About Us

Dr Kelly Bower (she/her)

Dr Kelly Bower (PhD, BPhysio(Hons), GradCertUniTeaching, APAM) is a Senior Lecturer in Research and Education and Co-Director of Research Engagement and Training in the Department of Physiotherapy. Her research focuses on falls prevention and technology use in older adults and people with neurological conditions, with additional interests in educational research. Dr Bower has expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods. Dr Bower serves on the Physiotherapy Research Foundation Grants Review Committee and Australian and New Zealand Stroke Foundation guideline working group. She coordinates multiple subjects, including Research Capstone (Doctor of Physiotherapy) and Body of Ageing (online postgraduate). She is also an assessor for the Australian Physiotherapy Council and continues clinical practice at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Yeptain Leung (he/him)

Dr Yeptain Leung (PhD, MSLP, BMedSc) is a Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Yeptain's research focuses on gender and voice and voice ergonomics. He is a committee member of the Asian Professional Association for Transgender Health and has been serving the trans and gender diverse population many years. Yeptain has recently setup the University’s GenderAffirming Voice Clinic in collaboration with Melbourne Speech Pathology Clinic and will continue to refine the service. Yeptain also sits on the education committee of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health. He coordinates and teaches into multiple subjects include Independent Studies in Speech Pathology, Research in Speech Pathology, and Swallowing and Voice.

For more information please see his Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Sacha Petersen (she/her)

Dr Sacha Petersen (PhD, MN, PgDip, BN) is a queer and neurodiverse woman of settler decent. She lives, works and daydreams on the stolen lands of the Eastern Kulin Nations. Sacha is a teaching focused lecturer in the Department of Nursing and an experienced paediatric nurse. Sacha coordinates and teaches into multiple subjects including foundational nursing, research critique and methods and public health.  Sacha’s research interests include scholarship of learning and teaching, inclusion and cultural humility, decolonisation in health care and tertiary systems. Prior to joining the University of Melbourne, Sacha has more than 5 years experience as an academic and twenty years of experience at the Royal Children’s Hospital where, whilst working clinically as an Advanced Practice Nurse, she completed her mixed methods PhD exploring the experience of sleep problems for parents of children with cerebral palsy.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and Linkedin.

Dr Naomi Brockenshire (she/her)

Dr Naomi Brockenshire (PhD, GDipMHN, MNSc, MA, BSci, DipArts) is a credentialed mental health nurse and lecturer in the Department of Nursing teaching in the Master of Advanced Nursing Practice and Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing Practice. Naomi also holds an Honorary appointment with the Nursing Research Department at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (RCH).

Naomi completed her PhD in 2019, an ethnographic exploration of the Clown Doctors at the RCH. Her current research prioritises lived-experience collaboration and aims to capture the voices of young people restrained in paediatric hospital settings for the treatment of anorexia nervosa. She is also involved in projects exploring academic staff wellbeing, the implementation of clinical supervision for nurses, and the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence into healthcare teaching pedagogy.

For more information please see her Find an Expert.

Dr Camille Paynter (she/her)

Dr Camille Paynter is a speech pathologist, academic, and postdoctoral researcher in the School of Health Sciences. She has 20+ years' experience in clinical and academic settings working with people with acute and progressive neurological conditions, young-onset dementia, and palliative care. She was awarded a competitive NHMRC postgraduate scholarship to complete her PhD. Camille's PhD research used longitudinal qualitative methodology to explore the impact of communication impairment and disease progression on healthcare involvement for people living with motor neurone disease and their carers. Camille coordinates and teaches into multiple subjects in the Masters of Speech Pathology course including Language across the Lifespan, Communication and Swallowing Advanced, and Clinical Processes.

Prior to her position in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, Camille was a postdoctoral research fellow in Implementation Science in the School of Health Sciences working on a number of implementation science research projects including acceptability of a complex intervention, paediatric oncofertility care, and the use of digital audit and feedback to improve uptake of novel interventions.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and Linkedin.

Dr Juan-Pablo Faundez-Astudillo (he/him)

Dr Juan-Pablo (JP) Faundez-Astudillo (PhD, MSc, BSc) is an audiologist, researcher, and lecturer in in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Juan Pablo has more than a decade of experience in Chile and Australia as in the areas of complex hearing and vestibular diagnosis as well as in aural and vestibular rehabilitation in adults.

His current research focuses on developing an EEG-based technique for the objective study of binaural processing and its application and populations with complex hearing disorders, such as hidden hearing loss. In addition, Juan-Pablo has clinical and research expertise on assessing hearing and vestibular function in patients with cochleovestibular deficits and has collaborated in research projects related to the use of spectro-temporal modulations on the identification of emotions in speech in hearing aids' users.

