PhD students
Current Students
Tiana Thorne
Tiana is a proud Gamilaraay and Kuku Yalanji woman living in Townsville. Tiana has completed a Bachelor of Exercise Physiology (Clinical) Honours at JCU and is undertaking a PhD at JCU through CSIRO’s Research Fellowship Indigenous Graduate Program. The project aims to explore cardiovascular disease (CVD) experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in North Queensland. This project will integrate into existing CVD projects and build on relationships with Mulungu, Wuchopperen and Apunipima Community Controlled Health Services.
Melissa Kilburn
Melissa is a clinical dietitian living in Cairns. Melissa completed a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Hons Class I) at QUT and is undertaking a PhD at JCU within the Healthy Ageing Research Team (HART), supported by CSIRO’s PhD Top-up scholarship. The PhD project aims to develop and validate for use, diet and physical activity web-based e-tools for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living within the Torres Strait region of Far North Queensland. The tools have been developed with comprehensive community consultation and collaboration with Torres Strait Islander co-researchers, are delivered in local language and provide point-of-care feedback based on national healthy living guidelines. These tools will support primary health care clinicians in the region to provide tailored and culturally relevant healthy lifestyle advice for community members. Melissa has completed her Confirmation of Candidature and data collection is currently underway for the validation phase of the project.
Past Students
Andrew is an Aboriginal man from Iningai Country in Central West of Queensland. Prior to his PhD journey (commenced in 2019) Andrew spent more than 14 years as an Indigenous Healthcare Worker in Queensland alongside rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the discipline of cardiac and healthcare services. His PhD (co-hosted by AEHRC and The University of Queensland, 2023) was a strengths-based exploration and assessment of mobile health (mHealth) for the management of hypertension within an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare setting. Andrew’s current research seeks to explore novel approaches and/or solutions to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health and wellbeing using electronic health (eHealth). These solutions may offer an opportunity to challenge the health disparities within Australia and Andrew loves that his research is driven by partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations.
Dr Georgina Chelberg
Georgina’s PhD established the need for a best practice framework to guide future research and development of digital health with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including persons living with dementia. Georgina has led the process of research phases to develop the framework in collaboration with the eHealth Research Collaboration for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health. In her time with the Indigenous Health Team, Georgina coordinated digital health projects and partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations.