Winter research projects

Supervisor A/Prof Stephen Wilson

Aphasia (loss of language) is one of the most common and debilitating consequences of stroke. Fortunately, most individuals with aphasia experience some degree of recovery over time. However, there is great variability in terms of the extent of recovery. The overall goals of this project are (1) to describe the nature of recovery from aphasia in the first year after stroke; (2) to identify neuroimaging, behavioral, and patient-related predictors of recovery; and (3) to characterize the neural correlates of recovery using functional and structural imaging. The winter research project will focus on one part of this larger program. Specifically, the scholar(s) will be tasked with editing audiovisual recordings of individuals with post-stroke aphasia completing speech and language evaluations. The purpose of the editing is so that these data can be shared. The scholar(s) will also have the opportunity to join lab meetings in which the evaluations are reviewed and discussed.

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Supervisor Dr Kyla Hudson 

This research project involves the experience based co-design and evaluation of a web-based communication training program for the Australian aged care workforce (personal care workers and nurses). The student will be involved in development of co-design workshop materials and should have an interest in qualitative research methodologies.

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Supervisor Dr Tomomi McAuliffe

This project aims to investigate the experiences of parents of children with disability or chronic illness in accessing mental health services. The winter scholarship student will contribute to the project by being involved in the research process, including extensive literature review, data collection and analysis, and drafting of the introduction section of a manuscript with guidance.

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Supervisor Dr Jade Dignam

This NHMRC funded project involves the clinical implementation and evaluation of the Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) program in six health services across Australia. The project seeks to evaluate the barriers and facilitators to implementing CHAT and the clinical effectiveness of CHAT when delivered within a clinical health service. 

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Supervisor Dr Jennifer Lee

This research project aims to work together with people with aphasia, family members or significant others, and health professionals working with people with aphasia to co-design (1) a web-browser extension to improve web accessibility, (2) training guides for customising the web-browser extension, and (3) guidelines for designing and creating communication-accessible websites. 

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Supervisor Dr Zhiqi Liang

This project examines self-reported triggers of migraine and neck pain to identify any relationships between triggers and clinical assessment findings. 

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Supervisor Dr Rebecca Armstrong

This research project involves exploring the legal vocabulary knowledge of adolescents by examining: i) typically developing adolescents’ knowledge of legal concepts and ii) how this compares to young people who have offended. The winter scholar will assist with the recruitment and tool development for this project.

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Supervisor Dr Michelle King

This Winter Research Project will contribute to Beyond Words. Beyond Words explores decision-making and capacity in law and in practice for people using aged care in Australia who have substitute decision-makers appointed. People who are considered to be unable to make legally recognised decisions – to lack legal ‘capacity’ - are among the most invisible and disadvantaged groups within the aged care population. This is particularly the case when people have a substitute decision-maker, and even more so where a publicly appointed decision-maker is assigned (such as a Public Guardian). It is also not clear how the new Aged Care Act and its focus on supported decision-making will interact with existing State-based (substituted) decision-making regimes. This project will assist with development of a national Roundtable with key stakeholders (including people with lived and living experience) about these issues. The Roundtable aims to build consensus about key issues and for people with substituted decision-makers under the new Aged Care Act using a World café method. The Winter Research student will assist with review of regulation and/or literature on decision-making, aged care, and similar issues; preparing material and assisting with developing the Roundtable; and other assistance such as analysis of qualitative interview data related to decision-making.   

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Supervisor Dr Brooke Coombes and  Dr Viana Vuvan

The current study are to apply the clinical grading system to identify possible and probable cases of nocicplastic pain from a previously collected dataset of patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy. 

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Supervisor Dr Katrina Williams

The research project involves assessing and evaluating test retest reliability of virtual reality goggles used to capture oculomotor and vestibular function. 

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Supervisor Dr Georgina Clutterbuck

The winter scholar will explore how sport and physical activity impact children with disabilities through hands-on research. They’ll analyse interviews, review evidence, and contribute to real-world projects on swimming, dance, and inclusive research. It’s a chance to develop research skills while making a difference in disability sport and physical literacy!

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Supervisor Dr Katelyn Melvin

This research project involves conducting a literature review to understand the role of social determinants and protective factors in supporting early communication development for Australian children. Winter Scholars will gain skills in systematic database searching, research design and research presentation.

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Supervisor Dr Mehwish Nisar

This project examines training programs for spoken language interpreters in healthcare, addressing their availability, core competencies, outcomes, and existing gaps. Through a systematic review, relevant literature will be analyzed for quality and relevance. Findings will provide insights into best practices, improvements, and strategies to enhance interpreter training and patient communication.

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Supervisor Dr Caitlin Hamilton

This research project aims to understand the experience of adults who have had a concussion. This includes contributing within a team to a review of the literature and qualitative research that aims to understand the experiences of returning to usual activities and healthcare received.

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Supervisor Dr Adriana Penman

The research project involves the development of best practice guidelines for feedback literacy in simulation. Data analysis of interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders including students, educators and simulated patients will assist in generating what processes are required to support learning within a simulation environment.  

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