Executive Director
Professor David Ames
BA MD FRCPsych FRANZCP

David Ames, BA, MD, FRCPsych, FRANZCP graduated MB BS from the University of Melbourne in 1978 and undertook internship and junior residency at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1979-81. His training in psychiatry took place at Royal Melbourne Hospital 1982-4, Friern and the Royal Free Hospitals London UK 1984-5, before his appointment to a position as research fellow and honorary lecturer at the Royal Free Hospital 1985-7, where he completed research for his doctoral thesis on depression in residential homes for the elderly, under the supervision of Anthony Mann and Nori Graham. David Ames was consultant psychiatrist at the Ellery clinic, Carlton and the Royal Melbourne Hospital 1987-9 and was senior lecturer (1989-95) and then associate professor (1995-2005) in the Psychiatry of Old Age for the University of Melbourne at Royal Park, Royal Melbourne, Mount Royal/Northwest and Broadmeadows hospitals. He was visiting professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, London for the last 6 months of 1996. Together with Leon Flicker he co-founded Melbourne’s first Memory clinic (1988), which served as a model for the statewide CADMS clinics, introduced in 1998. From April 2005 David Ames was University of Melbourne Foundation Chair of Psychiatry of Old Age at St. George’s Hospital Kew (St. Vincent’s Health) where he was also Director of the Aged Psychiatry Service. Since September 3 2007 he has been Director of the National Ageing Research Institute and University of Melbourne Foundation Professor of Ageing & Health.

David Ames completed a part-time BA, with a major in (medieval) history from 1983-1992. His main research interests are new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and the care of the depressed elderly. He has been a Primary Investigator on seven NHMRC grants since 1991 and is Chief Investigator on the $3 million 3 year Alzheimer study funded by CSIRO (Australian Imaging Biomarkers & Lifestyle Study) 2006-9. David Ames has co-edited 15 books, written or co-written over 30 book chapters, over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and over 110 other non-peer reviewed scientific articles and reviews. He was Secretary of the Section (now Faculty) of Psychiatry of Old Age of The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (1990-95) and remains on the Executive of that body, as well as serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) (since 1995). He edited IPA Bulletin the quarterly newsletter of IPA from 1996-2002. He is a member of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Panel of Alzheimer’s Disease International and has been Editor of the Peer Reviewed Journal International Psychogeriatrics since January 2003.

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Deputy Director
Associate Professor Stephen Gibson
BBSc (Hons) PhD MAPS

A/Prof. Gibson has been involved in clinical pain research for almost 20 years, starting as a post doctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, through to his present position as Deputy Director of the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI). He is also the Director of research at the Caulfield Pain Management and Research Centre and holds Honorary Associate Professorial appointments with the University of Melbourne, Monash University and LaTrobe University. He is a registered psychologist and remains active in clinical practice through involvement with multidisciplinary pain management clinics in the Melbourne and Bayside Health networks. A/Prof Gibson has been the principal chief investigator on funding grants from the Arthritis Foundation, VicHealth as well as continuing project grant support from the NHMRC since 1994. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers in journals of high repute and has been an author of several invited book chapters in recent publications on pain and its management. He is on the editorial board and/or a consultant referee for several pain, ageing and psychology journals.

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Director - Preventive and Public Health Division
Dr Briony Dow
BSW MA PhD

Briony has been with NARI since 2003. As a social worker, she has worked in a range of clinical settings, including local government, mental health, disability and rehabilitation. In 1996, she established the home-based rehabilitation program at Ballarat Health Services and in 1999 she was awarded a MA based on an evaluation of that program. In 2003, she successfully completed her PhD, which investigated carer participation in home-based rehabilitation in Victoria. At NARI she has managed a range of projects including, an evaluation of home-based rehabilitation, a review of carer literature and practice, an evaluation of the Southern Grampians Glenelg Rehabilitation Program, a pilot study investigating an information technology intervention amongst older rural carers and the first phase of a study in best practice in person-centred care in Victorian health services. In 2006/07 Briony completed a 12-month secondment to the Department of Human Services in the Sub-acute services area. Briony’s areas of research interest include: carer support and inclusion, older person’s mental health, health service evaluation and improvement, aged care workforce and elder abuse.

