Health Innovation and Transformation Centre
The Health Innovation and Transformation Centre (HITC) – part of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing – was established in 2020 to bring together local, national and international researchers in the quest to answer complex healthcare questions. This incredible multidisciplinary team translates basic and applied research to better understand the intricacies of disease and individual responses to treatment.
HITC projects address Federal government and international health-related research priorities by exploring chronic disease, mental health and ageing, our health workforce, and quality and safety concerns. The centre also provides a funding and mentoring platform for higher-degree researchers, early-career researchers and women in science.
HITC in action
Research team
Professor David Piedrafita, Acting Director
Xin Chen, HITC Coordinator and Support Officer
Professor Colette Browning
Dr Huy Nguyen
Dr Priscilla Prestes
Dr Amanda Young
Liam Thomas
Dr Kerrie Shandley
Core members
Dr Leigh Achterbosch, Senior Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Associate Professor Esther Adama, Associate Head of Nursing (Workload and Timetabling)
Fitalew Admasu, Student Residential Advisor
Fahima Ahmady, Senior Technical Officer, Technical Services, IISS
Helena Anolak, Head of Midwifery, IHW
Rafiah Ansari, Senior Lecturer, Speech Pathology
Dr Biswajit Banik, Senior Lecturer, Public Health, IHW
Dr David Bean, Senior Lecturer, Microbiology and Fermentation Technology
Professor Stuart Berzins, Immunology, IISS
Associate Professor Rob Bischof, Infectious Disease, IISS
Dr Richard Bradbury, Adjunct Associate Professor
Professor Colette Browning, Healthcare, IHW
Wendy Burgener, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Fadi Charchar, Director of HITC, Research Centres
Professor Madhu Chetty, Emeritus Professor, IISS
Professor Simon Cooper, Adjunct Professor, IHW
Professor Wendy Cross, Emeritus Professor, Senior Executive
Jenny D'Antonio, Lecturer, Midwifery, IHW
Dr Greg Davis, Adjunct Research Fellow, Science
Dr Habtamu Derseh, Lecturer, Biological Sciences, IISS
Associate Professor George Van Doorn, IHW
Dr Steve Edwards, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, IHW
Professor Rochelle Eime, Sport Sciences, Research, IHW
Dr Cameron Foale, Head of Information Technology, IISS
Professor Annette Foley, Adult and Vocational Education, IEAC
Associate Professor Andrew Greenhill, Head of Science, IISS
Professor Chyrisse Heine, Head of Speech Pathology, IHW
Dr Kaye Heritage, Senior Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Shirley Huang, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Megan Jenkins, Head of Clinical Services and Programs, Psychology
Peter Joyce, Casual, HITC Physical Activity & Sport Insights Research, IHW
Professor Britt Klein, Honorary Professor, IISS
Dr Kerrie Laidlaw, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Andrew Lewis, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Co-operative Education and IHW
Dr Suryani Lim, Senior Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Dr Jiangang Ma, Senior Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Shelley Macmillan, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Iven Mareels, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation and IISS
Dr Sharon McDonough, Senior Lecturer, English/Literacy Education, IEAC
Dr Kimberley McFarlane, Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Dr Jenny Mee, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Grant Meredith, Partner Academic Lead, Information Technology
Miriam Muduwa, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Associate Professor Mark Myers, Honorary Associate Professor, IISS
Dr Scott Nankervis, Lecturer, Biomedical Science, IISS
Dr Mehdi Naseriparsa, Lecturer, Information Technology
Dr Huy Nguyen, Centre Statistician/Bioinformatician, Research Centres
Dr Brendan O'Brien, Associate Professor, Sport & Exercise Physiology, IHW
Dr Mathew O'Grady, Senior Lecturer, Exercise and Sport Sciences, IHW
Dr Taiwo Oseni, Senior Lecturer, Enterprise Systems, IISS
Dr Goetz Ottmann, Senior Lecturer, Social Work/Community, IEAC
Dr Indu Somasundara Panicker, Lecturer, Animal Physiology, IISS
Professor David Piedrafita, Bioscience, IISS
Professor Virginia Plummer, Adjunct Professor, IHW
Dr Alex Poll, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Garry Power, Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Dr Priscilla Prestes, Centre Research Fellow, Research Centres
Dr Sarah Preston, Senior Lecturer, Veterinary Bioscience, IISS
Dr Zil a Rubab, Lecturer, Cell Biology, Science
Dr Kerrie Shandley, Sessional Academic - HITC - Research
Dr Robert Teese, Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Liam Thomas, Sessional Academic - IHW - Research
Professor Shane Thomas, Health Promotion and Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor (Health)
Dr Justin Timora, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Dr Morgan Wallace, Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Science, IISS
