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Director

MERRC staff

Current research staff

Dr Toni Witheil. DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology), is employed as a Research Assistant

Dr Penny Analytis. DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology), is employed as a Research Assistant.

Dr David Lawson. DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology), is employed as a Research Assistant.

Dr Courtney Baxter. DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology), is employed as a Research Assistant.

Olivia McConchie. BBNSci(Hons), MPsych (Clinical Psychology), is employed as a Research Assistant.

Sarah Carrier. PhD (Clinical Neuropsychology) candidate, is employed as a Research Assistant.

Rachel Knott. DPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology) candidate, is employed as a Research Assistant.

Bronwyn Hall. BA/BSc, BPsych (Hons), MPsych (Clinical Neuropsychology), is employed as a Research Assistant.

Elinor Fraser. PhD (Clinical Neuropsychology) candidate, is employed as a Research Assistant.

Jai Carmichael. PhD (Clinical Neuropsychology) candidate, is employed as a Research Assistant.

Current doctoral students

PhD

Matthew Staois. Developing reliable and valid neuropsychological assessment techniques for Greek-Australians. PhD commenced 2015.

Amelia Hicks. Risk of neurodegenerative disease decades after a TBI. PhD commenced 2016.

Ruby Phyland. The use of olanzapine to treat agitation following traumatic brain injury: A pilot randomised controlled trial. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2018.

Sarah Carrier. Understanding the use and efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions for managing agitation during post-traumatic amnesia after TBI. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2019.

Elinor Fraser. An investigation of sexuality and its management after traumatic brain injury. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2019.

Jack Nguyen. Development and evaluation of a multimodal intervention for persistent post-concussion symptoms. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2019.

Jai Carmichael. Transdiagnostic reconceptualisation of psychopathology following traumatic brain injury. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2020.

DPsych

Laura Connolly. Light therapy for sleepiness and fatigue following traumatic brain injury, DPsych commenced 2016.

Lucy Ymer. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for sleep and fatigue difficulties after traumatic brain injury and stroke, DPsych commenced 2017.

Abbie Taing. The return of memory following traumatic brain injury: The critical role of the medial temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, and associated brain areas, DPsych commenced 2017.

Diane Ramirez-Hernandez. Memory skills training post–stroke. DPsych commenced 2017.

Felicity Evans. Memory skills following stroke. DPsych commenced 2017.

Lauren Libeson. Return to work experience of patients with traumatic brain injury. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2018.

Vanessa Sharp. Improving delivery of rehabilitation services to regional areas. PhD (Clin Neuropsych) commenced 2018.

Completed Doctorates

Kate Cameron. Awareness and psychological adjustment following stroke. DPsych commenced 2011.

Bleydy Dimech-Betancourt. Assessment and Rehabilitation of Driving Capacity after Traumatic Brain Injury. DPsych commenced 2015.

David Lawson. Using telemedicine to deliver neuropsychological interventions to stroke survivors. DPsych commenced 2015.

Penny Analytis. Parents and sibling experience of brain injury in children and adults. DPsych commenced 2015.

Jodi Chapman. Using telemedicine to conduct neuropsychological assessments for stroke survivors. DPsych commenced 2015.

Courtney Baxter. Assessing agitation following traumatic brain injury. DPsych commenced 2016.

Jennifer Makovec-Knight. Padded headgear in youth football. DPsych commenced 2017.

Jonathan Reyes. Head impacts in elite and amateur Australian football. DPsych commenced 2016.

Rudzki, Dion. Impact of Apolipoprotein E polymorphism on cognitive function and outcome after traumatic brain injury.  D. Psych thesis.  Department of Psychology, Monash University.  Commenced 1998. Submitted May 2004 and passed with minor amendments September, 2004.

Steele, Diane. Sleep disorders associated with traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2000. Submitted November 2004. Passed with no amendments February 2005.

Ziino, Carlo. Fatigue following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2000. Passed with no amendments, October 2005.

Helen Saltapidas. The influence of cultural factors upon attitudes to and participation in rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2001. Submitted August 2005. Passed with minor amendments January 2006.

Katie Anson. Evaluation of a coping skills group intervention following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2001. Submitted March 2005.  Passed with minor amendments July 2005.

Caroline Fisher. Rehabilitation of aphasic disorders following stroke. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2002. Submitted August 2005. Passed with minor amendments January 2006.

Kristy Draper. Long-term outcome following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2002. Submitted December, 2006. Passed with minor amendments, September, 2007.

Catherine Willmott. Impact of methylphenidate upon cognitive function following traumatic brain injury. PhD. Submitted. Passed with minor amendments February 2009.

Rochelle Whelan. Psychiatric disorders following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2003. Submitted February 2007 and passed with minor amendments June 2008.

Michele Grant. Rehabilitation of planning difficulties following brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2003. Submitted January 2008 and passed with minor amendments May 2008.

