QARC People
Professor David Copland, Director
David is a Speech Pathologist and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. David’s research seeks to improve outcomes for people with aphasia through the development of new assessments and treatments and identifying better predictors of recovery and treatment response. His research also aims to improve aphasia management through testing principles of neuroplasticity and understanding the neurobiological basis of language recovery and treatment using neuroimaging.
David received the inaugural NHMRC Research Excellence Award as Australia’s top-ranked NHMRC Clinical Career Development Fellow. He currently leads three NHMRC trials on aphasia recovery and is Co-Director of the NHMRC Aphasia CRE where he leads the Neurobiological and Psychosocial Predictors of the Recovery Program. David and Emerita Professor Linda Worrall developed the Aphasia LIFT program that is the basis for the new CHAT program which is a key priority of QARC.
Dr Sarah Wallace, Postdoctoral Researcher
Sarah is a Speech Pathologist and National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Research Fellow. Sarah’s research themes include: (1) Enabling meaningful change through an understanding of the patient perspective, and development and evaluation of interventions which seek to produce meaningful outcomes for people living with aphasia; and (2) Measuring meaningful outcomes and improving outcome measurement methods and practices in research and clinical settings.
Within QARC, Sarah leads research to develop a minimum dataset for aphasia services, the co-design of the QARC, and the implementation of the CommuniCATE program.
Dr Sonia Brownsett – Postdoctoral researcher
Sonia is a Speech Pathologist and Neuroscience researcher. Sonia has worked across hyperacute, acute and rehabilitation services in the UK’s National Health Service. She completed her PhD at Imperial College London where she investigated the contribution of cognitive brain networks to language recovery after stroke. As a postdoctoral fellow at UCL, she co-developed, alongside people with aphasia, ListenIn, an evidence-based therapy app that uses gamification techniques to deliver a high dose.
Her current research interests include the neurobiology of language and language recovery, the dose of aphasia rehabilitation, the use of neuromodulation techniques to support language recovery. Sonia’s research includes people with all types of aphasia and currently focuses on language difficulties after stroke, epilepsy, and brain tumours. Sonia is currently leading the neurobiological predictors project within QARC.
Dr Jade Dignam, Postdoctoral Researcher
Jade is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist who graduated from Speech Pathology at UQ in 2008. She has worked clinically across acute and rehabilitation health services in Queensland and New South Wales. Jade completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2016 and her research investigated the efficacy of an intensive, comprehensive aphasia program. Her research interests include intensity and dose of aphasia rehabilitation, comprehensive aphasia therapy programs and cognition and aphasia rehabilitation. Jade enjoys conducting clinically-based research with meaningful outcomes for people with aphasia and speech pathologists. Jade is currently leading a feasibility study for the implementation of the Comprehensive High-Dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) program.
Dr Ciara Shiggins – Postdoctoral researcher
Ciara is a speech pathologist and post-doctoral research fellow. She is an affiliate of the Centre of Research Excellence in Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation and holds an Honorary Fellowship with the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK. Her overarching research aim is to address and optimise the inclusion of people with aphasia across stroke rehabilitation and research to enhance their well-being.
She currently leads a programme of research that aims to reverse the exclusion of people with aphasia from stroke research and leads the stakeholder involvement at QARC. She has published in the areas of Conversation Partner Training, Patient and Public Involvement (Consumer and Community Involvement), mood and well-being, inclusion, access, and ethics. Ciara has extensive experience conducting research collaboratively with people with lived experience of stroke, including those with aphasia, and won a UEA Engagement Award for this work in 2018, and a University of Queensland Consumer and Community Involvement award in 2022, as part of the QARC team. She has developed training on the topics of involvement, accessibility and inclusion for peak bodies and charities, including the Australian Stroke Foundation, and is an executive board member of the Australian Aphasia Association.
Dr Kirstine Shrubsole, Postdoctoral Researcher
Kirstine is a speech pathologist with a specific clinical and research focus on post-stroke aphasia and improving implementation of evidence-based practice. She completed her PhD at The University of Queensland in 2018 and was awarded an Early Career Seed Grant by the Stroke Foundation in 2020. Kirstine has collaborated with the Stroke Foundation on implementation priorities for stroke services on a national level, and has an interest in consumer-informed research. Within QARC, Kirstine is involved with the Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) implementation project and the minimum dataset project.
