Turner Leadership Group

Professor Kim Cornish

Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor

Director, Turner Insitute

Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences Australia

Qualifications

B Psych (Hons); PhD; FASSA

Kim Cornish is a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor. Kim is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia. Her career spans 25 years over 3 continents as an international academic leader and researcher with a vision for transforming preventative brain and mental health research into practical local and global solutions. Prior to joining Monash University, Kim held the prestigious Canada Research Chair at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Kim is now the founding Director of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University and commenced this role on 1 October 2019. She is committed to building strong collaborative partnerships with government, industry and communities to find solutions to solve the challenges that impact millions of people world-wide. For more than a decade, Kim held the position as Head of the School of Psychological Sciences at Monash. During this time, the School underwent transformational change and is now recognised in the 2023 Times Higher Education rankings of 1700 Universities globally, rising to 54th in the world.

作为一个研金博宝188欢迎你究员,金正日的目标是翻译ery research into accessible applied solutions to help strengthen developmental pathways of attention and cognition in young children with vulnerable brains. With over 130 publications and $22M in research funding, her world-renowned research has been the catalyst for the development of novel, digital, interactive programs delivered to communities and are accessible across Australia, Asia and North America. In 2022, Kim was instrumental in securing the largest philanthropic gift for preventative brain and mental health research in Australia totalling $43 million.

Kim is a fierce advocate for women in leadership and as a passionate, action-oriented leader, she is a sought-after public speaker and Board member. She has been an Executive Board Member of the Australian Brain Alliance and sits on several national academic and medical research Boards.

“在21世纪,我们面临着大脑和mental health challenges across our lifetime. As the inaugural Director of the Turner Institute I will lead the charge to create innovative solutions that will help communities focus on prevention and early detection. Turner will work with community leaders, government and industry co-creating novel solutions to scale and available to all."

Professor Shantha Rajaratnam

Deputy Director, Turner Institute

Academic Head, School of Psychological Sciences

Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS)

Qualifications

BSc(Hons), PhD, LLB(Hons), CPsychol, AFBPsS, FAHMS

Shantha Rajaratnam is the Deputy Director of the Turner Institute and Academic Head of the Monash School of Psychological Sciences. He is Professor of Sleep and Circadian Medicine, with strong expertise in the application of sleep health interventions in workplaces and in community and clinical settings. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and Chair of the Monash Sleep Network.

Shantha is Chair of the Sleep Health Foundation, Australia’s leading advocate for healthy sleep. The Sleep Health Foundation brings together the community voice in sleep health, which includes those with lived experiences of sleep health problems, industry solution partners, policy and regulatory organisations and end user organisations. One of the key achievements of the Foundation has been in advocating for a national parliamentary inquiry into sleep health awareness, which led to a set of recommendations for government to implement. He is a past President of the Australasian Sleep Association, the peak scientific and professional body for sleep health in Australia and New Zealand.

Shantha was a key investigator and Research Program Leader for the CRC for Alertness, Safety and Productivity (2013-2020), which produced 280 publications, 7 patents and 4 registered trademarks and supported 47 research students and 28 postdoctoral fellows. He previously served as Director of Engagement and Translation for the Turner Institute.

Shantha is an internationally recognised expert in the field of sleep and circadian medicine, in particular the application of fundamental sleep and circadian biology to improve the health and productivity of people in a variety of community settings including schools and workplaces, as well as in clinical services. Shantha’s research has demonstrated impact in clinical and community settings: 1) he conducted clinical trials of melatonin and tasimelteon, leading to FDA approval of tasimelteon as a circadian regulator; 2) he has advised on work hours regulation and policy in driving and commercial transport, based on findings from his research, and has co-developed a new digital application to improve sleep health in shift workers (international patent); and 3) he has served as expert advisor to several industry organisations, including Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Circadian Therapeutics and Teva Pharma.

”一位加特纳研究所与sive group of industry and community partners, including solution providers, policymakers and end users, to translate our research and deliver impact in the community. There is a critical need for community-driven brain and mental health programs to address the rapidly escalating prevalences of these conditions in our society. The Turner Institute is exceptionally well positioned to meet this challenge."

Associate Professor James Courtney

Director, Turner Clinics

Qualifications

BSc (Hons); DPsych (Clinical)

James is a clinical psychologist and academic who has worked across private and public settings, and as a consultant to government and industry. He also has significant experience in the tertiary sector with a focus on clinical training and education.

James holds a specialist background in the clinical management of trauma related mental health disorders in first responders and has developed new models of care for ambulance paramedics in collaboration with Worksafe Victoria. As a lead clinician in the years following the Black Saturday bushfires, he provided specialist services to survivors and supervision to rural clinicians. James presented internationally to inform response and recovery to disasters in India and Nepal following major events in these countries.

James provides oversight and governance at the Turner Clinics to ensure excellence in clinical care and regulatory compliance, and is creating impact through workforce development, industry partnerships, clinical training and community engagement

“My role at the Turner Clinics allows me to pursue personal values of making a real difference in the mental health space. We have created unique facilities that host the ‘best and brightest’ researchers, clinicians, educators and students; all key players in supporting the Turner mission of Developing Well, Living Well, and Ageing Well. I believe that this approach has established a responsive group that will create a meaningful and enduring impact on mental health in our communities.”

