CO-CHAIR

A/Prof Knight is a senior lecturer in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and an honorary manager/team leader in Neurodisability and Rehabilitation at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She holds Honorary Principal Fellow position in the Department of Paediatrics at The University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on improving interdisciplinary, family-centred rehabilitation for children with a range of medical conditions, particularly acquired brain injury. She has a strong commitment to partnering with young people, families, and clinicians in research and uses integrated knowledge translation strategies to improve uptake of research findings into clinical practice.

CO-CHAIR

Dr Williams is a senior clinical neuropsychologist who works across the public and private sectors. She has worked clinically at Kids Rehab at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead for over 10 years, where she also provides clinical and research supervision to post graduate students. She completed her PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology/Cognitive Science at Macquarie University in 2012.

Her research focuses on investigating and ameliorating not only the cognitive, but also broader psychological and functional consequences of congenital and acquired brain disorders. She has been involved in recent research projects looking at remediating social skills, play skills, fatigue, and anxiety in brain injury. She also has a special research interest in rare autoimmune neurological disorders, leading a multi-site research project in the long-term outcomes following childhood autoimmune encephalitis.

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Dr Takagi is a Senior Lecturer and Clinical Neuropsychologist with the School of Psychological Sciences at Monash University where he leads the paediatric training within the Clinical Neuropsychology PhD program. He also leads the Neurodevelopmental Clinic at the Turner Clinics, which provides specialist neuropsychological services to the community and clinical training to postgraduate psychology students. In addition, he is also the Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Children’s Court Clinic – a specialist forensic service for the Children’s Court of Victoria.

Michael began his research career in 2004, investigating the neuropsychological and neurobiological impact of inhalant abuse during adolescence. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2008 and Masters in Clinical Neuropsychology in 2014 at the University of Melbourne.

With respect to research, Michael has been a Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute since 2014. Since that time, he has published his work in several top-tier medical and neuroscience journals and attracted funding from MCRI, The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the Medical Research Future Fund to investigate interventions for children experiencing delayed recovery post-concussion.

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Kath is a senior clinical neuropsychologist with over 25 years experience working in pediatric rehabilitation. She has worked as a neuropsychologist at The Children's Hospital at Westmead and The Royal Children's Hospital and has lectured in post graduate pediatric neuropsychology courses at Macquarie University and The University of Melbourne. In her current role in the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service at The Royal Children's Hospital she provides neuropsychological assessment and management for children and families in an inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation setting. Kath has a strong interest in research and completed her PhD investigating olfactory dysfunction in pediatric traumatic brain injury in 2016 as part of a Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative Fellowship. Throughout her career she has been involved in clinical research including the development of clinical guidelines and translation of research into clinical practice in paediatric rehabilitation.

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Genevieve is a clinical neuropsychologist, who has worked for over 30 years in a variety of hospital, community and university settings. She currently works as a Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist and Paediatric Coordinator for Diverge Consulting, a not-for-profit organisation based in Melbourne which provides community-based neuropsychology and behaviour support services throughout the Melbourne metropolitan region and regional Victoria.

Throughout her career, Genevieve has worked with both adults and children with ABI in community-based rehabilitation, often working with clients and their families over many years. This experience has generated an interest in the systemic and life-span impacts of brain injury, particularly for injuries sustained during childhood. She recently completed a Master of Clinical Family Therapy through the Bouverie Centre at Latrobe University, in order to explore how family therapy and systemic approaches can be applied to behavioural and developmental challenges associated with brain injury.

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Vanessa is a Clinical Neuropsychologist who works across both paediatric and adult neuropsychology contexts. She is actively involved in paediatric concussion research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and works clinically in a Community Rehabilitation setting. Vanessa is currently completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her project focuses on the evaluation of an individualised, multi-disciplinary intervention to treat chronic persisting post concussion symptoms in children and adolescents.

COMMITTEE MEMBER

Dr Taylor Jenkin is an early career post-doctoral researcher at the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service at The Royal Children’s Hospital and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her PhD research investigated family-centred service within paediatric acquired brain injury rehabilitation, from the perspectives of children and adolescents with ABI, family members, and clinicians. Taylor has a particular interest in improving clinical care and outcomes for children and adolescents with complex medical conditions and their families.

SECRETARY

Chandelle is a provisional psychologist and PhD candidate at Monash University and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She is currently applying her neuropsychology skills on clinical placement at The Royal Children's Hospital, where she supports individuals with neurological, metabolic and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Her PhD research with the Victorian Infant Brain Studies cohort investigates the relationship between cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and cognitive outcomes in young adults born very preterm (VP). She hopes her research will have implications for preserving and monitoring cognitive functioning throughout the lifespan.

Chandelle is deeply passionate about working with young people who have neurodevelopmental disorders and acquired brain injuries. Her previous roles, including as a research intern for the Acquired Brain Injury, Genetics and Neurodevelopment Team at MCRI, and as a behaviour therapist for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, have profoundly influenced her research and clinical interests. Her experience in these roles has strengthened her commitment to early intervention and rehabilitation practices. She aspires to work with children, as well as their families and teachers, to support their functioning through holistic, client-driven interventions.