Digital Health / Informatics
Digital health and informatics live at the intersection of health, wellbeing, and healthcare, viewed through a socio-technical lens
About this theme
The field involves the application of information communication technologies (ICT) to complex health challenges to improve the efficacy and efficiency of care.
The World Health Organisation lists digital health as a key area of strategic importance. At a macro level, it describes various hardware and software applications (i.e. web, telehealth, electronic health records, mobile devices, wearables, apps, and more) to improve the way in which information is used in health (informatics). Furthermore, these technologies provide opportunities to innovate models of care by supporting access, better tailoring treatment, and greater engagement of stakeholders to participate in the healthcare process.
Our School’s researchers are conducting research across a variety of digital health and informatics fronts across allied health and nursing aimed to improve how health is assessed, treated, and managed across the continuum of care. This includes, but is not limited to: provision of online health information/education, remote consultation and treatment via telehealth, peer to peer social networking, development of clinical decision-support aids, as well as leveraging hospital big data sets from electronic health records to better identify patients in need of intervention and predict outcomes.
Meet our researchers in digital health and informatics
-
Audiology and Speech Pathology
Ms Dawn Choo
Clinical Researcher | Research areas include language development, cochlear implants, hearing loss and health informaticsdawn.choo@unimelb.edu.au
Karyn Galvin
Principal Research Fellow, Director of Research | Listening experiences of people living with hearing loss, improving clinical management for people using hearing devices, and digital tool developmentkgalvin@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Angela Morgan
Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, Director or Centre of Research Excellence in Speech and Language | Research areas include child speech and language development and speech genomicsamor@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Elaina Kefalianos
Senior Lecturer | Research areas include child communication development, stuttering, epidemiological studies, implementation scienceelaina.kefalianos@unimelb.edu.au
Mr Chris Waterworth
Lecturer | Research areas include global audiology: highlighting the need for prioritised public policies and interventions for the delivery of effective ear and hearing care services in low-and middle-income countrieschris.waterworth@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Adam Vogel
Professor of Speech Science | Research areas include speech and language biomarkers, neurodegenerative disease, clinical trials, monitoring brain health through digital technologies, swallowing and mealtime outcomesvogela@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Shani Dettman
Senior Lecturer | Research areas include cochlear implants, maternal input and factors affecting communication development for children with hearing lossdettmans@unimelb.edu.au -
Nursing
Dr Suzanne Kapp
Senior Lecturer | Research areas include skin integrity, chronic wounds, patient engagement and self-treatmentsuzanne.kapp@unimelb.edu.au -
Optometry and Vision Sciences
Professor Allison McKendrick
Professor | Research areas include improving the understanding and clinical assessment of visual disorder of the eye and brain (specific interests in glaucoma, migraine, and ageing).allisonm@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Laura Downie
Associate Professor and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow | Research areas include ocular diagnostics and therapeutics, tear biomarkers, clinical trials and research translation.ldownie@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Marianne Coleman
Orthoptist, Clinical Vision Research Fellow | Research areas include Digital Health, Childrens Vision, Public Eye Health, Eyecare across the Lifespan, Binocular Vision.marianne.coleman@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Flora Hui
Research Fellow (Industry Engagement) and Optometrist | Research areas include neurodegeneration, diagnostics and therapies, research translation, improving health services.huif@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Andrew Anderson
Associate Professor | Behavioural investigation of human vision, both in health and disease; Factors affecting decision-making processes in the brain.aaj@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Sumeer Singh
Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow | Research areas include dry eye disease, blue light and ocular health, evidence synthesis and translational research.sumeer.singh@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Bang Bui
Assoc. Professor | Research areas include preclinical investigation of vision and the retinal vasculature in healthy ageing; mechanisms of age-related susceptibility to neurodegeneration.bvb@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Christine Nguyen
Senior Lecturer and Optometric Clinician | Research areas using the eye as a marker for brain disease (specific interests in Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease) in preclinical and clinical space.christine.nguyen@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Kwang Cham
