Kym McCormick

Kym McCormick

Postdoctorate Researcher

Adelaide Dental School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

With a foundational background in behavior modeling and eyewitness identification, my research bridges psychological modeling techniques and public health. Initially trained in developing mathematical models for eyewitness identification decisions, I transitioned to oral health research to address pressing gaps in understanding and diagnosing periodontitis. My work focuses on applying advanced modeling techniques to track disease progression at a granular, tooth-specific level. By leveraging predictive machine learning and spatial network models, I aim to improve the precision of periodontitis diagnostics and risk prediction, moving toward a more individualized approach to oral health.

My experience in behavior modeling informs my approach to understanding complex disease patterns, particularly where patient behavior, health outcomes, and environmental factors intersect. This interdisciplinary perspective supports my goal of refining diagnostic tools within oral health and developing more representative population health models. My research is expanding to explore the links between periodontitis and broader systemic conditions, including its potential role in cognitive decline and other chronic diseases. By integrating insights from oral health, epidemiology, and machine learning, I aim to contribute to innovative, interdisciplinary solutions that improve long-term patient outcomes.

In addition to my work in oral health, I have a separate research focus on Cultural Safety Education. I collaborate with Aboriginal researchers to evaluate and refine cultural safety programs within healthcare and dental education. This work aims to enhance the effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching and healthcare practices, ensuring that training programs are equitable, evidence-based, and meaningful to the communities they serve. My background as a program evaluator at KPMG Health and Human Services strengthens my ability to assess and improve these initiatives, applying rigorous evaluation methods to support better health and educational outcomes.

Across all aspects of my research, I am committed to applying data-driven, innovative approaches to solve real-world health challenges, whether through advancing oral health diagnostics or enhancing cultural safety in healthcare education.

Research Interests
My research focuses on advancing the understanding and classification of periodontitis through innovative modeling techniques, with an emphasis on tooth-level analysis for more accurate measurement of disease progression. I aim to address critical gaps in diagnostic standardization within oral health. Currently, I am developing predictive models for tooth loss and periodontitis spread using machine learning, with a particular focus on spatial models and network analysis to inform individualized care strategies.

Before obtaining my PhD, I worked as a program evaluator at KPMG Health and Human Services, where I contributed to the assessment and improvement of public health initiatives, including the Indigenous Chronic Disease Package. More recently, I have been involved in Cultural Safety Education in collaboration with Aboriginal researchers, supporting the evaluation of educational programs that promote culturally safe practices in healthcare and dental education.

Future Directions
Ongoing projects are directed toward enhancing risk estimation in periodontitis, integrating diverse oral health data sources, and advancing personalized oral health strategies. My collaborative interests include applying machine learning within epidemiological studies to drive precision in public health applications and ultimately improve patient outcomes in the field of oral health. Additionally, I am expanding my work in Cultural Safety Education to evaluate and refine initiatives aimed at fostering more inclusive and equitable healthcare environments.

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Santiago, P. H. R., Smithers, L., Townsend, M., Quintero, A., Sawyer, A., Soares, G., . . . Jamieson, L. (2025). The Longitudinal Network of Peer Problems and Emotional Symptoms Among Australian Adolescents: Bayesian Structure Learning of Directed Acyclic Graphs. Developmental Psychology, 17 pages.
    DOI
    2024 McCormick, K. M., Ribeiro Santiago, P. H., & Jamieson, L. (2024). The impact of COVID-19 on the oral health self-care practices of Australian adults. Journal of Public Health (Germany), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus1
    2023 McCormick, K. M., Sethi, S., Haag, D., Macedo, D., Hedges, J., Quintero, A., . . . Santiago, P. H. R. (2023). Development and validation of the COVID-19 Impact Scale in Australia (07 sept, 10.1080/03007995.2023.2247323, 2023). CURRENT MEDICAL RESEARCH AND OPINION, 39(10), I.
    DOI
    2023 McCormick, K. M., & Semmler, C. (2023). Letting go of the Grail: Falsifying the theory of ‘true’ eyewitness identifications.
    DOI
    2023 McCormick, K. M., Sethi, S., Haag, D., Macedo, D. M., Hedges, J., Quintero, A., . . . Ribeiro Santiago, P. H. (2023). Development and validation of the COVID-19 Impact Scale in Australia. Current Medical Research and Opinion, 39(10), 1341-1354.
    DOI Scopus1
    2022 McCormick, K. M. (2022). Comments on the use of mathematical models in eyewitness identification research.
    DOI