Associate Professor Bei Bei

Deputy Director, Turner Clinics

Qualifications

BSc; MSc; DPsych (Clinical); PhD

健康的睡眠是健康和wellbei的基础ng. Bei leads a research team of passionate researchers and clinicians to conduct translational research that uncovers new knowledge about sleep and mental health, improves sleep interventions, and makes effective sleep interventions more widely available to the community. Bei completed training in China, the UK, and Australia (PhD University of Melbourne, 2014), and has over 90 scientific publications. She serves as Associate Editor of SLEEP Advances, Editorial Boards of SLEEP, Sleep Medicine Reviews, and Behavioural Sleep Medicine. She has led numerous major grants from the NHMRC, ARC, and has received numerous prestigious awards for scientific contribution and mentoring (e.g., Young Tall Poppy, Phillips/ASA Research Award, Monash Graduate Association Supervisor of the Year Award). She has ‘15 years’ experience as a Clinical Psychologist, and oversees the research and behavioural sleep medicine training programs at the Monash University Healthy Sleep Clinic, an innovative, multidisciplinary sleep disorders service.

“The Turner Clinics, housed within the Turner Institute, offer the perfect opportunity to bring together translational research, evidence-based clinical practice, and training of the next-generation practitioners. I am excited to be a part of this initiative and lead the research agenda of the Turner Clinics.”

Associate Professor Marie Yap

Lead, Developing Well Pillar

Qualifications

BA; BSc (Hons), MPsych (Clinical); PhD

Marie is the founder of the award-winning Parenting Strategies Program, which translates research evidence into actionable parenting guidelines that underpin a suite of individually-tailored online parenting interventions to prevent and reduce the impact of mental health problems in children and adolescents. These online resources are cited or have formed the basis for parenting programs and resources in over 20 countries. Recognised by Expertscape as a World Expert in family relations, she has extensive experience developing and implementing scalable digital parenting programs that have improved parenting and child mental health outcomes. Her parenting resources have been rolled out nationally in Australia, and adopted in the UK, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Malaysia, China and Singapore. She has authored 100 peer-reviewed publications, and secured over A$27M in competitive research funding from national and international sources. She co-chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee of Growing Minds Australia, the first national clinical trials network in child and youth mental health in Australia.

"I’m honoured and excited to contribute to the enormous potential impact that the Turner Institute is positioned to make in Australia and globally. In particular, I look forward to spearheading the Turner Institute’s impact-focused major initiatives in prevention and early intervention for child and youth mental health, that are community driven and responsive to government priorities."

Professor Antonio Verdejo-Garcia

Lead, Living Well Pillar

Qualifications

BPsych; MPsych; PhD

Antonio is a Professor (Research) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow at the Turner. His research seeks to unravel the neural and cognitive mechanisms that underpin addiction, obesity, and compulsive eating. His research has been published in leading scientific journals includingJAMA PsychiatryandNature Human Behaviour, with over 290 peer-reviewed publications and $22 million in grant funding. Antonio leads the Addiction and Impulsivity Research (AIR) group within the Turner Institute, which merges discovery science and clinical translation and aims to generate and apply neuroscience discoveries into better help-seeking opportunities and therapeutic interventions for people living with addictive and eating disorders and those living in larger bodies. He is also Co-Chair of the Neuroscience Interest Group of the International Society of Addiction Medicine, and Lead of the Translation stream of The Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Centre, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.

“I am thrilled to take on this transformative role as part of the Turner’s mission to translate our cutting-edge neuroscience research into prevention and intervention strategies for brain and mental health in our communities. I am excited to be able to foster a new collaborative framework in which my colleagues and I will work with community leaders, the current and emerging brain and mental health workforce, industry stakeholders and social entrepreneurs, to design the tools and support structures that will empower young and middle aged Australians to thrive in our changing world.”

Associate Professor Matthew Pase

Lead, Ageing Well Pillar

Qualifications

BSc; BA (Hons); PhD

Matthew is Associate Professor (Research) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Fellow. He and his team aim to make dementia preventable for future generations by advancing our understanding of risk factors and early biomarkers. His research has contributed to a paradigm shift in thinking whereby managing vascular risk factors is now considered fundamental for preventing dementia. His research has reached a global audience of over 1.5 billion and has impacted current dementia prevention guidelines. In addition, Altmetrics have featured his research in the top 100 most impactful articles of all time out of over 17 million. Having obtained his Ph.D. in 2014, Matthew has already published over 100 papers and attracted over $30M in competitive funding from local and international sources. He leads several global initiatives and is Principal Investigator of the local Brain and Cognitive Health Cohort and Co- Principal Investigator of the International Sleep and Dementia Consortium.

“I am excited to translate our Institute's discoveries into meaningful outcomes for our ageing citizens, enabling them to live more productive and fulfilling lives.”

