Contact SIG Leaders

Prof Romola Bucks, The University of Western Australia

Romola is a Clinical Psychologist, with a specialisation in Clinical Neuropsychology, and holds a PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology from the University of Bristol. She is a Psychology Board of Australia endorsed Clinical Psychologist and has been based at UWA since 2007. Romola’s research spans the lifespan, with international recognition for her work on the diagnosis of cognitive decline and dementia, as well as the cognitive and affective impacts of age-related disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea, type-2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Ranked in the top 0.14% of scholars in cognition research globally, Romola’s contributions to the field have earned her recognition as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science in 2018. She is also a Board Member of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. Romola has served as Head of the School of Psychological Science and Deputy Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science at UWA. Currently, she is the Director of the Raine Study and Pro Vice Chancellor for Health and Medical Research at UWA.

Romola can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via Romola.Bucks@uwa.edu.au.

A/Prof Rebecca Glauert, The University of Western Australia

Rebecca is the Scientific Director of the Raine Study, Director of the Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas, and a Principal Research Fellow at the UWA School of Population and Global Health. Her research focuses on using data-driven evidence to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable populations. Rebecca previously led the Developmental Pathways and Social Policy Team at the Australia Kids Research Institute, linking health and non-health data to explore the lifecourse epidemiology of non-communicable diseases. She developed the West Australian Child Development Atlas and is currently leading efforts to create the Australian National Child Health and Development Atlas. As Scientific Director of the Raine Study, Rebecca works to ensure valuable data is used for research and policy that impacts public health. She has also worked closely with government to promote evidence-based decision-making for better outcomes.

Rebecca can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via Rebecca.Glauert@uwa.edu.au.

Prof Trevor Mori, The University of Western Australia

Trevor is a Senior Principal Research Fellow in the Medical School at the University of Western Australia, based at the Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation.  His research has examined the role of lifestyle, including aspects of diet, overweight and obesity, physical activity and psychosocial factors, on risk factors for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. He has been involved with the Raine Study for more than 20 years and has published more than 100 publications related to the Raine Study. He currently leads a 3-year project in collaboration with researchers in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, entitled ”Identifying primary aldosteronism: a common cause of hypertension and cardiovascular disease”. The project is funded by the Department of Health, Government of Western Australia, Cohort Studies – Research Support Program.

Trevor has supervised five PhD students to completion within the Raine Study. He currently co-supervises two PhD and one Masters student.

Trevor is now accepting students for supervision and can be contacted at trevor.mori@uwa.edu.au.

Dr Koya Ayonrinde, The University of Western Australia, Fiona Stanley Hospital

Koya can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via oyekoya.ayonrinde@uwa.edu.au.

Angela Jacques, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Curtin University

Angela can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via angela@jcpl.com.au.

Prof Max Bulsara, The University of Notre Dame Australia, The University of Western Australia, The University College London

Max can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via max.bulsara@nd.edu.au.

A/Prof Therese O’Sullivan, Edith Cowan University

Therese is the Discipline Lead of Nutrition and Dietetics at Edith Cowan University and leads a program of research investigating how to support new parents with breastfeeding and establishing healthy eating habits in babies and toddlers. She also advocates for child and family centred care in research as well as practice.  Alongside her teaching career, A/Prof O’Sullivan has also been a clinical dietitian and a Senior Research Fellow at The Kids Research Institute Australia. A/Prof O’Sullivan has received many accolades for her work in diet and nutrition, including the Nutrition Society of Australia Mid-Career Research Award in 2023.

Therese is now accepting students for supervision, and can be contacted at t.osullivan@ecu.edu.au.

Dr Lynette Vernon, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University

Lynette can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via l.vernon@ecu.edu.au.

Dr Peter Franklin, The University of Western Australia

Peter Franklin is an environmental and occupational epidemiologist at the School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, with research interests in mining exposures and disease (including respiratory disease and cancers), the health effects of air pollution (indoor and outdoor), and early life environmental exposures and children’s health. He is Director of the Occupational Respiratory Epidemiology research group at SPGH. He also teaches both Environmental and Occupational Health, and Epidemiology in the Masters of Public Health course at UWA.

Peter is now accepting Honours, Masters & PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at peter.franklin@uwa.edu.au.

Dr Phillip Melton, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, University of Western Australia

Phil can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via phillip.melton@uwa.edu.au.

Prof Craig Pennell, The University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital

Craig can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via craig.pennell@newcastle.edu.au.

