Professor Howard Morris
A Professor in Medical Sciences at the Sansom
Institute, Howard Morris is also Chief Medical
Scientist in Chemical Pathology at the Institute
of Medical and Veterinary Science. His research
interests include calcium and bone physiology
with a focus on vitamin D and oestrogen effects
on the skeleton.
Professor Lorimer Moseley
Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Chair in
Physiotherapy at the Sansom Institute, Lorimer
Moseley is a clinical scientist investigating
pain in humans. Professor Moseley has published
more than 60 papers, two books and several book
chapters, and consults to governmental and
industry bodies around the world on pain-related
issues. He was recently named the outstanding
mid-career clinical scientist working in a
pain-related field by the International
Association for the Study of Pain.
Professor Kerin O'Dea
The Director of the Sansom Institute for Health
Research, Professor O'Dea is a nutrition
scientist and public health researcher who has
made major contributions to understanding the
relationship between diet and chronic diseases,
particularly type 2 diabetes and related
conditions such as obesity and vascular disease.
A member of numerous national committees over
many years advising government on health and
medical research, Professor O'Dea received the Order of Australia
in 2004 in recognition of her work in medical
and nutritional research and public health
policy.
Professor Leonie Segal
As Foundation Chair in Health Economics,
Professor
Segal leads a range of major projects at the
Health Economics & Social Policy Group. In the
last decade, she has conducted over 100 economic
evaluations of health care interventions.
Professor Segal has seven current ARC/NHMRC grants and
contracts with government agencies totalling
over $14million. Her research interests concern allocative efficiency,
determining the optimal mix of health and human services,
and identifying drivers or incentives to
facilitate evidence-based resource shifts.
Professor Segal is working with government to
develop an investment strategy to reduce child
abuse and neglect and associated harms, and also
on the development of an evidence-based health
workforce model.
Dr Susan Semple
A Research Fellow with the Quality Use of
Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, Dr Semple is involved in collaborative research
projects with Indigenous communities examining
the pharmacological activities of some
traditional medicinal plants. Her research
interests include antimicrobial activity of
Australian Aboriginal medicinal plants,
isolation and structural determination of
biologically active compounds from plants,
complementary medicine use in the community,
information needs of consumers of complementary
and alternative medicines, and medication
safety.
Dr Natalie Sinn
With a background in psychology, Dr Sinn is well
known for her research into omega-3 fatty acids,
micronutrients and ADHD. She is currently
working on an ARC Linkage grant-funded project
examining the benefits of omega-3s in Indigenous
children in remote communities. Dr Sinn is also
involved in projects that investigate parenting
and other psychosocial factors associated with
child and adolescent diets, and is broadly
interested in early life influences on optimal
child development.
Dr Lisa Smithers
Dr Smithers is a registered nutritionist and
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Early Life
Nutrition and Population with the Population
Health and Epidemiology research concentration.
Her research interests include the long-term
effects of nutrition during pregnancy and
infancy on later health and development, and the
effect of dietary omega-3 long-chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids on visual and
cognitive development in infants and young
children.
Dr May Song
A doctor in pharmaceutics with over ten years
experience in research and development of drug
delivery systems, Dr Song is a Formulation
Scientist with the Centre for Drug Formulation
and Delivery. She has undertaken
projects looking at drug controlled release
systems, novel taste masking technologies for
oral drugs, and oral drug delivery systems
giving high bioavailability and improved drug
stability.
Dr Rebecca Thomson
Dr Thomson is a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow with the Nutritional Physiology Research
Centre. Her research interests revolve around
how physical activity and nutrition can lead to
improvements in cardiometabolic health, mental
wellbeing and physical performance. She has
expertise in evaluating the role of lifestyle
modification interventions involving diet and
physical activity for improving health in
overweight populations and assessing potential
treatments to reduce tissue inflammation and
promote tissue repair following muscle damage.
Professor Richard Upton
Professor of Pharmacometrics at the Sansom Institute, Richard Upton
is a leading medical scientist with specialist expertise in
pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, modelling and data analysis. The
author of more than 130 papers, Richard has investigated the
physiological mechanisms underlying the absorption, distribution,
metabolism and elimination of a number of drugs used in anaesthesia
and has contributed to numerous pre-clinical and clinical drug
development studies.
Dr Agnes Vitry
A Senior Research Fellow at the Quality Use of
Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, Dr Vitry has research interests including pharmaco-epidemiological
studies, quality of information for health
professionals and consumers, quality of drug
promotion and impact on medicines use, medicines
policy and regulation. She currently runs the
Ageing Well Ageing Productively project, an
ARC/NHMRC-funded project that aims to achieve
better health outcomes for older Australians
with common combinations of chronic conditions.