Senior Lecturer | Research areas include digital technologies for feedback and assessment, inter-professional education, and inter-disciplinary object-based learning engaging with material culture.ckwang@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Bao Nguyen
Lecturer, optometrist and human visual neuroscientist | Research areas include understanding eye and brain changes with healthy and pathological ageing, childhood and adolescent development, vision anomalies in ophthalmic and neurological disorders.bnguyen@unimelb.edu.au
Senuri Karunaratne
Clinical Research Optometrist | Research areas include management of dry eye disease, childhood myopia and developement of myopia control devices.senuri.karunaratne@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Michael Pianta
Associate Professor, 4th year OD Coordinator | Evidence-based practice.mjp@unimelb.edu.au
Anna Lee
Senior Clinical Research Optometrist | Research areas include anterior ocular disease, therapeutic clinical trials and research translation.ji-hyun.lee@unimelb.edu.au
Janet Chan
Postdoctoral Researcher | Research areas include healthy ageing, migraine, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and visual snow.yu.chan@unimelb.edu.au -
Physiotherapy
Dr Jennifer Jones
Clinical Research Fellow | Research areas include critical care recovery and rehabilitation, frailty and digital healthjennifer.jones@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Mark Merolli
Physiotherapist, Senior Lecturer, Research Fellow | Digital Technologiesmerollim@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Kate Hayward
Senior Research Fellow | Research areas include the brain-behaviour nexus during rehabilitation after strokekate.hayward@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Stephanie Filbay
NHMRC Research Fellow | Research expertise includes anterior cruciate ligament injury and knee osteoarthritis outcomes and interventionsstephanie.filbay@unimelb.edu.au
Professor David Berlowitz
Chair in Physiotherapy at Austin Health | Research areas include sleep and breathing disorders in neuromuscular disease, health systems and data research, clinical trials of therapies and care modelsdjberl@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Michelle Hall
Senior Research Fellow, NHMRC Emerging Leader, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow | Research areas include osteoarthritis. exercise, biomechanics; meta-analyses, clinical trialshalm@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Rana Hinman
Research areas include improving the health of people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions, especially osteoarthritis, implementation science, and increasing access to care, including telerehabilitation and digital healthranash@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Fiona Dobson
Deputy Head of Physiotherapy | Research areas include exercise for chronic musculoskeletal conditions, hip & knee osteoarthritis, outcome measurement, meta-analysisfdobson@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Alicia Spittle
Associate Dean (Research) Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences | Her research interest include infant and child development, early intervention, parent well-being, consumer engagement and implementation scienceaspittle@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Kelly Bower
Lecturer | Research areas include stroke rehabilitation, balance training, falls prevention, motion-tracking technologies and telehealthbower@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Amanda Kwong
Research Fellow | Research areas include early detection assessment and implementation of movement problems in high risk infantsamanda.kwong@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Kim Bennell
Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow. Director of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine | Research focus is on the management of musculoskeletal conditions particularly osteoarthritisk.bennell@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Belinda Lawford
Research Assistant | Areas of research include telehealth and implementation of health services to help improve the lives of those with chronic musculoskeletal pain (e.g. osteoarthritis)belinda.lawford@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Cathy Said
A/Professor Physiotherapy Western Health | Research interests include rehabilitation and fall prevention in older people and people with neurological disorderscsaid@unimelb.edu.au -
Social Work
Associate Professor David Rose
Associate Professor in Social Work, Director of Learning and Teaching, MSHS | Research areas include impact of criminal justice system, trauma and mental health, alcohol and other drugs, domestic & family violence, children and families across borders and health/mental health in forensic systemsdrose@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Lynette Joubert
Professor - Direct Practice | Research areas include clarifying, measuring and evaluating the outcomes of social interventions in health and mental health, focusing on the contribution of formal and informal social network factorsljoubert@unimelb.edu.au