Dr Annie Hill, Postdoctoral Researcher
Annie is a senior researcher with the CRE in Aphasia Rehabilitation and Recovery and is a founding member of the Centre for Research in Telerehabilitation at The University of Queensland. She has extensive experience in the application of telerehabilitation to speech pathology and is the foremost aphasia telerehabilitation researcher. Annie is currently spearheading research into the use of telerehabilitation for intensive comprehensive aphasia programs, asynchronous platforms for speech pathology and technology-enabled self-management of aphasia.
Annie is leading the development, implementation and evaluation of the TeleCHAT program in QARC.
Dr Marie-Pier McSween, Postdoctoral Researcher
Marie is a post-doctoral research fellow and certified practicing speech pathologist from Canada. Her research interests include novel word learning across the lifespan and post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation. To date, Marie's research has focused on examining the acute effects of exercise, the influence of white noise and dopamine modulation (using Levodopa) on new word learning in healthy adults using neuroimaging. Currently, Marie is a post-doctoral research fellow on a NHMRC funded study examining current speech pathology clinical practices in post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation and evaluating the implementation of the Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) program.
Dr Megan Isaacs – postdoctoral researcher
Megan is a post-doctoral research fellow who graduated with a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours Class I with University Medal) from the University of Queensland in 2012. Megan’s PhD was awarded in 2017, and explored the neural substrates of language processing in Parkinson’s disease using a combination of behavioural tasks and fMRI. She has supported multiple projects within the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and Southern Cross University in the capacity of research officer / assistant, including exercise-enhanced language learning in health ageing, technology-enhanced treatment for aphasia in student clinics (CommuniCATE), clinical implementation of Communication Partner Training for aphasia, and development of minimum reporting standards for aphasia research (DESCRIBE). Megan is currently a post-doctoral research fellow on an MRFF-funded study that aims to develop a novel smartphone application to allow people with aphasia to self-manage their communication therapy (LifeCHAT).
Dr Peter Worthy – Postdoctoral researcher
Peter is an interaction designer with a specific focus on the design of technology using human-centred and co-design approaches. Peter worked as a lawyer for over 15 years before completing a Master of Interaction Design at UQ. His PhD research looked at the socio-technical nature of internet of things technology (such as smart homes) and methods to understand how the design of that technology relates to human values. Recently, Peter has been working on the Florence Project funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. The Florence Project worked with people living with dementia to design technology to support communication needs. His research interests include the design of technology to better meet people’s needs and expectations as well as working with co-design methodologies to support technology design. Peter is involved in the LifeCHAT project focused on the design of the technology to support LifeCHAT.
Dr Zheng Yen Ng, Postdoctoral Researcher
Zheng is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at QARC, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland. He previously worked in the United Kingdom as Research Coordinator and supported family social events at a charity for people with hearing loss. His PhD research investigated family-centred care in healthcare services for families of young children with hearing loss and diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Within the QARC team, Zheng conducts research on care and experiences of people living with aphasia and people living with dementia. He aims to support individuals and families navigating healthcare services, particularly culturally diverse communities, through evidence-based qualitative research and resource development.
Michelle King, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Michelle is a sociologist and lawyer: her research focuses on decision-making and the operation of law and regulation in practice for people with disabilities and other impairments to communication and legal capacity. Her work examines decision-making in practice in a range of areas, including health and aged care, banking and finance, income support, voting, and the NDIS.
At QARC, Michelle works on the Better Conversations about Care project, coordinating the lived experience and co-design of the research. Michelle is also a health consumer and disability advocate, with experience in strategic policy development, implementation, and evaluation, including the co-design of Queensland Health’s strategy for transition to adulthood health care, and Australia's National Living Evidence Guidelines for Covid-19 and Monkeypox.
Dr Jennifer Lee – Postdoctoral research fellow
Jen is a Research Officer. She has completed degrees in science and neuroscience from the University of Sydney, and is experienced with neuroimaging, psychology, and ageing research. Jen’s doctoral research investigated changes in music and language processing in healthy ageing adults. She has also worked on an NHMRC research trial which investigated the benefits of music listening in people with aphasia after having a stroke. In her current role with QARC, Jen will support research aiming to improve digital access for people with communication disability.
Emma Caird, Project Manager
Emma is a Speech Pathologist who completed her degree in Speech Pathology at The University of Queensland in 2006. She has worked clinically primarily within acute hospital settings in Queensland, New South Wales and the United Kingdom with clinical interests in the management of swallowing and communication disorders in acquired brain injury. Since 2013 Emma has worked at The University of Queensland supporting and managing research projects and initiatives. Emma enjoys working collaboratively with clinicians and researchers to achieve common goals and outcomes.
