Consumer & Community Involvement

After 15 years working as an Adult Educator in Australia, Chris has had extensive community engagement experience in health, sanitation, hygiene and water-related issues in Indonesia (10 years), Vietnam and other South Eastern Asian countries (15 years).  With an Honours Degree in Agriculture and a Master Degree in International and Community Development, Chris is well aware of general research models and processes. For the past 4 years, Chris has been a member of the Southern Adelaide Clinical Human Resource Ethics Committee.  With lived experience as a 14-year survivor of prostate cancer, and 2-year survivor of throat cancer he has also been actively involved in a range of health consumer involvement activities with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Cancer Voices, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria, and a range of individual research projects. 

Miia is an occupational therapist and clinician researcher in the Healthy Ageing stream at FHMRI. Her research focus is on improving care quality and outcomes for older adults, people living with dementia, and their families. She is recognised for her ability to build genuine connections and facilitate open communication among researchers, clinicians, patients, research participants, and the broader public.

Passionate about consumer engagement, Miia has extensive experience in involving consumers throughout the research processes. She has involved consumers in various aspects of the research process, including developing project plans, consulting on grant applications, serving on steering committees, conducting research focus groups, interpreting research findings, preparing plain language summaries, disseminating findings at academic events, and contributing to peer-reviewed publications.

Miia is committed to supporting others who seek to engage consumers in research, believing that her knowledge, skills, and experience align with her dedication to prioritising the interests and needs of the communities we serve.

Jean is an early to mid-career research (EMCR) scientist representative on the CCISG. Her research includes investigation of cancer biomarkers to improve early detection and treatment outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Although early in her career, Dr Winter brings to the CCISG many different experiences of consumer involvement and community outreach from over the years. This has included her time as a volunteer liaison officer with Cancer Voices SA to coordinate monthly walks with consumer advocates, research scientists and community volunteers. She was a panel member on the 2022 FHMRI Cancer Retreat Consumer Advisory panel, where she was involved in a panel discussion with other consumers to promote consumer and researcher involvement at FHMRI. More recently, she has connected with the Pancare Support Group in Adelaide to share her team's research and meet patients and survivors of pancreatic cancer. In 2023, Jean established the Bowel Health Service pancreatic consumer group to improve consumer involvement in pancreatic cancer research at FHMRI.

Helen brings a wealth of experience in policy, planning, grant seeking and analysis after working in government (10 years), non-government (20 years) and private sectors (12 years). She holds an Honours degree in Pure Mathematics and Master’s degree in Applied Social Research, and has been involved in the course development and online course facilitation at the University of South Australia (3 years). Helen has been integral in the establishment of consumer involvement practices in large non-government aged care services and has been involved in several individual research projects. She sits on the Flinders Medical Program Board, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) Strategic Research Council, Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) Consumer Advisory Committee, and University of Adelaide Animal Ethics Committee (Medical) as a Category C member.

Mario has extensive knowledge and experience in Information Technology after 38 years as an IT Technical Consultant for finance and business sectors. He is a qualified Mental Health First Aid Trainer which has aided in his work with the Towards Zero Suicide Project (SA). Mario has been an avid volunteer, event organiser and fundraiser with a range of charities, hospitals, grant committees and community groups for over 25 years. He has been a valued consumer advocate for a range of organisations including research institutes, universities, local health networks, non-government organisations, Women’s and Children Health Network, Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation and Flinders Foundation. Mario shares his knowledge and support on the weekly mental health segment on community radio (Radio Italiana 531) and is a multi-award winner for community service (from newspapers, radio stations and financial institutes).

Holding a Master of Engineering (Systems Engineering), Master of Applied Science (Physics) and Bachelor of Technology (Electrical Engineering), Steven’s career includes a background in research, 18 years in academia and 20 years in Defence Science and Technology Organisations (Edinburgh Laboratory).  He has served on various government and commercial boards and committees and worked overseas in the United States for the Department of Defence as well as publishing several professional papers.  In addition, Steven has engaged in his interest in swimming by being a volunteer for 25 years with the South Australian State Swimming Association and the national Australian swimming body. A 10-year survivor of Pancreatic Cancer, Steven is the founder of the SA Pancreatic Cancer Support group and is a consumer advocate for the University of South Australia’s Vascular Biology and Cell Trafficking Laboratory. 

Bachelor in Music Performance Elder Conservatorium 

Graduate Diploma in Education

Recently awarded Australian of the Year 2022, South Australian Local Hero and the Joy Noble Medal, Monique has been a dedicated Lymphoedema advocate drawing on her own experience of surviving cancer, living with cancer treatment-related lymphoedema as well as caring for a loved one with brain cancer. She was invited as a guest speaker at the 2022 Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) research week and the 2023 Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA)/Flinders Cancer Survivorship Conference. Monique’s advocacy was instrumental in the commissioning of a report into lymphoedema in Australia which she was invited to contribute to. This resulted in the recent release of the seminal AIHW report – ‘Towards an estimate of the prevalence of lymphoedema in Australia’. Currently, Monique participates in health research with the Multinational Association of Supportive Carer in Cancer (MASCC) International Delphi Consensus on measures to improve patient outcomes of Breast Cancer treatment-related Lymphoedema as an associate investigator. She is also a member of the PC4 Consumer Advisory Group and the SA Health Lymphoedema Compression Garment Advisory Group. Monique is the former president and patient advocate for the Lymphoedema Association of South Australia. Prior to Cancer, Monique's 15 year career spanned the Education and Public Sector where she held Senior Coordinator, Team Leader and Management roles.