Dr Yutang Wang, Senior Lecturer, Biomedical Science, IISS
Dr Dean Whitehead, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, IHW
Dr Amanda Young, Research Fellow, Research Centres
Associate Professor Maryam Zoghi, Neurological Physiotherapy, IHW
Associate members
Louise Allen, Senior Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Marlies Alvarenga, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Ligi Anish, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Bhavna Antony, Information Technology, IISS
Associate Professor Venki Appiah, Information Technology, IISS
Professor Gayan Appuhamillage, Mechatronics, IISS
Dr Carolyn Bailey, Deputy Dean, IHW (Acting)
Dr Meghan Casey, Senior Lecturer, Sport Management, IHW
Associate Professor Ayon Chakraborty, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Dr Jacob Dye, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
Dr Sally Firmin, Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Dr Swapnali Gazula, Senior Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Maryam Ghasemiardekani, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Julia Gilbert, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Apeksha Gohil, Lecturer, Occupational Therapy, IHW
Dr Ria de Gracia, Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Associate Professor Rachel Grieve, Discipline Leader, Psychology, IHW
Associate Professor Helen Hall, Midwifery Discipline Leader, IHW
Professor Danny Hills, Research-Focused Adjunct, IHW
Kerry Hood, Senior Lecturer, Education Coordinator, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Dr Bindu Joseph, Senior Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Professor Joarder Kamruzzaman, Director, Centre of Smart Analytics
Dr Paul Kemel, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, IHW
Dr Kathleen Keogh, Senior Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Dr Apurv Kumar, Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering, IISS
Dr Andrew Lavender, Senior Lecturer, Exercise and Sports Science, IHW
Dr Grainne Lowe, Associate Professor, Nursing, IHW
Dr Evita March, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Dr Karen Missen, Director, Learning and Teaching, IHW
Dr Linh Nguyen, Senior Lecturer, Mechatronics Engineering, IISS
Dr Azadeh Noori Hoshyar, Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Dr Giles Oatley, Senior Lecturer, Information Technology, IISS
Dr Alison Ollerenshaw, Research Fellow, Research Centres
Professor Andrew O'Loughlin, Head of Campus, Gippsland
Marianne Ota, Sessional Academic - IHW - Ballarat, IHW
Dr Parul Parul, Sessional Academic - IHW - Berwick, IHW
Dr Truong Phung, Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering, IISS
Associate Professor Aziz Rahman, Research Adviser, IHW
Anju Sreeram, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Carolyn Staines, Research Associate, Research Centres
Professor Dixie Statham, Clinical Psychology, IHW
Associate Professor Shyh Wei Teng, Director, Academic Operations, IISS
Dr Amanda Timmer, Lecturer, Occupational Therapy, IHW
Professor Carolyn Unsworth, Occupational Therapy, IHW
Associate Professor Peter Vamplew, Research Adviser, IISS
Amber Van Dreven, Lecturer, Nursing, IHW
Dr Danielle Wagstaff, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Dr Shaun Watson, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, IHW
Ryan Worn, Lecturer, Exercise and Sport Science, IHW
Dr Samuel Zhang, Senior Lecturer, Economics/Econometrics, IISS
Federation associates
Professor Nuzhat Ahmed, Research Services
Associate Professor Michael Akindeju, Adjunct Associate Professor, IISS
Janine Alan, Adjunct, Senior Researcher at Silver Chain
Sumaira Amin, IHW
Dr Brooke Andrews, IHW
Professor Anna Barker, Adjunct Professor, Executive Director of Research & Innovation at Silver Chain
Associate Professor Juanita Breen, Adjunct Associate Professor, Academic Services and Support
Professor Robyn Cant, Adjunct Professor, IHW
Associate Professor Lisa Clinnick, Adjunct Associate Professor, Research Centres
Dr Minh N Dao, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Professor Tanya Davison, Adjunct Professor, Academic Services and Support
Dr Marissa Dickins, Adjunct, Research Fellow at Silver Chain
Associate Professor Susan Feldman, Academic Services and Support
Rapson Gomez, IHW
Marufa Hasin, Academic Services and Support
Dr Rodney Luwor, external guest, Anatomy and Physiology
Associate Professor Judith Lyons, IHW
Suzanne McLaren, Research Centres
Associate Professor Kate Moore, IHW
Professor Joan Ostaszkiewicz, Adjunct Professor
Dr Angela Rintoul, Research Centres
Susan Stacpoole, IHW
Dr Shahzad Sadiq, Austin Health
Dr Chin Yao Tan, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Monash University
Dr Samia Toukhsati, Academic Services and Support
Population Health research stream
This HITC research stream, led by Professor Colette Browning, looks at ways to improve the health and wellbeing of regional and rural populations. Researchers use a range of methodologies to examine how health varies across the lifespan and among groups with diverse backgrounds, and find ways to optimise outcomes.
