Meet our team of dedicated researchers
Meet our team of dedicated researchers who make up the PharMIbridge RCT.
PROFESSOR AMANDA WHEELER (RESEARCH CO-LEAD)
Professor Amanda Wheeler is Professor of Mental Health at Griffith University. She has worked as a health practitioner, educator and researcher in mental health and pharmacy practice for almost 20 years. She is nationally and internationally recognised for her expertise in these areas. Her research focuses on quality improvement, professional practice, workforce development and capacity building. These themes come together with the common goal of improving outcomes for consumers and carers and are integrated across the full scope of her work.
DR CLAIRE O’REILLY (RESEARCH CO-LEAD)
Dr Claire O’Reilly is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney Pharmacy School. Claire is a health services researcher as well as a practising community pharmacist and a Master Mental Health First Aid instructor. Claire’s research focusses on the role of pharmacists in contributing to better outcomes for people living with a mental illness; pharmacists screening people at risk of depression, intervening and supporting people in a mental health crisis, and helping people with severe and persistent mental illness manage their medicines. Claire was previously National Vice President of the PSA (2011-2014) and is the first pharmacist to be appointed to the Medical Services Advisory Committee (2016), which provides advice to the federal Government on the strength of evidence for the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical technologies.
DR SARA MCMILLAN
Dr Sara McMillan is an early career researcher and pharmacy practice senior lecturer at GU. Sara’s PhD (conferred in 2016) was part of the 5CPA Consumer Experiences of Chronic Illness Project. Sara’s research interest focuses on three key areas, using predominantly qualitative methodologies: (i) person-centered care for people with chronic conditions; (ii) care for vulnerable populations such as carers and young people; (iii) community pharmacy issues. Sara recently explored how community pharmacy staff can better support young people using psychotropic medication. Sara has co-authored 50 peer-reviewed publications since 2011, 14 of which are focused on the topic of mental health, and is an Editorial Board member for the international journal 'Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy.'
DR SARIRA EL-DEN
Dr Sarira El-Den is a Pharmacist, Senior Lecturer and Mental Health First Aid Instructor at Sydney Pharmacy School. Sarira has received an Endeavour Research Fellowship (2016) and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Her research focusses on mental health education, development and psychometric testing of measurement instruments and depression screening in community pharmacy. Sarira has completed a Master of International Public Health, PhD (2018) and Graduate Certificate in Education Studies, as well as, PSA’s Ignite Pharmacist Leadership Program. She is currently the National Education Representative for the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association. Sarira has received multiple awards for her teaching and research in mental health, including a Faculty of Medicine and Health Award for Excellence.
DR JIE HU
Dr Jie Hu is an Early Career Researcher with experience in a wide variety of public health and health services research projects. She has been trained as a public health practitioner in China and is knowledgeable with research designs and statistical methods. After achieving her PhD in Epidemiology, she has been working on evaluation projects using quantitative and qualitative methods in Indigenous health. She is experienced in data management, linkage and analysis for both clinical and epidemiological datasets using statistical software packages (Stata etc.).
DR JACK COLLINS
Dr Jack Collins is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Sydney School of Pharmacy and is also a practising community pharmacist. Jack is a pharmacy practice researcher, with an interest in the role of community pharmacy in self-care and simulated patient methodology. Jack completed his PhD in 2020, was awarded the University Medal (BPharm) in 2015 and was the 2018 recipient of the International Pharmaceutical Federation Young Pharmacist Grant for Professional Innovation for his work on implicit bias.
FLEUR WEBB
Fleur Webb is a project manager with extensive experience in the field of higher education. Fleur has managed multiple national government funded projects and her expertise covers a wide range of areas including project management, higher education research and strategic operations.
LILY PHAM
Lily Pham is an early career pharmacist and research assistant at the University of Sydney Pharmacy School. Beyond her contributions to the PharMIbridge team, she also explores the implementation of mental health first aid in tertiary curricula at the University of Sydney and electronic health technology with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
RICKI NG
Ricki Ng is a registered pharmacist and Mental Health First Aid instructor. After completing her Bachelor of Pharmacy with First Class Honours in 2018, she is currently a PhD candidate at The University of Sydney Pharmacy School. Her research interests include pharmacists’ support for mental health and medication adherence. Her current research focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of training program for people living with severe and persistent mental illness.
Victoria Stewart
Victoria Stewart is a Lecturer in the postgraduate mental health practice programs and a PhD candidate at Griffith University. She has over 27 years experience in mental health as a practitioner, educator and researcher. As an occupational therapist, she has practiced in Australia, U.K. and U.S.A, in a variety of roles and services, working within a number of models of care. Her research and education role is focused on recovery-oriented practice and improving service experiences for consumers and carers. She has worked closely with the mental health and community sectors in all of her research projects, aiming to understand how service delivery impacts on the experiences of consumers.
This RCT is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health as part of the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement.