People

Dr. Nick Burns

Associate Professor
Room 512, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 3965
nicholas.burns@adelaide.edu.au

I study individual differences in cognitive abilities using modern psychometric instruments, custom computerised tests, and psychophysical methods. The aim is to understand something of how and why people differ in their abilities to process information and carry out cognitive tasks. (read more)

Dr. Anna Chur-Hansen

Associate Professor
Discipline of Psychiatry
Level 4, Eleanor Harrald Building 
Phone +61 8 8222 5785
anna.churhansen@adelaide.edu.au

I am interested in Health Psychology and Health Professional Education.
In Health Psychology, I am especially interested in people's perceptions of their health and their preferences for treatment. I am also interested in the role of companion animals in physical and psychological health.
In Health Professional Education, I am interested in the training of medical, nursing and psychology students at both undergradudate and postgradudate levels. I am also a firm believer in interdisciplinary approaches to health care and to the training of professionals. (read more)

 Dr. Shona Crabb

Senior Research Officer
Discipline of Psychiatry
Level 4, Eleanor Harrald Building 
Phone +61 8 8222 5134
shona.crabb@adelaide.edu.au

My interests lie mainly in discursive and health psychology - the application of critical psychological theories, and qualitative/discursive methods, to public health issues, such as breast cancer screening. I am also interested in social psychology, particularly issues relating to gender, and to the application of qualitative methods (such as discourse analysis) to a range of social and health issues. (read more)

Dr. Paul Delfabbro

Associate Professor
Room 410, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 4936
paul.delfabbro@adelaide.edu.au

My interests include:

• gambling and the role of cognitive and behavioural factors in the maintenance of within-session behaviour
• foster care and issues such as the predictors of reunification, the effect of placement movements upon well-being, the perceived effects of parental contact, and the additional economic costs of placing difficult children into care
• programs relating to children with challenging behaviours in out of home care
• learning theory and the issue of contingency and the illusion of control
• adolescent gambling and the relationship between early adolescent adjustment, attitudes and early employment outcomes.
• (read more)

Dr. Linley Denson

Senior Lecturer
Room 516, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 4128
linley.denson@adelaide.edu.au

My interests include:

• Health outcomes
• Health service usage
• Values and long-term care decision-making for frail elderly people
• The impact of chronic illness on cognitive functioning
• Mental capacity to consent to research and treatment  (read more)

Dr. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt

Researcher
Room 316, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8313 0057
kate.fairweather-schmidt@adelaide.edu.au

My interests generally focus on mental health in the community from an epidemiological perspective. I am keen to discuss age and gender differences in the experience of mental health problems (particularly depression and anxiety) and their relationship with factors that function to potentiate/attenuate them. I have also a special interest in suicidality, and similarly, factors that provide people with resilience or place them at increased risk.

Dr. Lisa Kettler

Lecturer
Room 514, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 5737
lisa.kettler@adelaide.edu.au

I have broad research interests in health psychology, developmental psychology and child clinical psychology. To date, most of my research in health psychology has related to treatment management in individuals with Cystic Fibrosis although, more recently, I have developed an interest in childhood obesity as well as mental health issues for people with chronic illness. (read more)

Dr. Neil Kirby

Senior Lecturer
Room 524, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 5739
neil.kirby@adelaide.edu.au

My interests lie with the assessment, training and behaviour management of people with intellectual or other disabilities. Speed of information processing associated with intellectual disability, ageing and brain damage, and organisational psychology particularly, organisational behaviour. (read more)

Dr. Jane Mathias

Associate Professor
Room 513, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 5266
jane.mathias@adelaide.edu.au

My interests fall within the broad area of clinical neuropsychology and, as such, my research investigates the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural changes associated with various types of brain damage or dysfunction. This research is completed both with people who are known to have some form of brain damage or in whom disrupted cognitive functioning is suspected. (read more)

