Clinical, Community and Industry Partnerships

Associate Professor Michelle Bellon

Michelle holds a joint appointment as the Research Lead with the South Australian Intellectual Disability Health Service in SA Health and Flinders University.

Michelle aims to build research capacity and track record in the service in strategic areas aligned with the newly established National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health. This Centre of Excellence is a priority action under the National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability.

The purpose of this role is to provide expert strategic advice and leadership to support and advance intellectual disability care, research capacity, capability and services for intellectual disability across South Australia and beyond.

Professor Annette Briley

Annette is one of the most experienced midwifery researchers in Australia, bringing her extensive understanding of undertaking clinical research and delivering high quality maternity care in the UK.

Working with the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Annette is exploring how the health care professionals at the Lyell McEwin and Modbury hospitals can improve pregnancy outcomes and the short, medium and long term health of mothers and babies from some of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Adelaide.

Associate Professor Aileen Collier

Aileen holds a joint appointment with Flinders University Research Centre for Palliative Care Death and Dying (RePaDD) and the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) as Associate Professor in Palliative Care and Aged Care Nursing.  Her research program is focused on safety, quality and equity of palliative care.

In her boundary spanning role Aileen is passionate about building research capacity in the Division of Aged Care Palliative Care and across NALHN. She collaborates closely with Professor Annette Briley and Associate Professor Maayken van den Berg towards this goal.

Aileen’s research interests and teaching philosophy undergirds a commitment to her practical work, with moral and pragmatic questions always being anchored to clinical 'realities'.

She is interdisciplinary in inclination and is an advocate of research that brings together diverse disciplines, clinicians, patients, families and communities in response to ‘wicked’ problems. 

Professor Tiffany Conroy

Tiffany, a Registered Nurse, is the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network Professor of Nursing and Director of Nursing and Midwifery Research, a joint appointment with Flinders University.  She is an experienced educator and researcher in nursing, knowledge translation, evidence based healthcare, and systematic review. 

Tiffany is working with the nurses and midwives across all SALHN sites to improve fundamental care, grow research capacity, and increase the profile of nursing and midwifery research.

Dr Elsa Dent

Elsa holds a joint appointment as Senior Research Fellow with Adelaide Primary Health Network (PHN) and Flinders University.  Her expertise lies in seamlessly integrating care services, preventing unnecessary hospitalisations, and ensuring quality of care for older adults.

Since 2016, Dr Dent has been leading research focused on evidence-based medicine for managing and preventing frailty in older adults. Elsa's expertise and passion for advancing healthcare solutions will greatly contribute to creating better systems, better care, and better communities for better lives.

Professor Stacey George

Stacey is an allied health researcher with a professional background in Occupational Therapy. In her partnership with the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Stacey and her research team are redesigning outpatient services to improve patient experiences and outcomes, and are investigating the utilisation, outcomes, and costs of seven-day allied health services.

Her interests include rehabilitation programs that improve participation such as driving, building research capacity of clinicians and allied health service design.

Professor Jeroen Hendriks

Jeroen is a nurse and health scientist who is leading research into developing and improving models of care in our hospitals in Australia and through his international network.

Jeroen aims to transform care for patients with chronic (cardiovascular) conditions through the implementation of integrated care and to promote the role of nurses and allied professionals within the multidisciplinary team in cardiac service delivery. At the same time he will investigate the effects of integrated care by conducting research. His main focus will be on the evaluation of integrated care clinics for patients with atrial fibrillation, a very prevalent cardiac arrhythmia. 

He has a joint appointment at Flinders University and the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

Dr Sarah Hunter

Sarah currently works as a Research Fellow in the Healthy Start to Life team within the Caring Futures Institute. In this role, Sarah co-ordinates and leads the research aligned to the Public Health Partner Authority agreement between Wellbeing SA and the Caring Futures Institute.

In this role, she applies her knowledge translation and implementation skills to shape an evidence-informed Early Years System in South Australia that engages and supports parents and caregivers for improved child health, development, and wellbeing.

Professor Kate Laver

Kate's research aims to maximise independence and quality of life in older people and people with disabilities. She co-designs, develops, implements and evaluates rehabilitation interventions and new models of care.

She has extensive experience working with people with dementia and their families and has led research trials and developed national clinical practice guidelines in this field.

She works collaboratively with health professionals and consumers to design and conduct high quality research that meets community needs. She is an experienced, registered occupational therapist. 

Kate has a particular interest in the use of technology in health services (virtual care, telehealth, virtual reality). Kate has postgraduate qualifications in implementation science (UCSF) with expertise leading Australia-wide applied translational research projects.

Professor Catherine Paterson

Catherine Paterson is Professor of Cancer Nursing a joint appointment between Flinders University and the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

The focus of her applied research is on improving and addressing the unmet supportive care needs of people affected by cancer across the lifespan.

'We develop clinically meaningful outcomes and address what matters most to people living with and beyond cancer, while providing cost-effective solutions to reduce economic burden in primary and secondary care. Our synergistic clinical and academic research partnerships mean we lead and develop research that has a translational pathway for impact directly back into practice. Our aim is to improve the lives of the estimated 130,000 Australians diagnosed with cancer each year.'

Associate Professor Maayken van den Berg

Maayken, a Physiotherapist and Movement Scientist, is the Allied Health Chair of Research in the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, a joint appointment with Flinders University. She fosters research excellence through building research capacity and capability across both institutions. She works collaboratively with consumers, clinicians and research staff to codesign research for healthcare practice relevant to Adelaide’s northern communities.

Maayken’s interdisciplinary research advances allied health clinical practice, evaluating novel interventions to support neurological and aged care rehabilitation and self-management. Her work explores ways to improve access to services and optimise outcomes for older people, people with disabilities, and their families. She sees her leadership role as an opportunity to mentor clinical researchers committed to delivering impactful research and positively contribute towards improved health outcomes.