Current projects

• Council of Australian Governments Long Stay Older Patients (COAG -LSOP) Resource Implementation Toolkit Development
• Evaluation of Memory Lane Cafés
• Emotional Health and Wellbeing update of the Well for Life kit
• Consumer information for community aged care services
• Minimising falls and other adverse events at home and in respite care transitions for older care recipients.
• What is elder abuse?
• Best Practice in Person Centred Health Care for Older Victorians 2008 – 2010.

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Executive Manager
Ms Debra O'Connor
BA, BSW, MSW

Debra has worked in health in a number of different roles. Commencing her career as a social worker in mental health she has also worked worked in acute health and community health services in a social work capacity. Debra has also lectured in public health and health promotion at La Trobe University and more recently has moved into health services management. Her previous role was Deputy CEO at Dianella Community Health where she was responsible of for allied health, counselling, early childhood, aged and mental health programs. She is currently completing a Masters in Business Leadership. Debra also has a particular interest in consumer health issues and has been a members of many committees and working groups representing consumers at national, state and local levels. She has a particular interests in primary care approaches to health care, quality service provision, consumers and e health and has published articles and book chapters on health policy.

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Ms Amanda Bingham
BSc. BA Grad Dip Psych

Amanda completed her Graduate Diploma of Psychology in 2004, which involved studying aggression in crowd control and violent offender samples. She has a background in genetics and behavioural neuroscience. Before commencing in the preventative and public health division of NARI in 2006, she worked in a criminal law firm as a law clerk.

Current projects:

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Irene has a medical background and has extensive experience in managing large clinical trials. Apart from her current position at NARI, she is also a Research Fellow in Primary Care at the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne and coordinates the PEACH study (Patient Engagement and Coaching for Health), a NHMRC funded randomised clinical trial investigating the cost-effectiveness of patient focused chronic disease self-management program in improving outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes from a disadvantaged community. Her research interests include falls, public health, diabetes, chronic disease, primary care, geriatric medicine and clinical nutrition.

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Ms Karen Borschmann
B. Physio

Karen graduated as a physiotherapist from La Trobe University in 1999. She has worked in a variety of settings in Melbourne, Launceston and overseas, particularly in public health. Karen’s clinical interests and experience in neurological rehabilitation, balance and falls prevention have led to many potential research questions, particularly in areas of early intervention and long term stroke management. Karen joined NARI in 2007 as a research physiotherapist and is seeking some answers through her involvement in the following projects:

Mr Gihan de Mel
BBiomedSc

Gihan recently joined NARI as a research assistant after completing Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences degree course at Monash University. His research based undergraduate scholarly contributions, recent work experience in healthcare sector and IT skills have provided a strong basis for his contribution to NARI. Gihan is currently working on the Older Australian Twins Study, Emergency Department Falls Risk Screening Project and Benchmarking Person-Centred Care Project. He also administers NARI’s website.

After completing an Honours degree in biochemistry and business in 2002 in Canada, Leslie came to Australia to complete a Masters degree in bioethics, focusing on issues surrounding informed consent and genetic testing. Leslie joined NARI in 2006 working on balance and falls prevention studies among older Australians.

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Ms Colleen Doyle

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Ms Marcia Fearn
BA (Hons)

Marcia completed her Honours in Psychology in 2000 with a thesis titled "Psychological Coping with a Carotid Endarterectomy under Local Anaesthetic: A Pilot Study". Marcia started with the Public Health Division of NARI in 2002 and has been involved in a series of falls prevention projects. Marcia was the main project officer for a project funded by the Victorian Quality Council that focused on developing falls prevention guidelines for the hospital and residential care setting. Marcia has also been involved in projects looking at physical activity, nutrition and home rehabilitation. Her research interests involve psychological impacts on physical health, coping strategies in illness, and falls prevention.

Ms Chathushka Fonseka
B Behavioural Neuroscience

Chathushka has just completed her Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience degree at Monash University, and is joining NARI as a honours student to pursue her research interests in the area of Alzheimer’s disease. Her research project involves studying the effects of music therapy on various cognitive domains of hospitalised individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Ms Pauline Galvin
BSc(Hons) MPH

Pauline joined the Public Health Division of NARI in 2006, on a student placement, examining compliance with falls prevention recommendations made as part of the “Falls Aren’t Us” study. She has recently (mid 2007) completed a Master of Public Health in the Program Evaluation stream from the University of Melbourne. Pauline has worked as a project officer implementing an evidence based falls risk screening and assessment for older people presenting to Emergency Departments after a fall, and is currently working on an evaluation of DHS funded falls prevention projects. Her previous experience includes Quality Improvement roles in Aged and Residential Care at Austin Health, and a number of years as a senior scientist in therapeutic drug monitoring.

