Researcher Profiles

I am currently undergoing my PhD candidature with the School of Psychology, at the University of Adelaide. My supervisors are Dr Carolyn Semmler and Dr Rebecca Heyer.

My research concerns the intersection of forensic evidence, cognitive bias, and juror decision making. The aims of my current research are to contribute to the currently limited understanding of how jurors process information and make decisions, and how a greater understanding of this may be used to empower jurors to make more reliable and informed decisions when rendering verdicts in criminal trials.

My major research interests are in the study of the occurrence of oral diseases in children, principally dental caries and dental enamel defects, and undertaking studies to try and improve the oral health of children.

My research interests focus on two areas. The first area is the evaluation of programs aimed at promoting health and subjective well-being, as well as the investigation of interventions and policies capable of reducing health inequities inside communities and health systems. The second area is the measurement of human behavior through psychometrics and psychological testing.

AWARDS

CAPES Social Demand Scholarship (Aug 2015 - 2017)

CONFERENCES PRESENTATIONS

Dandara is a research associate at the BetterStart group. She has a Bachelor in Dentistry and her PhD work evaluated the impact of general and oral health conditions on individuals' quality of life. Over the last three years she has been involved in different research projects, analysing large datasets from population-based health studies (cross-sectional and cohort studies). Dandara is working with the BetterStart group on various projects involving epidemiological analysis of de-identified datasets.

Courtney Moore is a PhD Candidate with the Prostate Cancer Research Group at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on hormone action in prostate cancer, with a particular interest in vesicular trafficking and how this regulates hormone signalling.

Dr Emma Thornton is a post-doctoral researcher in the Translational Neuropathology Laboratory within the School of Medicine at the University of Adelaide. Her research interests include acute and chronic brain injuries, and as such supervises both PhD and Honours students undertaking projects in neurodegenerative diseases, traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumours. Currently, Emma also works as a scientific advisor to a small drug company where she is involved in facilitating a novel drug for traumatic brain injury through phase I clinical trials.

KP.

Professor (Alexander) Sandy McFarlane AO
Director CTSS
MBBS (Hons), MD, Dip. Psychother, FRANZCP

Currently the Director of The University of Adelaide's Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor McFarlane's area of particular specialty has been the effects of traumatic stress and is an international expert in the field of the impact of disasters and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

My research aim is to further develop our understanding of how the brain forms and functions. My research is facilitated by investigating the control of neuro-development by a range of molecular processes (transcriptional, epigenetic and post-translational) in several systems, including patient derived iPS cells.

A further interest is the molecular basis of learning and memory, particularly in post-mitotic neurons.

Ornella is a Research Officer in the Bone and Joint Laboratory, Adelaide Medical School. Her research focuses on investigating the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) treatment on bone loss and inflammation associated with chronic bone diseases, such as Periodontitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.