Margot Sexton – Admin Officer
Margot joined the QARC team in 2021 as the QARC Administrative Officer.
Margot has a varied background in allied health and research and has worked as a research assistant and administrative officer in university research centres. She is the friendly voice that will most likely greet you when you call QARC.
Hannah Wedley, Research Speech Pathologist
Hannah is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, who has completed a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours with University Medal) from the University of Queensland.
Hannah has worked clinically within health services across metropolitan and regional Queensland. She has experience in working with people with aphasia across acute, subacute and day therapy settings and is passionate about advocating for increased accessibility to services. She is interested in how rehabilitation research translates to clinical practice and has joined the QARC team as a research Speech Pathologist, to work on TeleCHAT and CHAT feasibility studies.
Pippa Evans – Research Speech Pathologist
Pippa is a Speech Pathologist, who has a Bachelor of Languages and Linguistics from Griffith University and a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney (USYD). As a new graduate, she worked as a research assistant investigating Childhood Apraxia of Speech at USYD.
More recently, Pippa has worked clinically within health services across Western Sydney and at Rockhampton Hospital. She has experience working with people with swallowing disorders, dysarthria and aphasia across acute, subacute and day therapy settings. She is passionate about educating student speech pathologists and adapting rehabilitation to suit different patients and service delivery models. She has joined the QARC team as a research Speech Pathologist to work on the AMP Project (Aphasia Recovery with Music Exposure).
Kori Ramajoo – Research Speech Pathologist
Kori is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist, with a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a Master of Speech Language Pathology, from University of Queensland.
Kori has worked clinically with swallowing and communication disorders in adults living in the community and age care across metropolitan and regional NSW and QLD. She has a passion for research and has worked as a research officer on studies investigating the neurobiological basis of language using neuroimaging in healthy and clinical populations. She has joined the QARC Aphasia Tech Hub as a research speech pathologist to work with people living with aphasia and significant others to improve their access to technology. Her role also involves providing information to clinicians on the evidence-base behind therapy programs delivered through technology devices.
Adele Coleman – B.SpPath(Hons), Certified SPA member
As a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist at Queensland Aphasia Rehabilitation Centre (QARC), Adele brings a unique blend of clinical expertise, research skills, and broad customer service experience to the team. With a Bachelor of Speech Pathology with first class Honours (Aphasia related) from the University of Queensland (2011), Adele has gained extensive experience working in Queensland community, hospital, and research settings over the past 12 years.
As a former training and development manager in a sizable private Brisbane allied health practice, Adele has also developed exceptional skills in training, mentoring, and customer service. Her diverse clinical and administrative background make her an asset to the QARC team. Adele's passion for developing improved rehabilitation treatment pathways and increased accessibility to services for people with aphasia has inspired her to join the QARC team, as a research Speech Pathologist. Her ability to appreciate the complex needs of clients with aphasia, and to communicate processes and research findings in a clear and concise manner, makes her an excellent advocate for QARC’s research participants.
Natalie Hickey – Research Speech Pathologist
Natalie is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, having graduated from The University of Sydney in 2006 with a Ba Applied Science (Speech Pathology).
Natalie has worked in Tertiary Hospital settings (both acute and subacute), community settings and private practice in NSW, VIC and QLD. She has specialised skills in working clinically in a rehabilitation setting with adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders. Natalie has previously been involved in studies with QARC investigating the feasibility of implementation of aphasia therapies into a clinical setting as a clinician.
Natalie has a passion for supporting people with aphasia by contributing to the development and implementation of evidence-based aphasia therapies and has joined the QARC team to work on the CHAT-Maintain project.
Associate Professor Tony Angwin – Head of Speech Pathology, SHRS, UQ
Anthony Angwin is a speech pathologist and associate professor in the School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland. Anthony’s research themes include: (1) understanding the brain mechanisms that underpin language processing and learning, and (2) developing technology to support communication and therapy outcomes for people living with aphasia.
Dr Sam Harvey – Postdoctoral research fellow
Sam is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow and is an affiliate researcher with the CRE Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation. Sam has over ten years’ experience working as a speech pathologist with adults who live with the consequences of brain injury. Sam’s doctoral thesis focused on the question of how the amount of treatment a person with aphasia receives affects recovery of language and communication after a stroke.