Dawn Senathi-Raja. Impact of age on outcome following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced February 2005. Completed July 2008. Passed with minor amendments, November, 2008.

Laura Tweedly. Impact of intervention for substance use problems following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced February 2005. Passed with minor amendments November 2011.  Passed with minor  amendments, December, 2011.

Kate Gould. Psychiatric disorders following traumatic brain injury: a prospective study. DPsych thesis Commenced February 2006. Passed with no amendments November 2010.

Belinda Renison. The use of Virtual Reality in Assessment of Executive Function. DPsych thesis commenced February 2006. Submitted May 2010. Passed with minor amendments, August, 2010.

Ming-Yun Hsieh. Use of motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy to treat anxiety disorders following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced February 2007. Submitted December, 2010. Passed with no amendments March 2011.

Kelly Sinclair. The use of light therapy to treat daytime sleepiness and fatigue following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2008..Submitted March 2012. Passed with no amendments, June 2012.

Amber Kelly. Self-concept following traumatic brain injury. Commenced 2007. Submitted June 2012. Passed with minor amendments October, 2012.

Gershon Spitz. Cognitive impairment, its biological basis and association with outcome following traumatic brain injury. PhD Commenced 2009. Passed with minor amendments, Nov 2013.

Cally Richardson. Self-awareness following TBI. D Psych Commenced 2009. Main supervisor. Submmitted Dec 2013. Passed with minor amendments, March 2014.

Jane Dahm. The contribution of head injury to psychological outcome following trauma – A comparison of TBI and orthopaedic outcomes. D Psych Commenced 2009. Passed with minor amendments February 2015.

Tijana Mihaljcic. Falls awareness in the elderly. DPsych Commenced 2010. Passed with minor amendments, December 2014.

Pamela Ross. Return to driving following traumatic brain injury. PhD Commenced 2011. Passed with amendments, January 2017.

Natalie Grima. Efficacy of melatonin for sleep disturbance following traumatic brain injury.  DPsych Commenced, 2011, Passed with no amendments, August, 2015.

Alicia Dymowski. Alleviating attentional disturbances following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2011. Passed with minor Amendments, November 2015.

James Gooden. Awareness and driving following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2011. Passed with minor amendments, September, 2015.

Lingani Mbakile. The experience of families of those with brain injury in Botswana. D Psych Commenced 2008. Main supervisor. Submitted September 2015. Passed with minor amendments January 2016.

Yvette Alway. Impact of relatives’ expressed emotion on anxiety and depression following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2011. Joint main supervisor. Submitted November 2015. Passed with minor amendments, April, 2016.

Coco Bernard. Assessment of postconcussional symptoms in children following mild TBI. DPsych Commenced 2012. Main supervisor. Submitted September 2016. Passed with minor amendments December 2016.

Jacqueline Owens. Imaging correlates of attention and response to methylphenidate following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2012.Associate supervisor. Submitted November 2016. Passed with minor amendments, February 2017.

Sylvia Nguyen. Cognitive-behaviour therapy for fatigue and sleep disturbance following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2012. Main supervisor. Submitted January 2017. Passed with minor amendments, April, 2017.

Celia Pais. Positive growth following traumatic brain injury. DPsych Commenced 2013. Main  supervisor. Submitted March 2017. Passed with minor amendments, May 2017.

Jessica Trevena-Peters. Efficacy of early therapy for patients in post-traumatic amnesia. DPsych Commenced 2013.Joint supervisor. Passed with minor amendments, September 2017.

Caroline Roberts. Recovery from post-traumatic amnesia.  DPsych. Thesis. Commenced 2014. Main Supervisor. Submitted December 2017.

Toni Witheil. Rehabilitation of cognitive impairments following stroke. DPsych. Thesis. Commenced 2014. Submitted December 2017. Passed with minor amendments, July 2018.

Leah Zelencich. The influence of therapeutic process on response to cognitive behaviour therapy following traumatic brain injury. D. Psych thesis. Department of Psychology, Monash University. Commenced 2015, conferred 2019.

Shayden Bryce. Efficacy of Cognitive retraining in individuals with Schizophrenia. D. Psych thesis. Department of Psychology, Monash University. Commenced 2014, conferred 2018.

Kristina Haebich. Executive dysfunction and brain development in very preterm 13 year olds – a longitudinal follow-up study. D. Psych thesis. Department of Psychology, Monash University. Commenced 2014, conferred 2018.

Dion Rudzki. Impact of Apolipoprotein E polymorphism on cognitive function and outcome after traumatic brain injury.  D. Psych thesis.  Department of Psychology, Monash University.  Commenced 1998. Submitted May 2004 and passed with minor amendments September, 2004.

Diane Steele. Sleep disorders associated with traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2000. Submitted November 2004. Passed with no amendments February 2005.

Carlo Ziino. Fatigue following traumatic brain injury. DPsych thesis. Commenced 2000. Passed with no amendments, October 2005.