Research Advisory Committee

Professor Coralie English provides independent advice and expertise in stroke-related research to the Committee. Coralie English is a physiotherapist and an experienced stroke clinical trialist. She leads a team of researchers within the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, Hunter Medical Research Institute and teaches into the Physiotherapy Program at the University of Newcastle.

Coralie's research career began in 2000, when she undertook a PhD at the University of South Australia. Prof English’s professional network extends to national and international collaborations and professional committees.

Dr Alyna Turner, PhD, is an endorsed clinical psychologist, and Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of TRIALS and the Clinical Trials and Innovations theme at the Institute for Innovations in Mental and Physical Health And Clinical Translation (IMPACT) at the School of Medicine, Deakin University. Having worked clinically in psychiatry, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and Liaison Psychiatry settings, Dr Turner’s research focuses on mental health and co-occurring conditions, spanning stroke, heart disease, health risk behaviours, psychotic illness, substance misuse (smoking, alcohol and methamphetamine dependence), depression, and anxiety.

Dr Turner bring extensive experience in clinical trials of both pharmacological and psychosocial/service treatments.  Dr Turner has had over 100 papers accepted or published in peer-reviewed journals and has received over $23.5 million in research funding, including as CI on four NHMRC project grants, one MRFF, and the Million Minds Mission funded adult clinical trial network, MAGNET.  

Dr Eleanor Horton is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and a Nursing Fellow at the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service. Eleanor is passionate about making a difference in nursing and healthcare and this correlates with her patient engagement and advocacy interest. Eleanor is chairperson of the Consumer Advisory group for the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service District and the Health Service Rehabilitation Group. Eleanor sits on the Queensland Stroke Clinical Network Steering Committee, the Australian Stroke Coalition and has served on the Stroke Foundation Consumer Council. In 2016, Eleanor was an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion. She is a member of the Smart Assistive Technology Collaborative, which is a Queensland Government Department of Communities, Child Safety, and Disability Services funded project focused on the use of Smart Assistive Technology for disabled and older people in the community. The project has been the development of a free online space to collaborate, learn and access resources and expertise in the area of Smart Assistive Technology. This platform contains local, state, national and international linkages and in 2016 and 2017 this project won awards at the Information Technology in Aged Care Conference. Her partner is a stroke survivor and is 18 years post stroke and her father is 3 years post stroke. 

Eleanor: Since the stroke my partner has been differently abled (my terms) and has many of the hidden affects of stroke as well as the obvious hemiplegia and aphasia. Our home is a living lab for a CSIRO Smarter Safer Home project and we are always considering any opportunity to improve the lives of disabled stroke survivors in the community. Research at present is with members of the Statewide Clinical Stroke Network and the aim of the project is to systematically map current processes and pathways of assessment, referral and provision of rehabilitation through to patient reported outcomes. To establish service gaps in rehabilitation; and configuring rehabilitation services to meet needs and maximise flow from acute hospitals through rehabilitation to the community.

D Felix Ng is a stroke neurologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Hospital and the Melbourne Mobile Stroke Unit, the first custom-built specialist ambulance vehicle in the southern hemisphere equipped with a built-in CT scanner for rapid stroke treatment. He is actively engaged in regional stroke care through the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine service that provides 24-7 emergency stroke advises to emergency departments at regional and rural hospitals, and co-leads the BUILDS (“Bridging the Urban and regional Divide in Stroke care”) investigator-led initiative that provides stroke specialist tele-consultation to stroke inpatients in regional Victoria.  

Felix is an NHMRC Emerging Leader Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne with a research interest in novel stroke treatments, post-stroke complications, and systems-of-care. He currently leads several national multicentre interdisciplinary projects in partnership with Stroke Foundation on understanding how brain recovers from stroke and developing more effective acute treatment to reduce brain injury through basic science research, clinical advanced imaging studies and large-scale clinical trials.   

Katharine Brown is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Indigenous Cardiovascular Research program at the Telethon Kids Institute. She is a non-Indigenous woman living and working on Kaurna country.

Katharine’s research draws on her experiences in advocacy, policy and translational research to respond to the disparities in cardiovascular health and disease experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. She uses a broad range of research skills and methods. Katharine is motivated to increase understanding and awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander understanding of health and wellbeing to enhance provision of supports and care in this population.

Mark Nelson is Professor and Deputy Chair, Discipline of General Practice, School of Medicine and Senior Member Menzies Institute for Medical Research, both at the University of Tasmania, Hobart Australia. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne Australia. His research interests are around large-scale clinical trials in in primary care. He has 300 peer reviewed scientific publications, has been awarded more than AU$80 million in competitive grants and is a principal investigator on the NIH sponsored ASPREE / ASPREE-XT study (N = 19,000) investigating if aspirin extends healthy active life, and the NHMRC sponsored STAREE (recruitment to date >7000) similarly investigating if statins extend healthy active life. He also has been an author on multiple guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment and remains in clinical general practice in Hobart Australia. 

A/Prof Monique Kilkenny is a National Heart Foundation Future Leader and Senior Research Fellow at Monash University. A/Prof Kilkenny is a health services researcher and experienced epidemiologist with a background in health information management. A/Prof Kilkenny is the Head of the National Stroke Data Linkage Program at Monash University, and the projects she leads are essential to investigating quality of care provided to patients with stroke and are the cornerstones of informing the implementation of interventions to improve healthcare and patient outcomes.

Nationally, A/Prof Kilkenny is a leader in the field of stroke in the use of linked data and undertaking research on hospital performance, clinical quality registries and health promotion. A/Prof Kilkenny collaborations include researchers, industry and end users (i.e. Stroke Foundation, Victorian government, Queensland government). She has contributed to the evaluation of several programs (StrokeSafe and Know your numbers) for the Stroke Foundation related to health promotion, self-management and risk factor monitoring.

After suffering a stroke in 2013 at the age of 38, Saran Chamberlain is a passionate advocate for stroke survivors within her home state of South Australia and at a national level. Before the stroke, Saran was managing an international software company, travelling once a month and loving life. In one brief moment her life was turned upside down.

Saran currently works in several Research Projects giving her lived experience to improve lives of survivors of trauma and is a member the Stroke Community of Practice in South Australia. Beyond these roles, Saran is involved in many advocacy activities as well as Support Coordination for people touched by stroke. Saran enjoys sharing her experience with health professional students as they put theory into practice, through her involvement in student workshops. She knows from her own experience with NDIS there is a need for compassion, empathy and direction in this field.

Through her own experience, Saran knows the journey after stroke can be long and isolating for young stroke survivors. She strives for increased awareness of young stroke, to ensure young stroke survivors are connected and have the supports they need to make their journey that little bit easier.