Our Team

Fiona is of the Wuthathi peoples of the far north-east cape of Queensland with family roots also in Zenadth Kes (the Torres Strait Islands). She has gained experience and perspectives in education, leadership, governance and business development at home and globally and in all spaces, shares a message of celebration and gratitude for the greatness of ancestors, Elders, and the ontology and authority that holds individuals, families and nations. She has served as CEO and Deputy CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation, a national organisation leading the movement on survivor-led intergenerational healing. On a foundation of senior and leadership roles of community and of governments, she applies management degrees (ANU CBE) and higher education teaching and learning accreditation to understand the opportunities for systems to change, knowing the impacts of intergenerational trauma as well as the power and strengths of First Nations peoples’ cultures to lead that change.

Julie joined the ANU in November 2023 as Executive Assistant to the Head of the Yardhura Walani Centre, providing administrative assistance to Fiona Cornforth and other senior staff.

Arushi supports the Centre and all its programs with their marketing, communications, and engagement efforts. She has worked in the not-for-profit and education space in communication and engagement capacity. Arushi has a Bachelors and Masters in International Relations and she is passionate about using her skills to translate academic knowledge in action framework for public and policy consumption.

Makayla Holz, a proud Kamilaroi woman, serves as an Administration Officer at Yardhura Walani. As the first point of contact, she supports various research projects and provides advice on policies and procedures. Makayla also manages the day-to-day activities of the Centre, ensuring smooth operations throughout.

Lachie is the Business Manager at the Centre and has worked in various research and project management roles in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research for the past several years. Lachie supports the Head of Centre with various administrative and reporting processes as well as providing budget, grant management, recruitment and other project management support to the various program areas within the Centre. He has a strong passion for supporting the Centre’s diverse and important health and wellbeing research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Claudia works at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research supporting the team with funding and project partnerships, and project delivery. She has lived on Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country and worked at the Australian National University (ANU) since 2015. Prior to formally joining the Centre team in May 2023, she worked as a major gift fundraiser at ANU supporting NCEPH and SMP, with a focus on driving philanthropic growth in support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led projects and climate and health initiatives.

Associate Professor Lisa Whop is a Torres Strait Islander NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow and epidemiologist. She is Australia’s leading authority on cervical cancer control in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Her research program focuses on cervical cancer control (screening and vaccination) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. She is Chief investigator on the Centre for Research Excellence on Targeted Approaches To Improve Cancer Services (TACTICS) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians where so co-leads the Prevention and Screening stream and Principal Investigator on an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant focused on understanding the modifiable factors that influence uptake and completion of HPV vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents. She brings research experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, creating meaningful ways of engagement and community empowerment within an Indigenist research approach to direct her program. She has special interests in achieving equity by process and outcomes in epidemiology, vaccine preventable disease and translation of research into policy and practice.

Aminata Diop is a Torres Strait Islander woman with ties to the Meriam, Erubam, and Kulkalgal nations of the Torres Strait. Aminata is a Research Officer on the ARC Discovery Indigenous funded ‘Yarning with mob about HPV’ study in the Research School of Population Health.

Aminata completed a Bachelor of Social Science at the University of Queensland (UQ) and is currently completing a Master of Public Health. She has worked as a Research Assistant for the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), and the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN. Aminata also has 9 years of experience in academic administration at UQ.

Research Interests:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing
- Health Information Systems
- Social determinants of health
- Global health policy
- Community Development

Louise worked originally as a Physiotherapist working in Paediatrics and Intensive Care, before training as a Clinical Epidemiologist and completing a PhD in Paediatrics. Her thesis examined physical activity capacity and performance in children and adolescents with hemiplegic type Cerebral Palsy, and tested the effectiveness of a novel web-based treatment program using a randomised controlled trial design with over 100 participants.

Louise has worked in Government and Academic roles as both a Clinician Researcher and Practitioner and as an Epidemiologist. She has experience working as an Epidemiologist in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health within the Government sector, leading the Queensland Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Burden of Disease and Injury study in 2017.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Karl has joined the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research to contribute to innovative and multidisciplinary research in areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing. Before joining the Centre, he spent two years working with the Research Ethics Team in the ANU Office of Research and Innovation Services. Karl previously worked in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health on a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples health research projects from 2018 to 2021.

