Past Research

Professor Sonja March is the Director of the Centre for Health Research and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern Queensland. Sonja has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and leads the Innovative Mental Health Solutions Research Program at UniSQ.

Her research focuses on the use of innovation and technology to improve access to evidence-based psychosocial assessments and interventions in childhood and adolescence. Prof March has developed world-first digital assessments and programs that are being translated into open access public health services, having significant impact in the Australian community.

My primary research interests are translational research, neurodevelopment, and contemplative science. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Telethon Kids Institute (FASD Centre of Research Excellence) and have an adjunct academic position at Curtin University. I trained at the Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, and the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches.

Natalie Peach is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney. She currently works as the Project Coordinator on the COPE-A clinical trial, investigating the efficacy of integrated exposure-based therapy for co-occurring post-traumatic stress and substance use disorders in adolescents.

She completed a combined Masters/PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Melbourne and Orygen Youth Health in 2017. Her PhD focused on phenomenological relationships between childhood trauma, PTSD symptoms and psychotic symptoms in young people with early psychosis. Her research interests include adolescent mental health, early intervention, PTSD, substance use, comorbidity and psychosis.

Ivana Kihas began working as a Research Assistant at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) in May 2013. She has worked across three research projects: a post-marketing surveillance study of Suboxone-film, an opioid substitution treatment; a prospective cohort study examining non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids and related harms; and on a randomised control trial investigating the efficacy of a Behavioural Activation Treatment for co-occurring depression and substance use disorder.

Ivana completed a B.Sc. Psychology (Honours) in 2012 at Macquarie University. Her thesis explored the effects of letter confusability on visual word recognition. Between 2012 and 2014, Ivana also worked at the Emotional Health Clinic (Macquarie University) as a Research Assistant on the Cool Kids Stepped Care Program study, working with children, adolescents and their parents to help them overcome anxiety.

My name is Nina Perry, I am 24 years old and have recently commenced my PhD after completing my Honours program in Neuroscience. My Honours research was completed at the Autism Clinic for Translational Research at The University of Sydney, with a focus on addressing ways to effectively support people with neurodevelopmental conditions in clinical settings.

My PhD project will expand on this area of research, with the overarching aim to improve the wellbeing of people living with various health challenges on daily basis. Aside from research, I am also actively involved in the community, being a Weekend Play volunteer at the Sydney Children’s Hospital for the past 4 years.

My name is Mikhail Dias, I recently completed an honours year at Monash University where I researched an in silico approach to studying synthetic lethality in cancer to identify novel gene targets.

I am become passionate about cancer biology during my undergraduate studies at RMIT university, where I learned about cancer genomics and how genetic alterations can lead to devastating consequences. I pursued a pathway into research by undertaking an honours year project at Monash University. During my honour’s year, I developed sought after computational skills and experience which I will continue to use throughout my research career.

For the past several years, I have volunteered as a peer-support counsellor, workshop facilitator, and well-being support officer for various LGBTQIA+ organisations. Since completing my Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) in 2019, I have worked as a mental health and disability support worker and more recently as a research assistant within the gender research team at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Through these roles, I have developed a passion for working with LGBTQIA+ youth who, due to stigma and lack of family support, are disproportionately at risk of developing mental health difficulties.

Dr Dennis Chan is a physician who is undertaking research to improve the management of neuroendocrine tumours. He completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery alongside a Master of Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 2012. Since then, he has undertaken specialist training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians as a Specialist Endocrinologist and General Physician.

In 2019, he completed a Master of Science at Barts and the London School of Medicine focusing on Cushing’s Syndrome caused by neuroendocrine tumours. This has led him to pursue a PhD in translational research at the University of Sydney focusing on neuroendocrine tumours and their management.

Rebecca completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Genetics and Neuroscience) from the University of Western Australia in 2020. With a keen interest in both disciplines, she pursued an Honours project using RNA-sequencing to characterise changes in the cells of the brain following a burn injury, forming a collaboration between the Brain Plasticity lab (Perron Institute) and the Fiona Wood Foundation.

With experience in bioinformatics and a fascination to study the brain, this PhD was formed where Rebecca hopes to use transcriptomics to better understand how non-invasive brain stimulation can be optimised as a tool to promote healthy brain ageing.

Michelle Gossner is currently a PhD student at Central Queensland University under the supervision of Dr Cassandra Dittman and Dr Lisa Lole. She began her career as a primary school teacher working across various educational contexts in Australia and the United Kingdom. Michelle recently completed her Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) and received a First-Class classification. Prior to commencing her PhD, Michelle undertook an undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship and interned on various research projects.

She has a strong interest in child and adolescent development, particularly the influence of family context, parenting practices and parental mental health. Michelle is passionate about conducting research that can impact the community in a meaningful way.