Three Mater Researchers have been awarded the highly competitive 2025 Emerging Leaders Fellowship (ELF) Scholarships from the Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN).
The scholarship program recognises early and mid-career researchers who are leading the way in women’s health and research translation, supporting their leadership development and providing access to tailored mentoring and high-impact networking opportunities.
Mater Research’s 2025 ELF recipients are:
- Dr Christine Andrews
- Dr Kitty-Rose Foley
- Dr Luciana Massi
All three researchers will participate in Monash University’s Women in Leadership Program, receive mentorship from WHRTN leadership and engage in a series of events aimed at building capability, confidence and connection across Australia’s women’s health research sector.
Dr Christine Andrews
Dr Andrews is a Senior Research Fellow and Mater Career Track Fellow at the Mater Research-based Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth (Stillbirth CRE).
Dr Andrews completed her PhD at The University of Queensland in 2018 and joined the Stillbirth CRE the same year. She is a perinatal implementation science researcher who aims to achieve substantive improvements in national maternity care standards by actioning effective and targeted evidence-based implementation strategies.
Her research combines implementation science with health services research to reduce the rate of stillbirth (and other adverse perinatal outcomes) and support improvements in clinical care.
She co-leads the Implementing Stillbirth Prevention Strategies and Consumer Engagement research programs and is a key driver of the Safer Baby Bundle initiative, leading the national evaluation of the initiative’s impact.
Dr Kitty-Rose Foley
Dr Foley is an Occupational Therapist and Senior Research Fellow in the Queensland Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability and Autism Health, as well as the Health Services Development team for the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health. Her research is focused on improving health and wellbeing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
She completed her PhD at The Kids Institute in Perth, followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at UNSW Sydney, where she co-led the development of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Autism in Adults (ALSAA). Dr Foley is passionate about research that is co-developed and co-produced with people with intellectual disability and autistic people, ensuring their voices are embedded in both the design and implementation of research.
Dr Luciana Massi
Dr Massi is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in First Nations health Research at Mater Research. Completing her PhD through the Molly Wardaguga Institute for First Nations Birth Rights, Charles Darwin University, Dr Massi’s work focuses on evaluating strengths-based programs to improve health, well-being and birthing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers, babies and families.
She has worked across studies including the Indigenous Health Research Priorities Study, the co-design of the Stronger Bubba Born resources for First Nations communities at the NHMRC Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence and is leading the Implementation Evaluation of the Strong Families Study, longitudinal birth cohort study. Luciana has over 18 years’ research experience in public health, mixed methods research, health services research, post graduate teaching (health promotion) and workforce capacity building.
She has extensive experience conducting qualitative research on various evaluation studies at Mater Research, University of Queensland, Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, University of Sydney and The George Institute for International Health. She has a Bachelor Business Communication and Master of International Public Health. Her strong interests in all aspects of public health and social justice, focus on working with varied population groups and advancing the needs and support of women, children, and families.
Congratulations to all three winners.