Kate is a Research Manager in the Eliminate Cervical Cancer Team in the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. She supports the management and delivery of research studies such as Screen Your Way, which aims to increase the uptake of self-collected cervical screening tests among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix.

Kate has worked in the government, tertiary education and not-for-profit sectors for over 20 years in policy development, program management and executive roles. Her main areas of interest include equitable health policy and funding, strategic planning for organisations, and stakeholder engagement. She specialises in cancer screening and HPV immunisation and has worked within Australia's National Cervical Screening Program since 2007.

Claire is a non-Indigenous PhD candidate within at University of Melbourne, supported by a Melbourne Research Scholarship and the Centre of Research Excellence in Targeted Approaches To Improve Cancer Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (TACTICS) at the University of Queensland. She works within the Cervical Cancer Elimination team at Yardhura Walani. Her work primarily focuses on improving participation across Australia’s national cancer screening programs for priority populations with a specific focus on cervical screening. Claire has worked across multiple projects evaluating models of self-collection cervical screening within primary care, specifically with the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector. She is passionate about meaningful health equity for all and works to ensure health systems are accountable, accessible, and inclusive.

Dr Raymond Lovett BN, RN, BHSc, MAE, PhD is an NHMRC Research Fellow with the Epidemiology for Policy and Practice group at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University. He also holds an adjunct Fellowship at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in the Indigenous Social and Cultural Wellbeing group. Ray is an Aboriginal (Wongaibon) epidemiologist with extensive experience in health services research, large scale data analysis for public health policy development and evaluation.

Associate Professor Kate Anderson is a researcher based on the Sunshine Coast who has worked as an ally in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and communities for more than 15 years. Her research spans areas such as cancer, kidney disease, and wellbeing. Currently, her program of research at the Yardhura Walani Centre focuses on understanding and measuring the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across their lifespan. She has extensive qualitative research skills and has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles.

I have joined the team in July 2023, My role is admin assistant for the Mayi Kuwayu team at National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health ANU College of Health & Medicine.

Bio is coming soon!

Dr Oliver Black (Bsc MSc PhD) (Anaiwan) is Research Fellow and Director of the Yukaaywa Purrary Study at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University. Ollie has a background in public health and epidemiology, with broad experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research and evaluation. His research focus is Social and Emotional Wellbeing health systems, innovation, and measurement.

Sarah Bourke is a Research Fellow with the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health working on the Mayi Kuwayu National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing. She was born and raised on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country in Canberra and is descended from the Gidja and Jaru people of WA and the Gamilaroi people on the border of QLD and NSW.

Sarah completed her undergraduate studies at ANU in biological anthropology and psychology, before being award a John Monash Scholarship and a Roberta Sykes Scholarship to study for an MPhil in Medical Anthropology with Keble College at the University of Oxford in the UK. She was then awarded a Roberta Sykes Scholarship and a Chevening Scholarship to continue on at Oxford for a DPhil in Anthropology at St. John’s College. Her doctoral thesis utilised an Indigenist research framework to ethnographically examine the historical, social, and political factors which influenced the development of Mayi Kuwayu, the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, and its emphasis on measuring cultural determinants of health.

During her fellowship Sarah plans to continue her work building an Indigenous-led research agenda which explores what helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, communities, and cultures thrive.

Makayla-May Brinckley is a Wiradjuri woman with family ties to Cootamundra, NSW.

After graduating from Psychology Honours from the ANU in 2019, she worked as a research assistant in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program in the Research School of Population Health. Makayla is now an Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program, with much of her work based within Mayi Kuwayu: the National Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing.

Makayla is passionate about holistic health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and taking a strengths-based and decolonial approach to health and wellbeing.

Jan Chapman is the Mayi Kuwayu Study Manager, and also the Senior Field Worker in the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing at the Australian National University. Jan is a proud Taungurung woman from Victoria. She has a degree in Public Policy and Social Ecology.

Jan moved to Canberra in 2008, working with the "Tackling Indigenous Smoking and Indigenous Chronic Disease" sections in the Department of Health before working at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra in the research section.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Anthropology from the Australian National University (ANU). She has experience in the not-for-profit and public sector and has been working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the ANU for the past 2 years as a research officer across multiple projects.