Current projects

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Ms Melita Giummarra
BA (Hons)

Melita graduated with honours in psychology in 2002 and commenced working in the public and preventive health division of NARI in 2003. Melita has worked on a variety of falls prevention and health promotion research projects. Melita is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate at Monash University, and is studying phantom limb sensation and pain in amputees.

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Ms Betty Haralambous
BSW MSW

Betty has been working in the aged care field for over 20 years. In that time, she has worked in a range of settings including local government, the non government sector, the Victorian Department of Human Services. Betty joined NARI as a Research Fellow in the Preventive and Public Health Division, NARI in early 2003. From 2003-2006 she was involved in a range of projects including service evaluation (including projects in residential and community settings), as well as projects aiming to improve outcomes for older people with cognitive impairment (eg reducing restraint use in residential care). She has wide experience in project design, implementation, evaluation and policy development.

She returned to NARI in November 2007 after taking on the role of Regional Manager at Fronditha Care for 12 months. In her role, Betty was responsible for managing 2 residential care facilities, Home and Community Care Services and Community Aged Care Packages for the Greek community across the Southern and Eastern Regions of Melbourne. Her recent experience has increased her expertise in the area of residential care.

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Ms Courtney Hempton
BBSc (Hons) Assoc MAPS

Courtney holds an Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) degree, and has research experience in behavioural health and interpersonal relationships. Most recently, Courtney has worked in the private sector as an Analyst and Project Coordinator, delivering various policy driven projects within education and government sectors, both within Victoria and interstate. At NARI Courtney has been involved in the Best Practice in Person-centred Health Care for Older Victorians project, and the development of the Dementia Resource Guide for the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

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Professor Keith Hill
BappScPT Grad Dip Physio PhD

Professor Hill's background is as a physiotherapist with over 25 years clinical and research experience in the areas of gerontology, rehabilitation, exercise / physical activity, and falls prevention. He completed his PhD titled "Balance studies in older people" in 1998, and is currently managing a range of public health and clinical activities, research and education at NARI across community, residential care and hospital settings. He has over 50 publications in peer reviewed international and national journals, and eight book chapters, covering areas including falls prevention, physical activity for older people, rehabilitation, stroke, and assessment of older people.

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Ms Sue Hunt
BSc (Hons) Dip. Mod. Lang.

Sue completed her honours in psychology in 2005, which involved study into the promotion of conflict resolution skills. Prior to working at NARI, Sue worked at the Murdoch Institute at the Royal Children’s Hospital, assisting research into the development of physical and mental wellbeing of adolescents. Her project activity at NARI has included developing the Dementia Resource Guide and the national recommendations for physical activity for older people for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. She has also been involved in investigation of balance and falls risk in older people with arthritis, and research into health benefits associated with volunteering. Sue is the secretariat of the Australian Association of Gerontology Victorian Division.

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Mr David Jackson

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Dr Jacques Joubert

Jacques is a clinical neurologist and academic neuroscientist with a lifelong interest in neurology and public health. He was Professor and Head, Department of Neurology, University of Southern Africa from 1983 to 1993, publishing 43 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He also developed the first stroke service for black South Africans linking acute hospital-based care in a large teaching hospital to subacute and community care in the corresponding rural area. On moving to Australia, he worked in both the public and private hospital systems and from 1995-2001 was Director of the first private stroke unit in Australia at Epworth Hospital. During this time he expanded the concept of care shared between hospital and primary care settings for secondary risk prevention for stroke. This attracted a Commonwealth grant for integrated care, extended into a service project, and has formed the basis for international collaboration with French, Canadian, Singaporean and Chinese centers.