Sam is co-lead of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists dose and intensity working group, he is an Early Career Researcher representative for the International Collaborative Network of N-of-1 trials and Single-Case Designs, and is an ambassador for open science practices in speech-language pathology with CSDisseminate.
He is currently working on a number of aphasia research projects at QARC aiming to improve the consistency of care that people with aphasia receive.
Ryan Deslandes - Research assistant
Ryan is a developer whose interests are grounded in free and open source software and hardware. His interest in technology as prosthesis led to a summer research scholarship with the Florence Project. During this scholarship he worked with the Project researchers and other scholars to explore designing for people living with dementia. This culminated in developing a prototype connected-calendar for a family friend living with dementia. After this scholarship he returned to the Florence Project as a developer/research assistant helping to implement the Project's prototype knowledge system and creating various plugin applications. As part of this project he designed and built The Florence Player - a simple to use and customisable DIY music/internet radio player for people living with dementia based on free/open source components.
Ryan has a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Certificate in Creative Industries from the Queensland University of Technology and is currently finishing a Diploma in Science minoring in Computer Science.
Penni Burfein, Advanced Speech Pathologist and Team Leader (Neurorehabilitation), RBWH
Penni is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist within the Metro North Hospital and Health Service (MNHHS). She completed her degree in Speech Pathology at The University of Queensland (UQ) in 1996 and has worked across Queensland in acute hospital, rehabilitation and community roles since graduation. She has specialised in working with people who have acquired communication and swallowing disorders in a rehabilitation context and has a passion for the support and implementation of aphasia research into the clinical environment with UQ research partners. Penni is currently enrolled in a research higher degree at UQ investigating return to work following post stroke aphasia concurrently with her clinical role.
QARC PhD students
Lisa Anemaat, PhD Candidate
Lisa is a PhD candidate in speech pathology at UQ, and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist. Her PhD research is in designing user informed services for the QARC using Experience Based Co-design, and in understanding the service experiences of people with aphasia, their family and speech pathologists across Queensland.
Lisa completed a degree in nursing in 1996 and has worked in a variety of roles in Australia and internationally since that time, including 14 years for an NGO in Hunan, China. Lisa has cross cultural experience working with multinational and multidisciplinary teams. Lisa is interested in research that combines areas of public health with aphasia rehabilitation to improve the service experiences and healthcare outcomes for people with aphasia, their families and the speech pathologists involved with their care.
Genevieve Vuong, PhD Candidate
Genevieve is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and a PhD student at The University of Queensland. She was awarded a QARC PhD scholarship to look into the feasibility, usability and acceptability of delivering a comprehensive, high dose aphasia therapy via telerehabilitation (TeleCHAT). Her advisory team includes Dr Annie Hill, Dr Jade Dignam and Dr Clare Burns. Genevieve’s interest in aphasia rehabilitation research started during her UQ Summer Research Scholarship student placement in the Aphasia LIFT trials. She is passionate about building advocacy and access to best-evidence care for people with aphasia.
Claire Bennington
Claire is a remote PhD student based in Melbourne. Her PhD is exploring international stakeholder perspectives, experiences, and priorities for aphasia awareness to inform the co-design of a unified campaign. Claire’s advisory team comprises Dr Sarah Wallace, Associate Professor Jytte Isaksen, Dr Ciara Shiggins and research advisors with lived experience of aphasia Ms Emma Beesley and Mrs Kim Beesley.
Claire is a UK trained Speech Pathologist and has extensive experience working with adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders in a range of clinical settings in both the UK and Australia. She is currently the Deputy Chair of the Australian Aphasia Association having joined the board of directors in 2018 and a member of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists Working Group Societal Impact and Reintegration.
Bridget Burton
Bridget is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre. She obtained her Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Hons I) from the University of Queensland in 2018 and has experience working across both clinical and research settings.
Bridget’s PhD sits within the MRFF research project ‘Unspoken, Unheard, Unmet: Improving Access to Preventative Health Care through Better Conversations about Care.’ She is supervised by Dr Sarah Wallace, Dr Kirstine Shrubsole and Dr Michelle King. Bridget has a keen interest in health policy. Her research specialises in guideline development and service improvement through collaboration and engagement with health and aged care consumers.
Kimberley Garden
Kimberley is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and holds a degree in Neuroscience. Her PhD research uses neuroimaging to assess blood flow and neural activation patterns in stroke victims and their relationship with language recovery. By analysing the brain’s response to stroke, she intends to enhance our knowledge and understanding of neural recovery in acquired language disorders and assist speech pathologists to be able to predict how someone with aphasia may recover following a stroke. Kimberley’s other areas of research interest include neuromodulation techniques, such as TMS, to enhance aphasia treatment.