Dr. Ted Nettelbeck

Professor
Room 416, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 3764
theodore.nettelbeck@adelaide.edu.au

My interests include:

• The nature of human intelligence and individual differences in cognitive abilities.
• The field of intellectual disability, including work assessment and training, the relevance of interpersonal competence to effective every-day functioning, evaluating support needs of people with disabilities.
• The structure of attentional abilities and their relevance to an understanding of intelligence; determining whether speed of processing mediates cognitive changes during childhood and old age; and investigating whether inspection time has potential as a biomarker for functional ageing.
• Emotional intelligence and its relation to cognitive abilities and personality.
• (read more)

Dr. Rachel Roberts

Senior Lecturer
Room 523, Hughes Building
Phone  +61 8 8303 5228
rachel.roberts@adelaide.edu.au

My research interests include child and adolescent health psychology including chronic illness, disability and stigma, and child and adolescent neuropsychology. Of particular interest are people with craniofacial, neurological and metabolic conditions. I am also interested in the psychological well-being of siblings of children with disabilities. (read more)

Dr. Carolyn Semmler

Lecturer
Room 507, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 4628
carolyn.semmler@adelaide.edu.au

My health-related research interests include development of a better understanding of the psychology of treatment decision-making. Work in this area has been carried out in collaboration with Dr Peter Mansfield (School of General Practice). We are interested in understanding how doctors are influenced by drug company promotions so that we can ‘arm’ doctors with effective methods for resisting persuasion, thereby eliminating this cause of inappropriate prescribing. The project does not attempt to tackle the larger socio-cultural/institutional factors at play, but focuses on micro-level factors that have their impact at the point of prescription. Which factors of the environment, doctor and patient have the most impact on prescribing? (read more)

Dr. Deborah Turnbull

Professor
Room 414, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 5738
deborah.turnbull@adelaide.edu.au

My research interests are in health service development and evaluation, including those for maternity care, screening and primary mental health care. Other areas of interest include disease management for chronic conditions such as hypertension and methods for selecting medical students. (read more)

Dr. Lynn Ward

Lecturer
Room 517, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 3182
lynn.ward@adelaide.edu.au

I am interested in factors that influence adult development and ageing. In particular, I am interested in age-related changes in cognitive functioning, both normal and dementia related. I have recently been involved with research on the impact of exercise and health habits, bereavement, meta-cognitive processing and cross-cultural issues in successful ageing. (read more)

Dr. Hayley Whitford

Visiting Research Fellow
Room 314, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8313 0480
hayley.whitford@cancer.org.au 

I work as a behavioural scientist for the Cancer Council Australia National Office but am situated in the School of Psychology, University of Adelaide as a Visiting Research Fellow.
My primary research interest is in the area of health psychology. Specifically, I work in the area of psycho-oncology which focuses on the psycho-social aspects of the experience of cancer (e.g. its diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship). My research background is broad and includes quality-of-life in cancer including research into spiritual wellbeing (meaning, peace, faith), expectations of medical treatment, the cognitive impact of chemotherapy, informed consent, psychoneuroimmunology, and the effectiveness of clinical interventions in cancer therapy. I’m also interested in clinical psychology and have a background in forensic psychology. I have a strong interest in research methodology and quantitative statistics. (read more)  

Dr. Helen Winefield

Professor
Room 506, Hughes Building
Phone +61 8 8303 3172
helen.winefield@psychology.adelaide.edu.au

My interests include:

• Psychosocial support for cancer patients including via the internet and through support groups.
• Family care-giving in chronic illness & disability (pain, schizophrenia, cystic fibrosis, ageing).
• Work stress in human service professionals and its management and prevention, emotional work, measurement of quality of work performance, multi-disciplinary collaboration in health care.
• Psychological development in youth and adulthood, including unemployment, parenting skills, work-home balance.
• Psychological treatments for high prevalence disorders such as anxiety & depression in general practice settings; integrated primary mental health care services. (read more)