Welcome to our new Advisory Group member Cindy Schultz Ferguson
The Institute is committed to being a leader in Consumer Engagement and is proud to announce the appointment of Cindy Schultz Ferguson as the Consumer Advisory Representative to our Advisory Group.
Cindy is passionate about improving health, health experience and health outcomes via improved prevention, diagnosis and treatment based on sound research. Cindy believes the need to collaboratively bring together different, and in some cases unexpected, research and clinical aspects of health care is vital to the long term improvement of our health and society.
She has an extensive background in strategic change, governance, and strategic Professional Development/HR program management, combined with line management experience. Cindy is a skilled program and project manager and has led national and international programs for private and public sector clients. Since her breast cancer diagnosis in 2007, she has been actively engaged in a range of roles as a health community and consumer representative on national, State and regional policy, research and clinical programs with governments, universities and health organisations.
Cindy is the co-Chair of the Doherty Institute Community Advisory Board, was a past non-Executive Director of Maldon Hospital and Dhelkaya Health and is a graduate of the AICD Company Directors Course.
Welcome to the Institute Cindy! We look forward to your valuable input and working together to guide the Institute into the future.
IHT Impact Grants applications close on 17 April 2025
Do you have a project that was completed in the last few years that would benefit from funding to evaluate its impact? The IHT Impact Pillar’s Impact Grants aim to support our members to evaluate the impact of their research program(s). Noting, it is not intended to be used for new research projects. Funding parcels up to the value of $10,000 are available, and grant funds need to be expended by December 31, 2025. Application documents can be accessed through the Members Portal via the following link. Applications are now open and will close Thursday April 17, 5PM. Any enquires please reach out to Aneta Stefanidis on aneta.stefanidis@deakin.edu.au.
Congratulations to the IHT 2025 Deakin University and Executive Dean Postdoctoral Fellows
- Utsana Tonmukayakul (IHT; supervised by Prof Suzanne Robinson)
Title: Comprehensive Linked Data Analysis of Cerebral Palsy in Victoria: Economic Costs, Health Disparities, and Societal Challenges - Dr Hannah Beks (IHT; supervised by Prof Anna Ugalde)
Title: Growing the capacity of the allied health and nursing workforce to de-implement low-value interventions in rural health care settings - Dr Tailane Scapin (IHT; supervised by Prof Adrian Cameron)
Title: Transforming retail food environments for population and planetary health - Dr Ita Daryanti Saragih (IHT; supervised by A/Prof Monica Peddle)
Title: Influence of an embodied conversation agent on nursing practice when caring for people with dementia in acute care settings
Read the full Faculty of Health announcement.
Congratulations to the IHT 2025 Research Accelerator Grants recipients
- Dr Ha Le
Team: Julie Kos, Lawrence Gray (supervisors: Angela Dew, Suzanne Robinson)
Title: Understand the key barriers and enablers to access/provide ADHD collaborative care in Victoria. - Dr Eloise Litterbach
Team: Elizabeth Holmes-Truscott, Vidanka Vasilevski, Lisa Moran, Paige Van der Pligt, Sarah Hunter
Title: Supporting type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk reduction for women and their children following gestational diabetes (GDM): a qualitative study of health promotion professionals. - Dr Melanie Lum
Team: Serene Yoong (supervisor), Lisa Olive, Cindy Needham, Adyya Gupta, Gloria Leung
Title: Co-design of BLOOM, a childcare-based digital intervention to promote child mental and physical health. - Dr Hayley McKenzie
Team: Greer Lamaro Haintz, Melissa Graham, Belinda Crockett, Fiona McKay (supervisor)
Title: The social support experiences of mothers residing in the Yarra Ranges with young children. - Dr Susan Perlen
Team: Alison Hutchinson (supervisor), Renee Fiolet, Jen Whan-Cooper
Title: Evaluating the implementation of a Specialist Dementia Care Unit - Dr Cherie Russell
Team: Colin Bell (supervisor), Victoria Stead, Kate Wingrove, Patricia De Melo Ribeiro
Title: Rethinking fresh produce supply chains: co-designing a framework for healthy, equitable, and sustainable fruit and vegetable distribution in rural Victoria. - Dr Feby Savira
Team: Catherine (Kate) Huggins (supervisor), Marika Haderer, Alisa Bader, Suzanne Robinson, Anna Peeters
Title: PRimary carE preSCRIption of evidence-BasEd mHealth apps for OBesity treatment among General Practitioners (PRESCRIBE-OB-GP). - Dr Monica Schoch
Team: Patrick Yu Borres, Jennifer Connor, Debra Kerr, Christipher Murray, Rochelle Wynne (supervisor)
Title: Plastic Cannulation of arteriovenous fistulae in haemodialysis patients: a mixed methods study. - Dr Kate Sievert
Team: Jane Williams, Naomi Fitzpatrick, Benjamin Wood (supervisor: Christopher Mayes)
Title: Interested, but not conflicted: navigating the values and commitments of public health researchers. - Dr Vanessa Watkins
Team: Karen Wynter, Alex Waddell, Tanita Botha, Alison Hutchinson (supervisor)
Title: Getting the care that I want and need: Exploring consumer perspectives on future research priorities for shared decision-making in childbearing. - Dr Clement Wong
Team: Anita Lal, Nikki McCaffrey (supervisor), Anthony Niu, Kate Broun, Alice Bastable, Orla McNally, Daniella Sigur
Title: Disparities and Timeliness in Cervical Cancer Care in Victoria
The Institute has moved to close our X account
With a significant 75% drop in 2024 engagement rate and notification that Deakin is closing their X account, the Institute Executive Group voted to close our X account. The X account will remain open but inactive for the next 6 months as a transition period. Moving forward we will be focussing our social media efforts on the Institute’s Linkedin Account.
More on why Deakin is discontinuing our presence on X
Deakin University has made the decision to retire its flagship account on X (formerly Twitter) due to growing concerns about the platform’s ability to provide a secure and productive space for its community.
Recent changes to X, including the removal of key moderation tools and the rollback of community guidelines, have left many users at risk of online abuse and hate speech.
The increasing spread of misinformation and harmful content further diminishes the platform’s ability to foster meaningful, informed dialogue.
Which handles are impacted? @Deakin, @DeakinMedia and @DeakinResearch and our own @IHT_Deakin
In other social media news, we have just started an Institute Facebook account to support our researcher’s study participant recruitment. Linked Facebook Groups can be setup for researchers wanting to recruit participants through this platform. Please contact Michelle Jeavons, Communications Coordinator on michelle.jeavons@deakin.edu.au for assistance.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/instituteforhealthtransformation/
Go back to the April 2025 Newsletter
