Recent Events
Understand and Be Understood
On Friday 18th July, visiting scholar from Cologne University, Germany, Professor Tobias Bernasconi presented a full day workshop titled: “Understand and Be Understood: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) interventions and AAC intervention planning based on core vocabulary research”. The workshop, which was co-hosted by Deakin’s Disability and Inclusion team and AGOSCI, was attended by 40 people including people with lived experience as AAC users, carers, therapists, support workers, students and academics. The workshop was very well received by all attendees who appreciated Prof Bernasconi’s interactive and engaging presentation style and the depth of the content.
Pictured left: Samantha Lilly, Associate Professor Angela Dew, Dr Jo Watson, and Tobias Bernasconi.
Two IHT Morning Teas
It was lovely to see everyone who attended the two IHT Morning Teas on Wed 18 June at Burwood and Tues 15 July 2025 at Waterfront. It’s a great opportunity to connect with fellow Institute members. If you missed out this time the Institute will be holding more opportunities throughout the year, the next one being on 10am Mon 25 August 2025 at Burwood.
IHT All Members Day
We had a huge turn out to our All Members Day on Wed 30 July 2025 at Deakin Downtown, proving how relevant the theme of policy influence and political engagement is to everyone’s work. Thank you to all our presenters who helped make the day very informative and successful:
- Amy Brown, IHT Strategic Programs Manager, launched the new Political Engagement toolkit on the members portal and talked about the Institute’s approach to political engagement and how the Institute can support your political engagement.
- Adj Prof Rebecca Haddock, Executive Director, Knowledge Exchange, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) spoke on how the Deeble Institute can support your political engagement strategies.
- Dr Adyya Gupta, Dean’s Postdoctoral Senior Research Fellow and Hannah Jongebloed spoke to Helena Rodi’s, Research Fellow and PhD Candidate, ECORRA, insights into their Science Meets Parliament Retrospective experiences.
- Associate Professor Mark Duckworth, Faculty of Health Government Relations Consultant, discussed how the Faculty can support your political engagement strategy.
- Phil Dawson provided a thought provoking and entertaining break in the agenda.
- Peter Breadon, Health Program Director, Grattan Institute and IHT Advisory Group member, spoke on the Grattan’s Political Engagement Framework.
- Associate Professor Jaithri Ananthapavan and Professor Kathryn Backholer provided insights into their work partnering with policymakers to impact food environments.
- And we finished the day with very moving and powerful discussions on advocacy in gambling reform from Professor Samantha Thomas, Dr Hannah Pitt, Dr Simone McCarthy and Anna Bardsley and Caroline Crawford from GHLEE (Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts).
All the presentations from the day can be found on the Members Portal here.
Institute for Health Transformation Partner and Consumer Involvement Grants outcomes
Cancer Research Symposium
Our Cancer Research Symposium on Monday 16 June at Deakin Downtown brought together 40 participants from across Deakin University and CCV, representing a wide range of divisions and schools. The event was opened by Deakin Distinguished Professor Matthew Clarke, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, and Todd Harper AM, CEO of CCV, who both underscored the importance of collaboration in advancing cancer research and care. The symposium celebrated the achievements of the Deakin-CCV partnership, showcased diverse joint projects, and a forward-looking session on future research opportunities led by Deakin Distinguished Professor Rachel Huxley, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health, fostered new connections and ideas to shape the next phase of impactful, evidence-based cancer control initiatives.
Economic Food Policy Forum
Dheepa Jeyapalan, Food Systems Lead Conveynor at Regen Melbourne, and Dr Christina Zorbas co-hosted an Economic Food Policy Forum, where they explored how economic levers can be used to build healthier, fairer, and more sustainable food systems.
From universal school meals to Indigenous-led food sovereignty, and from repurposing agricultural subsidies to local food procurement, our speakers and panellists shared bold, practical ideas for transforming food economics to better serve diverse Australian communities.
Key themes included:
- Scaling successful pilots
- Community-driven solutions
- Purpose-driven procurement
- Investing in local food economies
Thank you to each of the speakers for sharing your wisdom Shu Wen Ng, Erica Reeve, Jacob Birch, Georgia Savage, Ronella Gomez and Sharon Laurence.
With the national Feeding Australia strategy in development, we’re in a rare policy window to align food security with public health, climate, and equity goals. Let’s keep the momentum—and the collaboration—going.
If you’re interested in applying for an IHT Partner and Consumer Involvement Grant in 2025, the grant guidelines and application form are available on the funding page on the IHT members portal.
Go back to the August 2025 Newsletter