PhD topic: Investigating functional neurobiological predictors of aphasia recovery post-stroke. Supervisors: Dr Sonia Brownsett; Prof. David Copland; Prof. Katie McMahon
Sally Zingelman
Sally is a PhD student at the University of Queensland and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist. Sally’s research focuses on interpretation of outcomes from usual care data and therapy trials to demonstrate the value of aphasia treatments. Sally’s clinical and research experience relates to working with people with communication disorders. Sally additionally holds a degree in International Business and has prior experience working in the travel industry. This led to her passion for communication, working with people, and additional interests in culturally responsive and inclusive practices.
Research team
The University of Queensland:
- Professor Emerita Linda Worrall
- Dr Anthony Angwin
- Dr Emma Finch
- Dr Annie Hill (CRE Aphasia)
- Professor Katie McMahon
- Dr Rachelle Pitt
- Dr Tanya Rose
- Dr Tracy Roxbury
- Dr Brooke Ryan (CRE Aphasia)
- Dr Kirstine Shrubsole
PhD and Masters students:
- Bethany Best
- Aoife Reardon
- Veronika Vadinova
- Penni Burfein
- Pamela D'Neto
- Annette Rotherham
- Claire Bennington
- Helen Wallace
- Leana Nichol
- Charlene Watts
The Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC) Advisory Committee will provide advice regarding the development of the centre, identify priority areas and promote integration of QARC, Metro North Hospital & Health Service and wider Queensland health service operations.
Professor David Copland (Chair) – QARC Director, UQ.
Professor Emerita Linda Worrall – Chair of the Australian Aphasia Association.
Ms Andrea Abel – UQ Clinic Manager
Dr Kana Appadurai – Director of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Services, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (STARS)
Ms Lynell Bassett – Director Speech Pathology and Audiology, The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Dr Clare Burns – Research Coordinator and Advanced Speech Pathologist, The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
Mr Peter Buttrum – Executive Director, Allied Health Professions, The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Ms Brooke Cowie – Director of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals and MNHHS Speech Pathology Community of Practice Lead.
Ms Alisha Dicton – Senior Speech Pathologist, Townsville Hospital and Health Service
Professor Nadine Foster - Director, STARS Education and Research Alliance (SERA)
Ms Kate Hacking – Director of Speech Pathology, Metro North HHS Community and Oral Health.
Associate Professor Deborah Hersch – Chair of the Australian Aphasia Association Board
Ms Melissa Lawrie – Director of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Gold Coast Health.
Professor Michael O’Sullivan – Neurologist, UQCCR and Staff specialist, RBWH
Professor Miranda Rose – Director, CRE Aphasia.
Ms Kylie Short – Director of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (STARS)
Ms Kellie Stockton - Director, Allied Health, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (STARS)
Guiding vision: ‘to deliver solutions that optimise the lives of people with aphasia’.
To do this we need to:
- Know the views of people living with aphasia.
- Hear their experiences.
- Include them in forming research ideas and projects.
- Include them in decision making about QARC.
Purpose:
The purpose of the Consumer Advisory Group is to ensure that QARC works together with:
- People with aphasia
- Family members
- Friends
Aims:
The aims of the Consumer Group are to:
- Provide advice on how to develop the centre.
- Point out key areas to focus on.
- Guide research projects.
- Support interests of consumers.
- Provide advice on how to engage people with aphasia
Group make-up:
The group includes:
David Copland
Bruce Aisthorpe
Mark Ryan
Katrina Ryan
Tony Head
Jenny Wilson
Kent Druery
Julia Druery
Kate O’Brien
Kathryn Mainstone
Penelope Mainstone
Penni Burfein (Queensland Health SP representative)
The purpose of the QARC Steering Committee is to ensure the centre achieves its objectives, including integration of QARC at STARS with Metro North Hospital and Health Service.
Professor David Copland – QARC Director
Professor Nadine Foster (Chair) - STARS Education and Research Alliance Director
Helen Boocock - Executive Director, STARS
Kellie Stockton - Director, Allied Health STARS
Kylie Short - Director of Speech Pathology STARS
Professor Sandy Brauer - Head of School, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences UQ
Professor Louise Hickson - Associate Dean, External Engagement, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences UQ
Associate Professor Anthony Angwin - Head of Speech Pathology Discipline UQ