Meet the team
Meet the THRIVE team
Our vision is to ensure that all Monash students, wherever they are based, have access to state-of-the-art, evidence-based resources, both online and on-campus. These resources will promote and sustain their mental health and wellbeing and make them feel part of a thriving and inclusive Monash community.
THRIVE Turner Team
Professor Kim Cornish
Professor Kim Cornish is the Director of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. She is the co-lead of the THRIVE initiative working closely with students and staff from across all Monash campuses.
Melinda McCabe
Melinda is the Project Team Lead and co-lead of Monash THRIVE. Melinda oversees the development of THRIVE resources and all THRIVE related research with a core focus on better understanding how to best support Monash students and promote help seeking.
Dr Laura Bird
Dr Laura Bird is a clinician and postdoctoral researcher in Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience and provides her expertise to the THRIVE team to create resources for students.
THRIVE Content & Platform Developers
Gagan Khara
Gagan is the Senior Mobile Developer with Monash THRIVE and built our tailored, evidence based and co-designed wellbeing phone app, the Monash Thrive app.
Sanket (Sunny) Singh
Sanket is the Lead Product Designer with the THRIVE team. Sanket ensures that everything designed by the team is built with a focus on the user, providing engaging and easy to use platforms for our Monash community.
Nicole Nguyen
Throughout 2021 and 2022 Nicole worked with the THRIVE team to develop accessible and evidence-based resources to promote mental health literacy, awareness, and promotion. Nicole
Dr Chunlei Chang
Dr Chunlei Chang is the back-end and software engineer with the THRIVE team. Chunlei's work ensures all Monash tools are secure and working well so all our users can engage with our tools with confidence.
Isabelle Smart
Isabelle began with Monash THRIVE as an intern, then honours student, and now a Research Services Officer working on creating resources and engaging with our student community.
Jacinta Zakhari
Jacinta worked with Monash THRIVE from 2021 to 2022, beginning her role with THRIVE organising and running focus groups with early career researchers to build wellbeing tools and working with THRIVE in 2022 as a content developer and writer
THRIVE Student Core Team
Skye Bailes
Skye began as an intern with Monash THRIVE and completed her honours project focusing on student help seeking intentions in 2023.
Chang Liu
Chang is a PhD student at Monash who has worked with the Monash THRIVE team from 2020 to 2022 and published THRIVE findings on student wellbeing, making it accessible to the wider community and research communities.
Sebastian Kellett-Renzella
Sebastian began with the Monash THRIVE team as an intern, then completed honours with the team focusing on digital tools in preventative mental health. Sebastian the worked with the THRIVE team in 2022 to assist in the co-design of resources for our Monash Higher Degree by Research students.
Nardin Gerges
Nardin began as a student intern then continuing to complete her honours project in 2022 with the THRIVE team. Nardin has been a part of research, resource development, and community engagement.
Verity Petratos
Verity was part of the THRIVE team in 2021 and early 2022 to assist in the co-design and user focused development of resources for our early career researchers at Monash.
Christopher Yeow
Christopher is a third year psychology students at Monash who is assisting with exploring some of the Monash wellbeing research findings and potential development of THRIVE resources in Malaysia.
Student Group Collaborators
MSA and MSA Welfare
MSA Welfare focuses on protecting and enhancing the welfare services available to all students. They work with THRIVE to make resources that promote student understanding of mental health and wellbeing. Find these resources on their socials @msa.welfare.
Monash University International Student Services (MUISS)
MUISS advocates for the interests, rights, social and welfare of all international students. They collaborate with THRIVE to put out events, infographics and podcasts about mental health. See these at @muiss.monash on Instagram or Facebook.
Monash Graduate Association
The Monash Graduate Association (MGA) is an independent representative body dedicated to supporting our Monash Graduate students. The MGA is governed by students, for students.
Monash Health & Wellbeing Partners
Andrew Marks
Andrew is a registered psychologist and the Director of the Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Monash. Andrew provides invaluable support in creating detailed and clinically accurate resources to help students identify where and how they can seek help.
Dr Vicki Ashton
Vicki is a specialist occupational physician and the former Monash Chief Medical Officer. Vicki has provided invaluable support and advice to the THRIVE team throughout the development of our surveys and resources for both students and staff.
Vlad Prpich
Vlad is the executive director of Campus Community Division at Monash University. Vlad was crucial to the development and creation of the THRIVE team and continues to provide support to the team in every endeavour.
Brett Lavale
Brett is the Director of Monash Sport and has been working very closely with the THRIVE team and Student groups throughout the University to provide his expertise and support for all things physical health. Brett has also been critical in the development of THRIVE resources focusing on the relationship between physical health and wellbeing.
Shirley Yee
Shirley is an accredited practicing Dietitian working with THRIVE to assist in the development of resources and activities for students to promote healthy diet and lifestyles. Shirley has also been working with THRIVE to explore the relationship between diet and wellbeing.
Trisha Prpich
Trisha is the Director of the Monash Residential Services. Trisha has been, and remains to be, pivotal in assisting THRIVE in reaching international students and residential students, both in our research and in our resource co-development and dissemination.