Who's Listening

Professor Elizabeth Kendall completed her PhD in 1997 on the topic of adjustment following traumatic injury, for which she won the Dean’s Commendation for Outstanding PhD Thesis in 1998 (UQ). She has continued to build a research agenda in rehabilitation and service systems for people who are managing the consequences of serious disabilities or chronic conditions. She has designed and directed complex community-based evaluations and randomized controlled trials of major health reform projects over the last decade, including the Ambulatory Care demonstration projects the Queensland Self-Management Alliance, the Chronic Disease Place-based Initiative and the Logan-Beaudesert Health Coalition, the Qld Health Self-Management Alliance, the Coordinated Care Trials, the Sharing Healthcare demonstration project, the Community Rehabilitation Workforce Reform Project, the Chronic Disease Smart State Working Party, the Spinal Injury Response Project and the Youngcare Alternative Service Model trial. She was instrumental in the formation of Headway Queensland in 1984 (now known as Synapse), the Riding for Disabled Association, the Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service and the STePS program across Queensland. She was a founding partner of the Centre for Functioning and Health within Metro South HHS.

Elizabeth has run a collaborative research program for the last 25 years with several significant partners including Queensland Health, the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Synapse, Spinal Life Australia and Health Consumers Queensland. The Hopkins Centre was officially formed from this collaborative in 2017 and Elizabeth is the Executive Director. The centre brings together over 150 researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and consumers to solve complex problems in rehabilitation. Elizabeth has attracted over $50 million in research grants and consultancies, including 9 large Australian Research Council grants. She has over 200 publications in high quality journals such as Social Science and Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Rehabilitation Psychology, Disability and Rehabilitation and has produced over 65 industry reports. She was chair of the ARC College of Experts in 2009-2011 and continues to review grants in ARC and NHMRC as well as international funding schemes.

Click here to view research publications on Google Scholar

Click here to view research profile, outputs and collaborations on Griffith Experts

Katie Kelly OAM PLY is a Diversity and Inclusion Advocate, and a 2x Paralympian. She has also won 2x Paratriathlon World Championships (2015 and 2017).  Katie’s passion for diversity and inclusion in our communities, has spanned a lifetime.  In 2017, Katie established Sport Access Foundation, a registered charity, providing sporting grants for young Australians living with a disability and to improve their access to sport. The impact of this Foundation is significant with to date over 500 children applying for grants across Australia. Katie's journey of living with a genetic condition, known as Usher Syndrome, is one of tenacity and grit. Living with a combination of profound hearing loss, and gradual eyesight loss, presents significant and confronting challenges. Katie also worked in marketing and communications with organisations such as the NRL, ANZ Stadium, NT Government and Tabcorp and currently works in disability employment. Katie is a Griffith University alumni and Council member for Inclusive Futures. 

Dr Lisa Stafford  is a social scientist, social/community planner and human geographer with 20 years' experience in the field of disability and inclusion practice and policy with specific focus on the social-spatial needs of children, young people and their families. Lisa also identifies as a chronically-ill disabled academic.Lisa's expertise is in participation and inclusive communities, and was recently awarded the highly competitive Australian Research Council - DECRA Fellowship 2019 in Inclusive community planning for people with disabilities in regional areas

Kelsey leads research with the Department of Transport and Main Roads. She specialises in human rights research, critical disability theory, and dignity theory. She has extensive experience in ethics, governance, and data management and security as well as supporting fellow researchers in project and research management. She is currently leading The Dignity Project in understanding how people with disability experience social, personal, and systemic dignity. The Dignity Project focuses on user experience research in systems and services (transport, health, business) using inclusive research methods and extreme citizen science. Kelsey aims to embed dignity into the way we work, build things, and treat people to disrupt business as usual and decrease the barriers to participation for people with disability.