Emily's PhD research will explore safety in the Family and Community Safety (FaCtS) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Study, using mixed methods. Emily will be supervised by Katherine Thurber.

Faye provides administrative support to Dr Ray Lovett within the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research.

Roxanne Jones is a Palawa woman, PhD candidate and Research Associate at the Australian National University. Roxy is a Social Epidemiologist and Registered Nurse with a passion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child health and wellbeing.

Roxy has research experience in the development and analysis of large-scale community driven cohort studies, including Mayi Kuwayu: the national study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing, and more recently, the Yukaaywa Purrary study: a national study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and adolescent wellbeing.

Roxy has a background working as a Registered Nurse in Paediatric Intensive Care. Roxy holds a Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) from the Australian National University. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research and Leadership from Melbourne University. Her undergraduate degrees include a Bachelor of Nursing and a Bachelor of Health Science (Paramedics) from the Queensland University of Technology.

Tim Holt is a Sir Roland Wilson Pat Turner Scholar. He is undertaking a PhD in the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the ANU. He has spent the past 14 years working in the APS in various roles across several agencies. Before being selected for a Sir Roland Wilson Pat Turner scholarship, Tim was a Director at the Department of Finance. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the College of Business and Economics at ANU and was awarded the Brian Brogan Prize in 2015.

Nadine is an Iamalaig and Kaanju woman who has joined the team as a Community Researcher, based in Cairns with travel throughout Far North Queensland. Nadine has spent the last six years working with the Indigenous Marathon Foundation in Canberra, developing a national grassroots running program in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. Nadine continues her volunteer work as a running coach with the Cairns Deadly Runners, and has recently begun a Bachelor of Business degree through James Cook University.

Bio coming soon

Bobby is a Yamatji woman, her ancestral ties are to the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of WA. She has recently completed her Honours in Indigenous Australian Research at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University. Drawing on Indigenous research methodologies, Bobby explored young Aboriginal people’s perceptions of sexual consent.

Bobby has spent the last 8 years working in Commonwealth Indigenous Health policy and programs. She has recently worked in the Non-Government sector working in sexual health in urban, remote and regional areas in WA. This experience has informed her of the importance of public health practice to assist with the complex issues relating to health disparities in Indigenous communities across remote and urban settings. Bobby is also an ambassador for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HIV Awareness Week (ATSIHAW).

Bobby is excited about the opportunities that the MAE offers, and is committed to contributing to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She is looking forward to building new networks.

Jonathon is the technical lead for Kipaympili - a digital infrastructure project designed to support Indigenous Data Sovereignty. He is passionate about building humane technology that solves real-world problems.

Dr Chris McKay is a Koori man (Wiradjuri) who grew up on Dharawal Country in Wollongong, NSW. He has joined the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research as a Research Fellow working on the Mayi Kuwayu Study. He completed his PhD at The University of Melbourne, which focused on the cardio-metabolic health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and the individual, social and environmental factors associated with staying healthy.

Siena is a Research Officer at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. She will be assisting with a project aiming to understand concerns Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander peoples have about their mental health and wellbeing in the lead up to and beyond the Voice to Parliament Referendum, in addition to supports and resources that may help. Siena will also be assisting with the validation of an updated healthcare discrimination measure used in the second wave of the Mayi Kuwayu Study. Siena completed her Psychology Honours degree in 2023 which involved conducting a research project that investigated the association between the age of oral contraceptive use initiation and midlife memory performance and whether this relationship depends on depression.

Koorinya Moreton is a Yuin and Bundjalung women, currently living on Yugambeh country. Koorinya holds a Graduate Certificate of Social Impact from the UNSW, and is currently completing a Master of Evaluation at the University of Melbourne. Koorinya is passionate about using research and evaluation to influence positive social change, in particular, for First Nations Australians.

Outside of work, Koorinya is a mum to two dogs and is actively involved in triathlon and the TRIMOB community.

Bio coming soon!

Tamara Riley is a Wiradjuri woman with family ties to Western NSW. Tamara is a PhD Candidate and Research Associate within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH). Tamara’s research focuses on One Health (the relationship between animal, human and environmental health) within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Tamara completed a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney and went on to complete the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources graduate program with a Diploma of Government. She has completed a Masters of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology at the ANU, and a Professional Certificate of Indigenous Research and Melbourne Poche Leadership Fellows Program at the University of Melbourne. Tamara has also worked as a Researcher at the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).