For more information please see his Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Ceecee Britten-Jones (she/her)

Dr Ceecee Britten-Jones (BOptom, PhD) is a research fellow in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, in the field of ocular genetics. She is also an AHPRA-registered optometrist and practises in a public eye health clinic. She is a Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow, veski Victoria fellow, and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow.

Ceecee’s research focusses on leveraging novel genomic sequencing technologies to enhance the diagnosis and management of rare eye diseases. Her work also includes identifying novel imaging biomarkers for gene therapy trials, drawing on her expertise in clinical trial design and analysis. Additionally, Ceecee has a strong interest in improving understanding of the lived experience of vision impairment. Ceecee co-leads the Ocular Genotyping Hub innovation project with The Advanced Genomics Collaboration. She is a Board Director of Retina Australia, a member of the Clinical Genome Consortium Variant Curation Expert Panel, and social media coordinator of the Cochrane Early Career Professionals Association.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Marlena Klaic (she/her)

Dr Marlena Klaic (PhD, BOT) is a Senior Research Fellow, implementation scientist, and health services researcher. Her research focuses on improving the uptake of evidence-based care using pragmatic trial designs, stakeholder-engaged methodologies, and applied implementation science frameworks. Marlena has expertise in mixed methods research, co-design, and the evaluation of complex interventions. She currently leads implementation and evaluation streams across multiple translational research projects in acute, community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health settings. Marlena is the Implementation Science Platform Lead for the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) and previously led research translation at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She is recognised for her collaborative and context-sensitive approach, working closely with clinicians, health service leaders, and First Nations communities to ensure research is feasible and impactful in real-world settings. Marlena is also committed to building capacity in implementation science through mentoring, teaching, and health system strategy development.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Travis Haber (he/him)

Dr Travis Haber is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, within the Department of Physiotherapy. As a clinician-researcher, he is dedicated to improving the quality and uptake of recommended nonsurgical management strategies for osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. Travis completed his PhD on how beliefs about hip pain can influence the adoption of evidence-based care. His current research spans several key areas: systematic reviews on the effectiveness of exercise for osteoarthritis, randomised controlled trials testing communication strategies for osteoarthritis care, qualitative studies on patient experiences with nonsurgical management programs, and cohort studies investigating the progression from to surgical treatment. He is currently leading a clinical trial examining how different exercise frequencies affect outcomes in people with knee osteoarthritis. Travis is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Rehabilitation Discussion Group.

For more information please see his Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Dr Minh Viet Bui (he/him)

Dr Minh Viet (Viet) Bui is an early career researcher in Implementation Science at the University of Melbourne. His current research focuses on health equity for under-represented populations. He is currently involved in national projects to improve patient access to genomic medicine and diabetes care using theory-informed implementation strategies.

Prior to his research career, Viet was a registered nurse working in several medical, surgical, mental health, and research settings. He completed his PhD in 2025, which comprised a mixed methods process evaluation of the Promoting Resilience in Nurses (PRiN) randomised controlled trial. His PhD thesis expanded the current understanding of mental health nurse resilience and explored how nurses can be better supported to manage stress and challenges in the workplace.

For more information please see his Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Rachel Blance-Palmer (she/her)

Ms Rachel Blance-Palmer is a lecturer and PhD candidate in the University of Melbourne, Social Worker department and a senior social worker at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Ms Blance-Palmer has practice expertise in supporting tertiary student wellbeing and is a current student Wellbeing Coordinator for the Master of Social Work program. Ms Blance-Palmer is also the subject coordinator for the second-year research subject in the Master of Social Work course and teaches in various subjects across the course.

As a clinician researcher working across both academic and clinical settings, Ms Blance-Palmer has direct experience in practice-based research. Ms Blance-Palmer’s PhD explores the role of hospitals in response to elder abuse and draws on the electronic medical record system for clinical data mining. Her other research projects have explored the experiences of carers of people living with disability and the experiences of peer groups for people living with acquired brain injuries.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and LinkedIn.

Ann MacRae (she/her)

Ann MacRae is an early career researcher in health and social care specialising in trauma and attachment. Ann is a proud Palawa woman who has 10 years experience working in Child Protection (Tasmania) and Integrated Family Support Services (IFSS, Youth at Risk and Kinship Care) as a practitioner and program manager. Through these roles, Ann has experience working with children and families involved in and at risk of involvement with statutory services (Child Protection and Youth Justice), providing early intervention support to address concerns of risk and vulnerabilities impacting on the safety and wellbeing of children and youth. Ann has worked as a social researcher for the past 10 years (8 years in industry and 2 years in academia).

Ann has tertiary qualifications in Social Science (Psychology) and Family Studies and isundertaking a PhD through Monash University on trauma-informed care within a residential aged care setting. Ann works in the Department of Social Work at the University of Melbourne in Aboriginal child welfare and social care.

For more information please see her Find an Expert and LinkedIn.