Our Team
Dr Elizabeth Newnham
Dr Elizabeth Newnham (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Population Health at Curtin University, and a Program Lead at the Curtin EnAble Institue. After completing her Masters in Clinical Psychology and PhD at UWA, Elizabeth undertook postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Oxford. Her primary research focus is addressing the mental health consequences of trauma and adversity, and she has led research in disaster- and war-affected settings in Australia, China, Nepal, and Sierra Leone. Elizabeth is Director of the Asia Pacific Disaster Mental Health Network, supported by the World Health Organization. She is a Dockers fan, and loves bushwalking.
Nicholas Da Silva
Nicholas Da Silva (he/him) is a Research Assistant at Curtin University, working in the School of Population Health and at the Curtin EnAble Insitute. He has a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), having graduated in 2023. His honours project investigated perceptions of remote health interventions for cancer survivors in rural and remote communities. He is particularly interested in qualitative research, specifically in health or community psychology focusing projects. Currently, he is working alongside Dr Elizabeth Newnham and Dr Merridy Grant on a participatory project with communities impacted by the Wooroloo Bushfires in Western Australia. Outside of work, he is an avid reader and foodie.
Dr Merridy Grant
Dr Merridy Grant is a Research Fellow at Curtin University with a Doctorate in Psychology, and a Master's degree in Research Psychology. Her primary focus is community-based research and she has over 15 years’ experience in conducting research relating to maternal and child health and mental health in low-resource settings. Merridy has recently been working on a participatory project with communities impacted by the Wooroloo Bushfires in Western Australia. Her research interests include working with communities to improve outcomes through co-creation of knowledge/solutions and developing mental health interventions that are accessible to communities through task sharing approaches. She has a particular interest in qualitative research and participatory methodologies.
Dr Roanna Lobo
Dr Roanna Lobo (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Population Health with a Doctorate in Public Health (Curtin University), Master of Health Psychology (University of Surrey) and Bachelor of Honours in Psychology and Physiology (University of Oxford). Over the last 20 years she has conducted applied research with Indigenous, cross cultural and other marginalised or vulnerable populations including youth at risk to examine health disparities and experiences of help-seeking, and to design and evaluate health interventions. Roanna has expertise in using participatory, co-design, peer-based and systems thinking research methodologies involving consumers and key stakeholders.
Dr Leanne Kelly
Dr Leanne Kelly (she/her) is a pracademic in the fields of humanitarianism, development, and evaluation studies within NGOs. Her work focuses on crises including conflict, violence, extremism, and disasters. She has published 33 refereed journal articles and two books on these topics. She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on an ARC Linkage project on violent and hateful extremism at Deakin University. She is also the National Evaluation Advisor for emergency services at the Australian Red Cross.