- Our people
Research fellows
Dr Jody Church
Dr Jody Church is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
Dr Sharon James
Dr Sharon James works as a Research Fellow and Project Manager on the Australian Contraception and Abortion Primary Care Practitioner Support (AusCAPPS) Network.
Dr Jessica Botfield
Dr Jessica Botfield is a Senior Research Fellow at SPHERE and provides research support to the Family Planning Australia Research Centre.
Dr Anisa Assifi
Dr Anisa Assifi is a Research Fellow and Project Manager of the MRFF-funded ALLIANCE trial.
Dr Yi Ling Low
Dr Yi Ling Low is a Research Fellow for the ALLIANCE Trial within the SPHERE Centre of Research Excellence.
Dr Satish Melwani
Dr Satish Melwani is a dentist and a public health researcher with a keen interest and experience in non-communicable disease prevention, health literacy research, maternal and child health, and health system strengthening.
Dr Alissia Kost
Dr Alissia Kost is a SPHERE Research Fellow for the Endometriosis Management Plan and Australian Contraception and Abortion Primary Care Practitioner Support (AusCAPPS) Network projects.
Dr Noushin Arefadib
Dr Noushin Arefadib joined SPHERE as a Research Fellow in June 2023 where she is involved in the ORIENT trial as Project Manager.
Dr Sharinne Crawford
Dr Sharinne Crawford is a Research Fellow and Project Manager of the Endometriosis Management Plan (Endo-MP) project.
Dr Sonia Srinivasan
Dr Sonia Srinivasan is a GP and Research Fellow with SPHERE working as Project Manager for the Australian Contraception and Abortion Primary Care Practitioner Support (AusCAPPS) Network.
Dr Kailash Thapaliya
Dr Kailash Thapaliya is a postdoctoral research fellow at SAHMRI Women and Kids, SAHMRI.
Research affiliates
Dr Melissa Harris
Dr Melissa is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Health Research at the University of Newcastle.
Dr Leesa Hooker
Dr Leesa Hooker is a nurse/midwife academic and Senior Research Fellow at the La Trobe Rural Health School and the Judith Lumley Centre.
Dr Shelly Makleff
Dr Shelly Makleff is a Research Fellow in the Global and Women's Health Unit in the School Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University and a Research Affiliate with SPHERE.
Tahlee Stevenson
Tahlee is a Registered Nurse and researcher, working at the SA Pregnancy Advisory Centre, and across the Adelaide University’s Health and Medical Science Faculty.
Dr Karin Stanzel
Dr Karin Stanzel is a registered nurse/midwife who worked for more than 20 years in community health, mainly focusing on young people and women’s health.
Project Support
Mae Rilloraza
Mae is the Clinical Trial Coordinator of the ORIENT study. Mae is a Registered Nurse and a researcher.
Jessie Zeng
Jessie joined SPHERE as a Research Officer in 2022 working on the ORIENT study and the EXTEND-PREFER project.
Catriona Rowe
Catriona is a senior research officer who joined the Department in 2016 as a clinical trial coordinator on the ACCORd Trial.
Claudia Morando-Stokoe
Claudia is the administrative support officer at SPHERE and is also involved in the ORIENT study and the EXTEND PREFER project as a trial support officer.
Sangita Chakraborty
Sangita joined SPHERE in 2023 as a research officer on the Endo-MP Project.
Elizabeth Lehman
Elizabeth joined SPHERE in 2023 as the Project Officer for the ALLIANCE Trial.
Management
Dr Maria De Leon-Santiago
Dr Maria de Leon-Santiago is the Manager of the SPHERE Centre of Research Excellence and is based at the Department of General Practice, Monash University.
Claudia Morando-Stokoe
Claudia is the administrative support officer at SPHERE and is also involved in the ORIENT study and the EXTEND PREFER project as a trial support officer.
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