Prof Roger Hart, The University of Western Australia

Roger is a sub-specialist in reproductive endocrinology and infertility (CREI), he is the National Medical Director of City Fertility, Professor of Reproductive Medicine, Deputy Head of the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University of Western Australia, and lead clinician for the public fertility service of Western Australia. With over 250 publications he has active research interests in all aspects of reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

He has been involved with the Raine Study for ~20 years with particular interests in the early life origins of reproductive disorder and health outcomes of individuals born from IVF treatment, leading to substantial international media interest, multiple headlines, and 20+ publications. He is currently undertaking a thorough reproductive assessment of Gen2 at 33 years of age.

Professor Hart can be contacted to discuss his research through the Raine Study team at rainestudyscience@uwa.edu.au.

Prof Martha Hickey, The University of Melbourne, The Women’s Hospital, Victoria

Martha is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, and the Head of Menopause Services and the Gynaecology Research Centre at The Women’s Hospital, Victoria. Her clinical and research interests are in menopause and she leads a large public menopause service with a focus on cancer patients. In the last few years she has led the team who developed the first Core Outcome Set for menopause (COMMA) and is now leading an international Priority Setting Partnership in menopause (MAPS). She is the “clinical expert” for the NICE guidelines on menopause and in 2024 led the Lancet Clinical Series on Menopause. She has a strong commitment to evidence-based medicine and is an Editor for the Cochrane Collaboration.

Martha is not currently available to serve as a supervisor on student projects, however can be contacted for suggestions regarding other appropriate academics via hickeym@unimelb.edu.au.

Dr Melanie Walls, Fertility WA

Melanie is a highly experienced Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Scientific Director and a CMLS-accredited Clinical Scientist with over 18 years of industry expertise in IVF laboratories. She earned her Doctorate from the University of Western Australia in 2016, specialising in In Vitro Maturation (IVM), and is recognised globally as a leading expert in clinical IVM treatment. Dr. Walls is the Lead Immigration Skills Assessor for IVF Scientists with the Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists. She is also a NATA technical expert assessor and an active member of several professional organisations, including the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), Scientists in Reproductive Technology (SIRT), and the Australian Institute of Medical and Clinical Scientists (AIMS). Her contributions to the field include numerous articles in high-impact journals, such as Human Reproduction, as well as textbook chapters. Passionate about science, Dr. Walls actively supports research and student mentorship, collaborating extensively with both private industry and the educational sector. Dr. Walls currently serves as the Scientific Director for Concept Fertility in Western Australia and holds an adjunct position as a Senior Lecturer with the University of Western Australia. She is deeply committed to advancing reproductive science and has specific interests in minimally invasive treatment options, oocyte maturation, oncofertility preservation, sperm DNA fragmentation, and the reproductive microbiome.

Melanie is now accepting Honours, Masters & PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at melanie.walls@conceptfertility.com.au.

A/Prof Ashleigh Lin, The Kids Research Institute Australia, The University of Western Australia

Ashleigh (she/her) is a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and Senior Principal Research Fellow at the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Western Australia. Ashleigh is a youth mental health researcher. Her research is focused on the detection and prevention of mental ill health in young people, with a particular interest in the mental health of marginalised youth, including LGBTQIA+ and Aboriginal young people. 

Ashleigh is now accepting Honours, Masters & PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at ashleigh.lin@uwa.edu.au

Prof Jeneva Ohan, The University of Western Australia

Jeneva is a Professor in the School of Psychological Science at UWA, and seconded half-time to co-lead the Healing Kids, Healing Families team at The Kids Research Institute Australia. Jeneva is a clinical psychologist and directs the clinical psychology program at UWA. Jeneva’s research focuses on understanding when and how to best provide children with access to prevention and intervention (treatment) services to better their mental health and wellbeing. In particular, she works towards improving wellbeing and culturally-responsive services for children and families who are part of marginalised groups. Her work is the result of local, national, and international collaborations, and uses a mix of experimental, observational, administrative linked data, and qualitative methods. Jeneva’s research has been referenced in public policy, policy advisory documents or working papers, government/public inquiry submissions, and government reports in Australia and abroad.

Jeneva is not currently available to serve as the lead supervisor on non-grant related projects, but is open to being part of a supervisory team and can be contacted at jeneva.ohan@uwa.edu.au.