Mikala Sedgwick is a Gamilaraay public health and disability researcher based within the Mayi Kuwayu Study.
She recently completed the MPhil in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) concentrating on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing and measuring disability among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
She specialises in public health, disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing. With a key research interest in amplifying the voices from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disability community along with increasing research that is community led, designed and driven.
Mikala is planning to undertake her PhD based within the Yardhura Walani National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research so she can continue further meaningful community priority driven research in the disability space.

Joanne works as a Biostatistician within the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. She has held academic positions at the University of Mauritius, University of Newcastle, and University of Canberra. Joanne is a Statistician by training and moved to Biostatistics in 2018 upon her appointment at The Australian National University. Her statistical expertise is Capture-Recapture methods to estimate unknown population size.

Associate Professor Katie Thurber has been working with the Mayi Kuwayu Study team since 2016. She conducts research across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community- and policy-identified priority areas, including discrimination, racism, and social and emotional wellbeing. She employs community-engaged, mixed-methods, and strength-based approaches.

Laura is a non-Indigenous professional staff member who has joined the Mayi Kuwayu team at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research early in her administrative career. She has previously worked in administration within disability and aged care, and retail. Laura was born and raised in Canberra, growing up on Ngunnawal /Ngambri country. She has an interest in health and wellbeing and is excited to delve into these topics in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural setting.

Shavaun Wells is a proud Taungurung woman. She has a passion for working with communities and two way learning between communities and researchers. The concept of improving Indigenous health, wellbeing and quality of life resonates with Shavaun and has influenced the roles, research and studies that she has undertaken. She is supportive of the idea that there will always be an important role for academics and health professionals to improve health and empower Indigenous communities.

Shavaun has a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion and has worked in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector for 12 years, commencing as an Aboriginal Health Worker and continuing into a researcher role at the ANU.

Antoinette White, is a Palawa and Iningai woman living on Turrbal country, Meanjin (Brisbane) as an active community member.
She is passionate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing with a key interest in strengthening Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance practices. As an accredited exercise scientist she enjoys providing free physical activity and movement support for her community and actively encourages inclusive movement as a running coach with the Mitchelton IMF runners & walkers.
She has a Bachelor of Modern Asian Studies and Bachelor in Exercise Movement. She has worked in a variety of industries including Defence, Education and Health. She was employed as a Research Assistant at Institute for Urban Indigenous Health from 2019 to 2023 working on the implementation and evaluation of the Integrated System of Care Version 2.
In February 2023 she commenced the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) scholarship with a field placement at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health and is expecting to complete it this year.

Bio coming soon!

Dr Rosemary Wyber is a pakeha/balanda/non-Indigenous General Practitioner and researcher focusing on primary care. She leads the Enhancing Chronic Disease Care Team within Yardhura Walani.
Dr Wyber completed her medical training in Aotearoa New Zealand, her Master of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and general practice training in Aboriginal Community Controlled Clinics in the Northern Territory of Australia.
She was awarded an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellowship (2024 – 2029) and an Honorary Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2024- 2026).
Dr Wyber’s doctoral research focused on rheumatic heart disease in Australia and internationally. She was the lead author of the RHD Endgame Strategy to eliminate RHD in Australia. Her postdoctoral research continues to address RHD, broader heart health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and primary care sytems.
Dr Wyber is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth and a practising GP.

Dr. Chelsea Liu is a non-Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Yardhura Walani, the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University. Her research interests lie in primary health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, chronic disease management, science and technology studies (STS), ergonomics, and implementation science. Her current research is dual-focused: one aims to enhance primary health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, while the other explores implementation challenges in the digital transformation of healthcare, including understanding the digital transformation process and the changes it has brought about within health service integration.

As a Research Fellow, Uday will explore the development of novel methods for early identification and management of chronic disease and CVD risk for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young adults through a community-based implementation study.

The intervention will be informed by the findings of the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH) and focus on early life course factors contributing to health and wellbeing, and secondary prevention of chronic disease.

A holistic intervention will be co-designed and implemented together with a health service and community focusing on CVD risk assessment and management for young adults.

