Migrant and Refugee Advisory Group

Jane Yelland is a health service researcher and maternal epidemiologist and has a keen interest in improving the health and wellbeing of socially disadvantaged families during and after pregnancy She has established cross-cultural research methods to foster participation of populations considered ‘harder to reach’. She is co-leading a research program at MCRI that is working in partnership with refugee and migrant communities, health services and policy makers to undertake participatory, co-designed health services research with a focus on systems innovation, implementation and integrated knowledge translation. 

vicki.flenady@mater.uq.edu.au

Professor Vicki Flenady leads the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence which aims to reduce stillbirths and improve care for families when a child is stillborn through high quality research and raising community awareness.  Vicki was lead author on The Lancet’s stillbirth series in 2011 and 2016. Vicki’s research currently focused on stillbirth prevention through better understanding of causal pathways and risk factors and is currently leading a large-scale trial on a mobile phone app for women on fetal movements to reduce stillbirth rates. With a clinical background in midwifery and neonatal nursing and masters and PhD in perinatal epidemiology in stillbirth prevention, Vicki has a keen interest in addressing evidence practice gaps in maternity care. Vicki is an active member of the International Stillbirth Alliance. 

philippa.middleton@sahmri.com

Philippa Middleton is a Principal Research Fellow in the Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children Theme of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and an Affiliate Associate Professor, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide.  As a perinatal epidemiologist and implementation scientist, she specialises in randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, research synthesis, guidelines, research reporting standards and translating research evidence into policy and practice. Her areas of expertise include preterm birth, nutrition, diabetes, stillbirth and health disparities, and she has a particular interest in Indigenous health.

Danielle Muscat, B.Psych. (Hons: Class 1), PhD, is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and Westmead Lead of the Sydney Health Literacy Lab. 

Dr Muscat’s work is focused on improving health literacy among socially disadvantaged groups to empower them to be active participants in decisions about their health. Her doctoral work involved the development and evaluation of a world-first health literacy program for Australian adults attending adult basic literacy courses at TAFE across New South Wales.

Dr Muscat has continued this work in her post-doctoral role he currently leads a projects to improve health literacy for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and new parents in the diverse communities of western Sydney.

Dr Muscat is an active member of the Health Literacy Research Network, and the Health Literacy Node at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. In 2019, she was appointed as an Advisor on Health Literacy to the World Health Organization. She has also been involved in teaching students throughout her career, including teaching graduate and post-graduate coursework units in decision-making and health literacy, and acting in a supervisory role for University of Sydney research students.

Academic Institute: Sydney Health Literacy Lab, University of Sydney

Research Interests: Dr Muscat’s research interests includehealth literacy, decision-making, and patient-provider communication, with a particular focus on improving the quality of health communication and decision support for socially disadvantaged, lower literacy populations.

Stillbirth CRE project: Within the Stillbirth CRE, Dr Muscat is leading a pilot study of a group-based health literacy program to reduce stillbirth in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups in western Sydney.

Email address: danielle.muscat@sydney.edu.au

Joyce has a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), a Master of Public Health (MPH) and a PhD in Family and Work Studies. She has over 20 years’ international experience across diverse fields, having worked as a registered practitioner, manager, researcher and educator. Joining MCWH in 2013, Joyce has been holding the role of Health Promotion Manager since and oversees the success of health education programs and health promotion projects covering many issues, including sexual and reproductive health, alcohol and drug and gambling related harm, and end-of-life caring. Joyce is passionate about population health, gender inequality and public health policy.

Research Interests: population health, gender inequality and public health policy, care-giving and caregivers