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Ms Marlena Klaic
Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Hons) completed at LaTrobe University in 2000,
Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation - currently completing at Flinders University (SA) via distance learning. Specialising in neurological rehabilitation

Following graduation from university Marlena commenced working as an OT in the West Gippsland Region. Her role was quite varied and involved both acute (hospital based) and outreach work to areas such as Rawson & Erica. Marlena also provided clinical services to a dementia specific hostel in Trafalgar - which was her first foray into the field of working with cognitive impairment - specifically dementia. This was an eye opening experience that highlighted the need to train staff in how to work with cognitive impairment and also inform the organisation of what is needed to provided appropriate person centred care. Six years later, Marlena is now involved in a project designed to 'address best practice dementia care in residential and community settings'.  Marlena works two days a week at NARI and also continues in a clinical role in Southern Health providing rehabilitation to young brain injured clients.

Current projects

• Dementia Care Kit
• ENvironment and Vision Optimisation in Residential Care (EnVORC)

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Ms Kay Ledgerwood
BSc (Hons) Anatomy,  PGCE (Science)

Kay completed her Honours degree in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow, Scotland in 2001 and her Postgraduate Certificate of Education in 2003 in England. After working for 2 years as a Science Teacher and Dean of Students in England, Kay travelled around South America, South East Asia and New Zealand before settling in Melbourne. Kay joined the Public and Preventive Health Division of NARI in 2007 and worked on projects investigating the effects of a community based strength-training program on functional status and quality of life in older adults, and barriers to undertaking physical activity amongst CALD groups, she also contributed to a Literature review on sleep in residential care. In 2008 Kay moved to the Clinical Division of NARI as a research assistant on the EBPRAC project.

Current projects

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Ms Simone Mangelsdorf
BA&Sc, BSC (Hon), Doctoral Candidate (Clinical Neuropsychology)

Simone completed her honours degree in psychology in 2003 at the University of Melbourne. She is currently in the final stages of a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology) degree at the University of Melbourne in which she is investigating cognitive functioning in people with Type 1 diabetes. She has recently joined NARI as a research assistant on the OATS project.

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Ms Claudia Meyer
Bach App Sci (Physio), Cert Hydrotherapy, MPH (in progress)

Claudia graduated as a physiotherapist in 1993 and has since worked in Australia and the UK in both the private and public sector. She has worked at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Park Campus since 1998, as part of the orthopaedic rehabilitation team. She has a clinical interest in rheumatology, amputees and hydrotherapy.
Claudia commenced her Masters of Public Health through Melbourne University in 2005, with a focus on women’s health and health program evaluation.
She joined NARI in 2006, working as a Research Therapist in the area of accident prevention amongst care recipients.

Current project:           

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Ms Kirsten Moore
BA (Hons)

Kirsten joined the Public Health Division of NARI in 1999 where she has been involved in projects across the spectrum of aged care. She has been engaged in evaluations of health services including falls clinics, movement disorder clinics and home rehabilitation services and has developed resources for aged care staff and carers. She has undertaken numerous HACC projects including measuring demand and developing a priority of access tool. She has been involved in a national project mapping acute aged care services for the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. Kirsten has been involved in projects investigating restraint use, falls prevention, nutrition and physical activity in residential aged care settings.

Dr Jean Tinney
BA Dip Ed  MAppl Ling  PhD

Jean joined NARI in 2006 shortly after completing her PhD. Her thesis, based on her fieldwork in two aged care facilities, explored the role of communication in sustaining sense of self and well being in residents in aged care. Her M App Ling included a minor study of cross-cultural perceptions of staff-resident communication in a nursing home, reflecting her long-term interest in communication in the health professions. Jean’s background is in teaching English language and communication skills, and language testing of overseas qualified health professionals.

Ms Freda Vrantsidis
BBSc GradDip Info Services

Freda has worked at NARI for 10 years. She has been involved in falls prevention activities in the hospital, residential care and community setting, including the update of a comprehensive literature review on falls prevention, a community based guide for older people and the review of over 300 falls prevention resources for the Victorian DHS website. Recent work include the validation the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and the evaluation of “Getting Grounded Gracefully”, an exercise program for older people based on the Feldenkrais Method.

