Mary Brushe

Mary Brushe

Higher Degree by Research Candidate

School of Public Health

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Mary Brushe is a PhD candidate within the University of Adelaide's School of Public Health and a Research Study Manager at Telethon Kids Institute. Mary's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying inequality during the early years, ultimately aiming to reduce inequalities and inequities. Her research interests span early childhood development and education, youth mental health, children's social and emotional wellbeing, intergenerational disadvantage, the use of mobile technology in the early years and the impact of school suspensions.

Mary's PhD focuses on understanding the amount of language stimulation in the home environment, and the mediating role parent talk plays in the relationship between socioeconomic status and child developmental outcomes. This utilises data being collected in a five-year longitudinal study called Language in Little Ones, which Mary manages the recruitment and data collection through her role at Telethon Kids Institute.

Notably, Mary was recently awarded as CIB an NHMRC Ideas Grant (CIA: Sally Brinkman) that builds on the work of the LiLO study to examine the impact of screen use during the early years on later developmental outcomes and how this differs across socioeconomic groups. She was also selected as one of five PhD candidates across Australia and New Zealand to participate in the L'Oreal UNESCO For Women in Science Mentoring Program as a 2020 mentee.

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2021 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Influence of school suspensions on child and adolescent wellbeing Telethon Kids Institute Global Health Internship, Princeton University Other Cindy Cheng
    2020 - 2020 Principal Supervisor Development of a Framework for the Categorisation of Screen-based Children's Content Telethon Kids Institute Public Health Practice Student Internship, University of Western Sydney Other Georgia Walters

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2019 - ongoing Member Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group Public Health Association of Australia Australia
    2019 - ongoing Member South Australian Branch Executive Committee Public Health Association of Australia Australia
    2015 - 2017 Member Youth Advisory Council Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health Australia
    2014 - 2016 Representative Lived Experience Council COPMI National Intitative Australia

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2019 - ongoing Member Society for Epidemiologic Research United States
    2018 - ongoing Member Public Health Assoiation of Australia Australia
    2018 - ongoing Member Australiasian Epidemiological Association Australia
    2018 - ongoing Member Healthy Development Adelaide Australia
    2017 - ongoing Member International Association for Youth Mental Health Australia

  • Presentation
    Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
    2021 - 2021 At What Age Does the Word Gap Emerge? Findings from the Language in Little Ones Study Australian Early Development Census National Conference 2021 Australian Government Department for Education, Skills and Employment and Telethon Kids Institute Australia
    2020 - 2020 Inequality within the home language environment: Findings from a Prospective Cohort Study. South Australian State Population Health Conference 2020 Public Health Association of Australia (SA Branch) Australia
    2019 - ongoing How many words are Australian children hearing in the first year of life? Australian Public Health Conference 2019 Public Health Association of Australia Australia
    2018 - ongoing Language in Little Ones Study - Results from the First Wave Nursing Council South Australian Child and Family Health Service Australia
    2018 - ongoing Language in Little Ones Study - Results from First Wave Buisness Intelligence Technical Forum South Australian Department for Education Australia
    2018 - ongoing The contribution of home language exposure to intergenerational transmission of inequality Australian Early Development Census National Conference 2018 Australian Goverment Department of Education Australia
    2017 - ongoing The Language in Little Ones study Online Interview Early Learning Review Australia

  • Review, Assessment, Editorial and Advice
    Date Title Type Institution Country
    2021 - ongoing Academic Journal Review Journal Review New Ideas in Psychology
    2019 - 2019 AEA 2019 Scientific Meeting Abstract Reviewer Conference Review Australiasian Epidemiological Association Australia
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