Research Advisory Committee

Professor Thrift is Head of Stroke and Ageing Research and Senior Research Fellow at Monash University. She is a past President of the Stroke Society of Australasia and sits on numerous national and international advisory groups.

Professor Thrift gained her PhD from Monash University in 1995 in epidemiology in the study of risk factors for intracerebral haemorrhage. She has considerable research expertise in the epidemiology of stroke, having led the influential North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study (NEMESIS). This study has provided much of the evidence base for policy decisions around stroke in Australia. Her current portfolio of research include NHMRC funded studies of implementation of secondary prevention of stroke and vascular disease in Australia, and studies of causal factors for vascular disease and hypertension in low and middle income countries. In 2017, she was recognised for her work via receipt of the Excellence in Stroke Award, the highest honour awarded by the Stroke Society of Australasia. 

Brenda is a stroke survivor; her stroke occurred in 2001, when she was 41 years old. A left internal carotid artery dissection caused a left MCA stroke, her speech; sight and arm movement were initially affected.

Brenda is a Registered Nurse (Royal North Shore Hospital - 1981). She has worked in both the public and private hospital sector. From 1991 until 2016 Brenda worked as a Case Manager with the NSW Disability Service. Following her stroke she returned to work part time. In April 2016 Brenda commenced working for the National Disability Insurance Agency as an NDIS Planner.

Brenda was a carer for her mother who was diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s. She provided support until her mother’s death in 2015.

Brenda is frequently asked to speak about her stroke experience at forums, educational and community events

In 2010 Brenda was diagnosed as having carotid, vertebral and intracranial Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD) which was determined to be the underlying cause of her stroke. FMD has resulted in ongoing fluctuating cerebral flow related symptoms.

Brenda feels fortunate that she does not have any residual physical disability, but contends with the non-visible issues related to her stroke and FMD; such as variable issues with speech, fatigue, balance, coordination and memory.

Brenda has provided stroke consumer input at a local, state and national level. In 2019 Brenda was awarded an OAM in recognition of her contributions in stroke.

Associate Professor Caleb Ferguson is a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow, based at the Centre for Cardiovascular & Chronic Care, University of Technology Sydney.

Where his program of research focuses on the management of atrial fibrillation and stroke prevention.

Caleb is a qualified Registered Nurse with more than a decade of clinical expertise in acute stroke management.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (University of Stirling, 2005), Masters of Health Leadership (University of Tasmania, 2011), and a PhD (University of Technology Sydney, 2015).

Caleb publishes widely in the area of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Since 2012, he has published over 35 academic publications, editorials and book chapters.

He holds appointments as Editor for Contemporary Nurse and member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

He is also a member of the Acute Stroke Management Guidelines Update working group for the Stroke Foundation, and a member of the Heart Foundation’s Atrial Fibrillation guidelines working group.

Since 2013, Caleb has enjoyed volunteering as a StrokeSafe Ambassador for the Stroke Foundation.

This role has involved providing regular community presentations on stroke prevention to local community groups, businesses and the general public.

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.

 Associate Professor Emma Power is a speech pathologist and academic at the University of Technology Sydney. She has worked in the area of communication disorders following acquired brain injury for over 23 years in a variety of clinical and academic positions. Emma’s research interests include innovative assessments and treatments to enhance the life participation of people with neurological communication disorders. She is also very interested in evidence based practice (EBP) and the way we translate knowledge into clinical policy and practice (implementation science). With her colleagues, she has developed and validated 82 Best Practice Statements for people with post stroke aphasia on an aphasia pathway website that contains implementation resources for clinicians (www.aphasiapathway.com.au). Emma is committed to enhancing the inclusion of people with communication difficulties in stroke studies so best assessments and treatments can be accessible to all clients. Emma is also a committee member of SpeechBITE, a free online database of speech pathology intervention studies and a past President of Speech Pathology Australia, NSW Branch. She has been awarded several teaching and service recognition awards. However, her main reward is working collaboratively with consumers, students, clinicians and policy makers to create new knowledge and practises that are implemented to the benefit people with disability, their families and health and community services.

Emma graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) with first class honours and the University Medal. She has a PhD in neurological communication disorders and is a Certified Practicing Member of Speech Pathology Australia 

Professor Ian Kneebone completed undergraduate degrees at the University of Adelaide, a masters degree in clinical psychology at the University of Western Australia and a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Surrey. He has specialised in rehabilitation and worked with older and younger people who have encountered stroke for over thirty years. He has published widely on stroke, including on the assessment and management of mood disorders, the coping of informal carers of people who develop speech and language problems and on breaking bad news. He currently leads the Optimising Mental Health and Well-being stream of NHMRC funded Centre of Research Excellence in Aphasia. Ian is a co-author of Psychological Management of Stroke, (Wiley, 2012) and was a member of the Core Steering Group that developed the National Stroke Strategy for England. Ian has a Chair in Clinical Psychology at the University of Technology, Sydney and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, UK.

Mark Nelson is Professor and 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. 

Dr Andrew is a Senior Research Fellow with Peninsula Clinical School, Monash University and an NHMRC Early Career fellow. She has a clinical background in Physiotherapy, a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in epidemiology. She is an emerging leader in stroke and health service research, with a focus on using large datasets to answer questions about what constitutes best-practice care for survivors of stroke to maximise long-term quality of life and reduce unmet needs. She is involved in a number of quality improvement projects and over the last five years has developed a strong track record in the area of data linkage. She has been responsible for coordinating large national cross-jurisdictional data linkage projects. These projects have been the first in Australia in which researcher held clinical registry data have been linked, across jurisdictions, to state and nationally held administrative datasets. Dr Andrew is currently leading a project in which data from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry will be linked to Medicare and pharmaceutical data to provide insights into some of the services and care types being accessed by survivors of stroke living in the community. 

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.