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Ms Sue Williams
BSc B. App. Sci (Phyt) M.Physio

Sue has trained and works as a physiotherapist with a clinical interest in neurological physiotherapy. Her undergraduate science degree majored in Immunology. Her postgraduate Masters specialised in Neurological Physiotherapy by coursework with a minor thesis ("Hydrotherapy in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Programme). Sue has worked primarily in rehabilitation and contributed to the establishment of the Western Falls and Mobility Clinic. In 2005, Sue continued clinical work, was involved as a facilitator with the workforce redesign project with Department of Human Services, Victoria and commenced work as a Research Clinician at NARI. Her research interests include Balance, Falls Prevention, Stroke Rehabilitation, and Workforce Redesign.

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Ms Frances Batchelor
B. App Sc (Physio), Grad Dip Ed (Sport Science), M. Hlth St.

Frances completed her physiotherapy degree in 1987 and since then has worked in Australia, Germany and England in the fields of neurology and aged care, in both acute and sub-acute settings. She completed her Masters in 2005 in the field of Primary Health Care and Community Health. Frances has recently commenced PhD studies under Associate Professor Keith Hill's supervision working on falls prevention after stroke.

Current projects
• Randomised trial of falls prevention after stroke.

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Ms Jenny Fitzgerald
B. App. Sc, Physiotherapy; Grad. Dip Physio., Neurology; MBA; AIMM

Jenny Fitzgerald is the Clinical manger, Physiotherapy at Ballarat Health Services.  She is currently the Chair of the Victorian Branch of the APA Physiotherapists in Leadership and Management Group.  She is a Director of Scope (Vic) Ltd.  Jenny is currently enrolled in a Professional Doctorate of Physiotherapy at La Trobe University. Her area of research interest is falls prevention.

Mr Kade Paterson
BAppSc (Hons) Bpod

Kade’s honours research explored foot function and the resultant patterns of horizontal forces during walking, which then lead to him completing a degree in Podiatry. Currently, he combines his clinical podiatric work with a lecturing position at ACU National, where he is also the co-ordinator for their movement analysis laboratories. He is completing a PhD at NARI investigating symmetry and variability changes with increasing age.

Ms Loretta Quinn
RN (Div 1) AmusA (Piano) Post Grad Dip (MT) Mmus

With a background in classical piano and Div 1 nursing, Loretta completed a post graduate diploma in Music Therapy at Melbourne University in 1992. Since then, she has had extensive experience working as a music therapist in the fields of aged care/dementia and palliative care. In 2002, she completed a Masters in Music Therapy, which focussed on the effect of music therapy on the quality of life on both people with dementia and their carers living at home. Her PhD is due to be completed in February 2010

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Ms Melissa Russell
Bphysio

Melissa completed her physiotherapy degree in 1996. Since that time she has worked in a variety of fields of physiotherapy in Australia and the UK. Melissa started at NARI at the end of 2002. Over this time she has been involved in the implementation of physical activity programs for older people in residential care and the development of the “Well for Life” resource. Through NARI and the Department of MEGA Epidemiology at the University of Melbourne Melissa began her PhD in 2003. Melissa’s research interests include falls prevention, balance and physical activity programs.

Ms Plaiwan Suttanon

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Ms Willeke Walsh
B App Sc (Physio)

Willeke completed her physiotherapy degree in 1995. She initially worked in a variety of fields of physiotherapy and since 2000 has specialised in aged care, particularly in the acute setting. Commencing in 2001, Willeke co-managed a 3 year, Department of Human Services funded, multi-factorial falls prevention project. “Avoiding the tumble”, falls prevention in the acute and sub-acute hospital and residential care settings, was a collaborative project of Western Health and NARI. She continues to work as a physiotherapist in the acute aged care field. Willeke is undertaking Masters by Research studies at the University of Melbourne Physiotherapy department investigating falls risk assessment in the acute hospital setting. Willeke’s research interests include falls prevention, balance and physical activity programs to prevent functional decline in hospitals and acute aged care.

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Ms Xiao Jing Yang
MD MWomen’s Health MHealth Science

Jing was originally trained in medicine in China, with a focus on public health issues. She came to Australia for postgraduate study in 2003, starting with a Master’s course in women’s health at Melbourne University, she then pursued her further training in aged service at Victoria University. Jing spent six month at NARI last year on her Master’s thesis, supervised by Ms Betty Haralambous. She has newly become a PhD student of Assoc. Prof. Keith Hill working on the DVA balance screen project.