Meet Our Graduate Research Students
Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences is committed to the pursuit of research excellence, innovation and leadership to improve health, social outcomes and health inequalities across the world. The Faculty has over 1300 PhD students who conduct research in a diverse range of discipline areas.
A Day in My Life: PhD at Monash
What's it like to work on a PhD at Monash University? Follow a day in the life of our PhD student and find out.
Past and Present Students
Meet our graduate research students and hear about their PhD journey and achievements.
Jonathan Foo
PhD Candidate, Department of Physiotherapy
"My supervisors care about me as a person, not as a research student, and make every effort to set me up for my career after graduation."
Amanda Vrselja
PhD Candidate, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
"I choose to study at Monash as I enjoyed the culture and the environment that Monash cultivates."
Jocasta Ball
PhD Graduate (2014), Department of Epidemiology & Preventative Medicine
NHMRC/National Heart Foundation of Australia Early Career Fellowship award recipient.
Steven Roche
PhD Candidate, Department of Social Work
"I chose Monash based on the reputation of my supervisors and their commitment to educating graduate research students, as well as their enthusiasm for my research topic."
Sarah Cresp
PhD Candidate, Monash Nursing & Midwifery
"I noticed Monash University was making cutting edge research and education innovation in nursing and midwifery. So, I returned to Monash University with 10 years of clinical experience to explore much-needed human research in aged care."
Ala’a Oteir
PhD Graduate (2017), Department of Paramedicine
The very first paramedic in Jordan to obtain a PhD.
Matthew Snelson
PhD Graduate (2019), Monash Central Clinical School
"I'm now conducting a clinical trial looking at prebiotics in patients with diabetic kidney disease. This work builds on my PhD and is a way to translate the fundamental research findings I made during my studies into meaningful outcomes for patients."
Benjamin Meadley
PhD Candidate, Department of Community Emergency Health & Paramedics
"The Monash Doctoral Program has given me an insight to research that I couldn’t have imagined. I’ve acquired skills in biochemistry, applied physiology, epidemiology, statistics, logistics and finance to name a few...the PhD program has expanded my horizons enormously..."
Celia Vandestadt
PhD Candidate, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute
"My goal is to find out how zebrafish regenerate their spinal cord and one day apply this to humans."
Penelope Casey
PhD Candidate, Eastern Health Clinical School
"Monash provides future planning beyond my PhD and runs fantastic free continuing professional development workshops which have been amazing for a novice researcher to develop skills and expertise in research practices."
Jayashri Kulkarni
PhD Graduate (2017), Department of Psychiatry
Jayashri’s relationship with the University has endured, and in her current positions as Professor of Psychiatry (Monash University and Alfred Health) and Director, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, she now plays a role in mentoring curious young minds.
Kushan De Silva
PhD Candidate, Department of General Practice
"My research will ultimately produce a prototype that will guide the development of an AI-based clinical decision support system for major chronic disease diagnosis and facilitate planning of their prevention and management in Australia."
Louise Allen
PhD Candidate, Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences Education Portfolio
"My supervisors have been phenomenal. Not only do they provide input on my PhD research but they support me to attend conferences and courses, promote my research to others and give me opportunities to extend my skills outside my PhD research."
Shoeib Moradi
PhD Graduate (2017), Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
He was eager to explore protein X-ray crystallography and was drawn to the world renowned lab at Monash University with Professor Jamie Rossjohn.
Jordan Kane
PhD Graduate (2014), Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Jordan was drawn to study biomedical sciences at Monash because of its reputation as a global leader in human embryonic stem cell research - an exciting new frontier in ethics, medicine commercialisation and biological discovery.
Akram Mahmoud El-Abd Asbeutah
PhD Graduate (2010), Department of Medicine
Akram’s PhD at Monash allowed him to further his academic and research career at Kuwait University. He commenced there in 2002 with his role as Clinical Senior Lecturer and is now Associate Professor in the Department of Radiologic Sciences.
Pallavi Prathivadi
PhD Candidate, Department of General Practice
"Like most people, I perform best when I am happy, confident and well supported, and that’s the exact culture at Monash."