Dr Monique Robinson, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Centre for Child Health, The University of Western Australia

Monique is an Honorary Team Member at The Kids Research Institute Australia and a registered psychologist working in the field of perinatal, child and adolescent mental health. Monique’s primary research focus has been on the relationships between parents and children and in particular how maternal stress and other lifestyle factors impact child and adolescent mental health. Monique has over 50 publications in this area, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and government reports. Monique regularly advocates for child and adolescent mental health in the media and her columns on The Conversation website have been republished worldwide with over 1.5m readers.

Monique is not currently available to serve as the lead supervisor on student projects.

Dr Robert Waller, Curtin University

Rob is a teaching and research academic, and Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University. He is Coordinator of the Master of Clinical Physiotherapy course. His research interest focus includes pain in clinical and epidemiological studies, optimal care for non-traumatic musculoskeletal pain and improving pathways of care for musculoskeletal pain.Contact Special Interest Group (SIG) Leaders

Rob is now accepting students for supervision, and can be contacted at r.waller@curtin.edu.au.

Dr Rachel Foong, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Curtin University

Rachel is an epidemiologist at the WA Department of Health in the Immunisation Program and has adjunct research positions at the Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. She has a PhD in Respiratory Physiology and a Master of Biostatistics and has an interest in how early-life insults affect respiratory health. As longitudinal birth cohorts are an important resource to study effects of early-life exposures, she has undertaken several research studies using data from the Raine Study.

Rachel can be contacted regarding co-supervision of student research opportunities via Rachel.Foong@thekids.org.au, but is not currently able to act as a primary supervisor.

Dr Jonatan Leffler, The Kids Research Institute Australia

Jonatan gained his PhD in 2013 from Lund University in Sweden, studying how the complement system contributed to development of the autoimmune disease SLE (Lupus). In 2014, he moved to Perth to pursue a postdoc on the contribution of airway mucosal dendritic cells in airway IgE sensitisation. His current work is based on high dimensional evaluation of the immune system and he has applied this analysis to several local cohort studies, including the Raine Study. His research involved several aspects of immunology including paediatric asthma, multiple sclerosis and the immunological impact of gender affirming hormones in transgender individuals. He is currently head of the Translational Immunology team at The Kids Research Institute.

Jonatan is now accepting Honours students for supervision, and can be contacted at Jonatan.leffler@thekids.org.au.

A/Prof Chris Brennan-Jones, The Kids Research Institute Australia, The University of Western Australia, Child and Adolescent Health Service

Chris is a paediatric audiologist and researcher focused on improving outcomes for children with ear and hearing disorders. He is Head of the Ear Health research team at The Kids Research Institute Australia, a senior audiologist at Perth Children’s Hospital, an Associate Professor at Curtin University and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia. He has been involved in the Raine Study for over 10 years and has led numerous studies examining the prevalence and long-term impact of otitis media and hearing loss on child development.

Chris is now accepting Honours, Masters and PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at chris.brennan-jones@thekids.org.au.

Adj. Prof Rob Eikelboom, Ear Science Institute Australia, Ear Sciences Centre, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Dept of Speech Language Pathology & Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Rob has been involved in medical research for over 35 years. Since 2001 he has focused on ear and hearing research, especially in telehealth and epidemiology. He is the Research Manager-Corporate at the Ear Science Institute Australia, and was Deputy Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Loss from 2019-2023. He serves on the Research Committee of the Busselton Health Study. He also has honorary appointments at Curtin University (Adjunct Professor) and the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (Extra-ordinary Professor). Rob has authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers and 11 book chapters.

Rob is now accepting Honours, Masters and PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at rob.eikelboom@earscience.org.au.

Prof David Mackey, Lions Eye Institute, The University of Western Australia, University of Tasmania, University of Melbourne

David can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via david.mackey@uwa.edu.au.

A/Prof Joanne McVeigh, Edith Cowan University

Jo McVeigh is an Associate Professor at the Curtin School of Allied Health, specialising in high-impact research on physical activity and sedentary behaviour across various age groups. She has extensive expertise in longitudinal birth cohort studies, contributing to significant projects such as the Raine Study in Australia and the Birth to Twenty study in South Africa. Jo is internationally recognised for her work using wearable and device-based methods to assess physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Alongside her research, Jo actively supervises HDR students, curriculum development, course coordination, and teaching within the Allied Health Honours Program at Curtin University.

Jo is now accepting Masters and PhD students for supervision, and can be contacted at Joanne.McVeigh@curtin.edu.au.

Dr Nigel McArdle, The University of Western Australia

Nigel can be contacted regarding support of student research opportunities via Nigel.McArdle@health.wa.gov.au.