Dr. Raglan Maddox (Modewa Clan, Papua New Guinea) is leading the evaluation of the Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) program. The evaluation is a collaboration between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health sector, the Menzies School of Health Research’s Tobacco Control Research Program and the Australian National University’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program. The evaluation will focus on implementation quality and efficiency, and quantify the impact and outcomes of the Tackling Indigenous Smoking Regional Tobacco Control Grants on smoking prevalence and other tobacco-related indicators.

Dr. Maddox’s program of research has focused on developing population based Indigenous heath info-systems using community driven processes. This research has been generating primary data platforms to better understand and improve Indigenous health and wellbeing, including mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health. Such health information systems work with Indigenous communities and service providers to obtain information to better understand, inform and evaluate programs and policies, such as tobacco use. His program of research has also included strengths-based conversations about respectful relationships and preventing domestic violence.

Dr Nicola Ball is a medical doctor and early-career public health professional. Her research interests include tobacco control, lung health and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing.

Nicola works as a Research Fellow on the Tobacco Free program at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. Her primary work is an evaluation of the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program. The evaluation will focus on implementation quality and efficiency, and quantify the impact and outcomes of the Tackling Indigenous Smoking Regional Tobacco Control Grants on smoking prevalence and other tobacco-related indicators.

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon

Dr Christina Heris is joining the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program as part of the evaluation of the national Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) program as well as continuing ongoing work around tobacco prevention and Aboriginal adolescent health.

Bio coming soon

Dr Odo is an early-carrier researcher, now working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH), the Australian National University (ANU). Dr Odo is currently working on data such as Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) and Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) on different research topics within the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research. He completed his PhD in 2023 from the University of Queensland (UQ), having joined UQ with an international scholarship in 2019. He has a multidisciplinary background spanning public health (MPH) and environmental health and Epidemiology (BSc & PhD). He has more than 10 years of teaching and research experience. Dr.Odo has authored and co-authored over 28 peer-reviewed research articles published on high impact journals, such as Environment International, the Lancet, and Science of the Total Environment, his works have been receiving attention from scientific community. His research interest includes public health, air pollution, climate change, program evaluation and WASH.

Before pursuing his PhD, Dr Odo worked as an Assistant Professor, lecturer and graduate assistant in different Universities in Ethiopia, where he taught public health courses such as Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Research methods, Health Service Management, Health Economics and Environmental Health, and served as an academic advisor. Additionally, Dr Odo has a few leadership experiences including working as a program learning and implementation coordinator for Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) project, implementation research which was led by Addis Ababa University in collaboration with Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health for more than two years. During his PhD study, he worked as a senior research assistant at the School of Public Health (SPH), the University of Queensland (UQ).

Dr Odo has big data analysis experience and a strong international collaboration, and he is a member/fellow researcher of the Australian Based Ethiopian Researchers Network (ABReN) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Collaborator Network.

Andrew is a tobacco control policy and program specialist with over 20 years’ experience in the public sector at the national and state level. He has contributed to significant tobacco control policies and program implementation in Australia, including leading: policy development and program implementation for the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program from 2016 to 2020; development of the National Tobacco Strategy 2012-2018; national policy approaches for electronic cigarettes; and planning, implementation and evaluation of the seminal Arabic-speakers tobacco control project in southwest Sydney.

Andrew is a PhD candidate at the Research School of Population Health, Australian National University/ affiliated with the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Achieving the Tobacco Endgame. His research focuses on policy issues and knowledge translation related to the tobacco endgame for Australia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ perspectives on the tobacco endgame.

Aboriginal and South Sea Islander and early career researcher Ms Samantha Pope is Research Manager (Community Engagement) at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, in the Epidemiology and Population Centre, at the Australian National University (ANU).

Ms Pope has 8 years’ experience working in the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing space, including the development of clinical and family wellbeing services, such as the Birthing in Our Community program, which improved maternal and child health outcomes for Indigenous families. She has extensive experience in community-controlled health organisations and community organisations, and competency in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Dr Rohan Telford is a preventive health researcher. He has a background in information technology, physiology and public health and specialises in program co-design, implementation, and evaluation. Rohan works alongside the Yardura Walani Tobacco Free team to understand the impact and prevalence of commercial tobacco use among Indigenous people.