  • Conference Items
    Year Citation
    2024 McCormick, K., Ribeiro Santiago, P. H., & Jamieson, L. (2024). COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the oral health self-care practices of Australian adults. Poster session presented at the meeting of International Association of Dental Research. New Oreleans.
    2020 McCormick, K. M., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. (2020). Is eyewitness memory continuous or ‘all-or-none’?. Poster session presented at the meeting of OSF Meetings: SARMAC 2019. Cape Cod, MA: OSF.
    2019 McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. C. (2019). Using the rank order task to estimate discriminability in eyewitness identification. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australasian Mathematical Psychology Conference. Melbourne, Australia.
    2018 McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. C. (2018). How model testing can facilitate improvements to the performance of diagnostic procedures. Poster session presented at the meeting of Florey Postgraduate Research Conference. National Wine Centre of Australia.
    2018 McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. (2018). Eyewitness Identification: a test of continous and discrete state accounts. Poster session presented at the meeting of Psychonomics International, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Abstract book. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

  • Theses
    Year Citation
    2022 McCormick, K. (2022). Developing a Strong(er) Theory of Eyewitness Memory: The Selection, Verification, and Application of Mathematical Models of Identification Decisions. (PhD Thesis, University of Adelaide).

  • Preprint
    Year Citation
    2025 McCormick, K. M., Nath, S., & Mejia, G. (2025). Critically Reassessing Periodontitis Measurement: Bridging Clinical Rigor and Public Health Feasibility.
    DOI
    2024 Santiago, P. H. R., Smithers, L. G., Townsend, M., Quintero, A., Sawyer, A., Soares, G. H., . . . Jamieson, L. (2024). The longitudinal network of peer problems and emotional symptoms among Australian adolescents: Bayesian structure learning of directed acyclic graphs.
    DOI
    2023 McCormick, K. M., Sethi, S., Haag, D. G., Macedo, D. M., Hedges, J., Quintero, A., . . . Santiago, P. H. R. (2023). Development and validation of the COVID-19 Impact Scale in Australia.
    DOI
    2023 Santiago, P. H. R., Soares, G. H., McCormick, K. M., Gregory, T., Sawyer, A., Smithers, L. G., & Jamieson, L. (2023). The longitudinal network structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: insights from a national Australian study.
    DOI
    2023 McCormick, K. M., Santiago, P. H. R., Sethi, S., Zimet, G., Jamieson, L., & Hedges, J. (2023). Network psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians: a hierarchical Exploratory Graph Analysis.
    DOI
    2022 McCormick, K. M. (2022). Competing theories of eyewitness identification.
    DOI

I have considerable experience in undergraduate psychology education, having worked as a tutor and R support officer at the University of Adelaide’s School of Psychology. From 2019 to 2022, I tutored across a range of foundational and advanced courses, including Introduction to Psychology, Foundations of Perception and Cognition, and Foundations of Life and Health Development, as well as research-focused courses such as Doing Research in Psychology, Doing Research in Psychology – Advanced, and the Honours-level Psychology Research Project Part 1. In these roles, I facilitated interactive tutorials, guided student discussions, and provided individualized support to enhance students’ understanding of psychological concepts, research methods, and data analysis.

In addition to tutoring, I worked as an R Support Officer from 2019 to 2020, offering technical guidance and practical assistance to students and teaching staff in R and RStudio for statistical analysis and data visualization. I supported students across all levels of study, helping them navigate data science applications in psychology, troubleshoot analytical challenges, and develop confidence in quantitative research methods.

Through these experiences, I have developed strong skills in student engagement, research mentoring, and technical support, helping students bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and applied research skills.

  • Position: Postdoctorate Researcher
  • Phone: 83133442
  • Email: kym.mccormick@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: 44-60 Rundle Mall - Rundle Mall Plaza, floor Level Four
  • Org Unit: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health
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