Professor Julie Stout

Deputy Chair and Lead, Living Lab

Qualifications

BSc; MA; PhD; FASSA

Julie Stout is a Professor in the Turner Institute where she leads the Aging and Neurodegeneration research program. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Julie launched the Huntington’s Disease Network of Australia in 2020, after receiving an Investigator Grant from the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council. Julie is committed to unifying efforts aimed at ensuring the best quality of life and the availability of treatments for every person in Australia affected by Huntington’s disease.

Internationally, Julie Chairs of the Scientific Oversight Committee of the global Enroll-HD study of Huntington’s Disease, which has over 20,000 participants worldwide. She also led the development of the HD-CAB, a cognitive assessment tool for clinical trials which has become the industry standard since 2014. Since 2017 Julie has been a director of Zindametrix, a company that facilitates cognitive assessment in Huntington’s trials.

“It is a privilege to be leading the Turner Institute’s Living Lab and I look forward to collaborating with colleagues, government and communities to help make a real, sustainable difference in the lives of Australians.”

Ms Shannon Checklin

Lead, Government Strategy

Qualifications

BAppSc (Hons); MHA

Shannon is an experienced project manager with expertise in advisory and policy functions through her roles in the Victorian State government Department of Health and academia.

Her initial qualification is in health promotion with a strong interest in healthy ageing. She’s had numerous roles in aged care policy focusing on quality improvement, emergency and risk management. She then specialised in regulatory practice improvement and moved into roles focusing on whole of government initiatives for the Department of Health.

In early 2020 Shannon was seconded to the Department of Health COVID-19 pandemic response where she worked closely with the Chief Health Officer to manage initiatives for the large surge workforce. She received a Recognition of Service for outstanding contribution for her work from the Chief Health Officer.

Shannon is a graduate of the Australasian College of Health Service Management Residency Program where she was the Chair of Emerging Health Managers network.

"I am thrilled to join the Turner Institute as Senior Projects Manager where I can bring my knowledge and project management skills to develop strong partnerships with government and work together to help create mentally healthy communities."

Dr Michelle Byrne

Lead, Community Strategy

Qualifications

BA (Hons); PhD

米歇尔·伯恩的发展是一个高级讲师al Cognitive Neuroscience in the Turner Institute and internationally recognised for her work in longitudinal methods for developmental neuroimaging. Her research and knowledge focus on sensitive periods of brain development and puberty using longitudinal and multi-method data. She is especially interested in neurobiological development related to social processing and self-identity during puberty, which is critical for healthy development.

Michelle's postdoctoral training at the University of Oregon was supported by a Mentored Career Development Award (K01) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award. Since joining Monash University in 2020, she has received a Turner Institute Community and Consumer Involvement Award to conduct focus groups with LGBTIQA+ community youth and a Turner Strategic Projects Grants Scheme grant to examine social stress and puberty in LGBTIQA+ youth.

“I am looking forward to using my new role to create opportunities for the Turner Institute to engage with local communities using a co-design framework in our research. I hope this will motivate us, as a broader society, to function in a more inclusive and less violent way, and improve wellbeing in all communities.”

Professor Judith Gullifer

Lead, Workforce Development Strategy

Qualifications

BPsych (Hons); PhD; MAPS

Judith is the current Director of Education with a passion for creating new pathways for our psychology graduates to meet the needs of the mental health workforce. Judith is also a registered psychologist with a background in professional practice in rural and remote Australia. She has held various positions in professional bodies, having been appointed and served on the Board of Directors with the Australian Psychological Society and currently serving with the Blue Knot Foundation. She was a founding member of the Rural, Regional and Remote Advisory Group to the National Board of Directors, the convener of the Australian Psychological Society Rural and Remote Interest Group and held a position on the National Rural Health Alliance. Judith is a committee member for Division 17: Professional Practice for the International Association for Applied Psychology.

“I am an academic and a psychologist who is committed to educating the next generation of practitioners and creating innovative solutions to support our existing workforce. I am thrilled to be leading the workforce development strategy."

Associate Professor Laura Jobson

Chair, Monash Athena SWAN

Qualifications

BPsych (Hons); PhD (Clinical Psychology)

Laura Jobson is an Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the School of Psychological Sciences and the Turner Institute. She is Research Lead of the Culture, Trauma and Mental Health research group and plays a lead role in the community engagement endeavours of the Turner Institute. Her research focuses on improving models of mental health (predominantly trauma-focused) for those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Her research also includes developing low-intensity interventions for those in low- and middle-income countries and humanitarian contexts (i.e., Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan). She currently holds several service roles focused on improving diversity and inclusion, such as Chair of the Athena Swan Committee, a lead role in developing the Turner Indigenous Priority Plan, establishing the Community Reference Council, and leading the diversity and inclusion components of the Turner Strategic Plan.

“I am excited and passionate about contributing to the community engagement activities occurring within the Turner Institute and working to ensure community is at the centre of the research, clinical, industry and education endeavours of the Turner Institute.”