Current projects
The Healthy Regions InterVEntion (THRIVE) aims to transform how we prevent and manage chronic disease in rural and regional Victoria. Conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are often detected late, leading to poorer outcomes for individuals and higher costs for the health system. People living in rural and remote areas experience higher rates of chronic disease and face greater barriers to timely care due to distance, workforce shortages and service availability. THRIVE seeks to change this narrative by identifying risk early, diagnosing sooner and supporting people to make lifestyle changes that last.
THRIVE is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia and supported by collaborators across health, academia and technology. Learn more at thriveyourhealth.com.
The Optimal Ageing Centre is a joint initiative with Monash University that brings together local government, research organisations and industry partners to improve the lives of people as they age. Research is focused on cognitive health, mental health, health services, data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics. The Centre has three main goals: to enhance cognition, promote independence and sustain connectedness.
The National Placement Evaluation Centre (NPEC) was formed to benchmark the outcomes of nursing and midwifery student placements and make it easier for educators to improve the quality of clinical learning. NPEC staff collate placement ratings from students and educators/supervisors for national reporting. Interventional programs can then be used to improve learning experiences.
NPEC is led by Professor Simon Cooper (HITC), Professor Karen Strickland (Edith Cowan University) and Dr Colleen Ryan (CQU). The Centre is managed by Health Education Services Australia (HESA) with funding from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) and the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (CDNM). See npec.com.au for more information.
Completed projects
The IMPART project aimed to provide training and palliative-geriatric support to aged care staff and general practitioners to enable timely end-of-life discussions, improved documentation of care preferences, reduced avoidable hospitalisation and better quality of care for residents. Associate Professor Danny Hills was part of the research team. The project was awarded $1.05 million in NHMRC funding over four years.
This research, by Professor Carolyn Unsworth, Dr Gayan Kahandawa and Amal Jayawardena, investigated the forces that may cause users of mobility devices to slide or tip while on public buses. The team examined the frequency of these movements and developed a modified containment system that improved safety and met practical considerations. The project was awarded $307,000 in funding from the Victorian Department of Transport.
Professor Britt Klein designed My Digital Health, a suite of programs that can be used to improve general mental health and wellbeing. Technological features enable the development, evaluation and translation of digital health interventions and allow healthcare practitioners and clinical students to collaborate with their clients.
Publications
Professor Simon Cooper
Cooper S. Kinsman L. Champion R. Kim JA. Boyle J. Cameron A. Cant R. Chung C. Connell C. Evans. L. McInnes D. McKay A. Norman L. Penz E. The impact of simulation education programs on nurses’ response to patient deterioration.
Professor Rochelle Eime
Eime, R., Charity, M., Harvey, J., Pankowiak, A., Westerbeek, H. Sport Participation Research Project 2019–2021.
Professor Richard Bradbury
Flaherty BR, Barratt J, Lane M, Talundzic E, Bradbury RS. Sensitive universal detection of blood parasites by selective pathogen-DNA enrichment and deep amplicon sequencing. Microbiome. 2021;9(1):1–9.
Dr Yutang Wang
Wang Y, Zhang W, Qian T, Sun H, Xu Q, Hou X, Hu W, Zhang G, Drummond GR, Sobey CG, Charchar FJ, Golledge J, Yang G. Reduced renal function may explain the higher prevalence of hyperuricemia in older people.
Dr Daniel Terry
Terry, D. Hills, D. Peck, D. Kirschbaum, M. Obamiro, K. Bishop, J. Baker, E. Schmitz, D. Better enabling, retaining, and sustaining the pharmacy workforce in regional, rural, and remote settings.
Dr Danielle Wagstaff
Watkins, C., Bovet, J., Fernandez, A.M., Leongomez, D., Zelazniewicz, A., Correa Varella, M.A., & Wagstaff, D. (2022). Men say “I love you” before women do: robust across several countries. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Dr Kerrie Shandley
Lum JAG., Shandley K., Albein-Urios N., Kirkovski M., Papadopoulos N., Wilson RB., Enticott PG., Rinehart NJ. Meta-analysis of Autism Gait.
Dr Angela Rintoul
Rintoul, A., (2021) Submission to the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence.
Engage with us
We're keen to hear from:
- HDR candidates looking for supervision
- external researchers who would like to collaborate
- organisations seeking consultancy services, commissioned research and evaluation or collaborative research partnerships.
Contact us
If you have any questions about HITC or you'd like to discuss engagement opportunities, please email Admin.HITC@federation.edu.au.