CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY & CONCUSSION
With
Professor Melinda (Lindy) Fitzgerald, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Professor of Neurotrauma, Curtin University, Western Australia John Curtin Distinguished Professor & CEO Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | February 2026
Professor Melinda Fitzgerald is Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research at Curtin University, John Curtin Distinguished Professor and CEO of Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia.
She has published over 135 papers; recent highlights include Lancet Neurology, J Neuroscience, Nature Nano, ACS Nano, Biomaterials. Currently held grants/Projects total $10.1 million; CIA for $5.2 million of these; $18.5 million total research and equipment funding, $9.9 million as CIA; continuous category 1 grant funding as CIA since 2009.
Prof Fitzgerald was Ministerially appointed and re-appointed as Chair and Co-Chair of the Expert Working Group of the Federal Government MRFF Mission for TBI, 2019 and 2024 ($50m over 10 years).
Prof Fitzgerald is a Member of the Executive Committee for International TBI Research (InTBIR2) and Co-Chair of the InTBIR2 Working Group on Observational and Comparative Effectiveness Studies.
She has supervised more than 35 Honours students or equivalent, 20 PhD students (14 completions), and 12 post-doctoral researchers (5 currently); of whom 3 are Group Leaders and 15 are developing independent scientific and research careers.
As CEO of Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia, Prof Fitzgerald has led dissemination of best practice knowledge to the community. Connectivity’s work on raising awareness of traumatic brain injury has been viewed more than 6.93 million times, including 255,000 individual users of the website and more than 641,000 views on YouTube, accessing research-informed, best practice evidence-based information about concussion and more severe traumatic brain injury, including 110,000 views of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prevention campaign. Provision of concussion online short courses, currently more than 20,000 completions.
Source: Supplied
Arranged by: Curtin Medical Research Institute
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4823-8179
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Tyrosine Kinases in cancer recurrence
Dr Yu Yu leads the Oncology and Gynaecology Research Program at Curtin Medical Research Institute . Dr Yu is also a senior research fellow at Curtin Medical School.
Dr Yu Yu’s laboratory is working on better ways to treat cancers, particularly ovarian cancers which are resistant to conventional chemotherapy. The aims are for better informed treatment choice and reducing unnecessary exposure to ineffective chemotherapy and its potential adverse effects.
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Earlier identification and early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing
Professor Greg Leigh A held a variety of positions in the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing before entering academia. He holds a degree in Special Education from Griffith University, a Master of Science (Speech and Hearing) from Washington University and a PhD in Special Education from Monash University. In 2001, he was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators and in 2014, he was invested as an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished services to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
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Non-invasive tools for CVD screening and monitoring
Dr Hadi Afsharan is a Research Fellow Cardiovascular Science & Diabetes at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research; is a translational research and innovation fellow in medical technologies at The University of Western Australia, holding dual titles as Translational Fellow and Innovation Fellow within UWA’s Medical School and the FHRI (Future Health Research and Innovation) program.
