Dr Ali Fardinpour
Founder & Executive Director - Wise Realities
Ali Fardinpour, PhD, Wise Realities’ Founder and Executive Director, Adjunct Researcher at Curtin University, is a research scientist and technology innovator. His research focuses on the clinical and educational uses of immersive technologies in health. He has developed the BEHAVE taxonomy of human actions in Virtual Training Environments and the Action-based Learning and Assessment Methodology.
Alongside with his role as the Executive Director, Dr Fardinpour is currently the lead researcher in two main research projects at Wise Realities.
- HITA Certificate
- Autism Research
Dr Fardinpour also cosupervises students in collaboration with academic institutes such as the University of Western Australia and Curtin University.
Associate Professor Katie Meehan
Head of the Cancer Biology Division - School of Biomedical Sciences - University of Western Australia
Associate Professor Meehan is Head of the Cancer Biology Division within the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Western Australia. She graduated with a BSc (First Class Honours) from Curtin University in 1998, completed a PhD from UWA in 2002 and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Curtin University in 2015. Despite a non-linear career trajectory, she has ~8.5 years of national and international research and teaching experience in cancer biology and pathology. Dr Meehan has worked at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (Vancouver, Canada), University of Arizona (Tucson, USA) and Hudson Institute of Medical Research (Melbourne, Australia). Dr Meehan has published 37 papers in high-quality journals and has secured over $1.8 million dollars as a chief investigator.
In addition to her undergraduate teaching duties (Cancer Pathology), Katie is currently supervising 4 PhD students, 1 master’s student and 3 honours students.
Dr Brendan Kennedy
Laboratory Head - BRITElab
Brendan is Laboratory Head of BRITElab at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Engineering at The University of Western Australia. He is also Chief Scientific Officer of OncoRes Medical: a UWA start-up company developing new high-resolution imaging techniques for use in surgery. Brendan leads the development of micro-elastography: a method to measure tissue’s micro-scale stiffness. He is developing micro-elastography for intraoperative tumour margin detection in breast cancer. He is also exploring the application of micro-elastography to tumour and vascular biology, biomaterials and airway physiology. Brendan is also developing wearable imaging and sensing devices.
Associate Professor Jennifer Rodger
Head, Brain Plasticity Research - Perron Institute
Dr Jennifer Rodger is Associated Professor at Experimental and Regenerative Neurosciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, and is affiliated with the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science.
She completed a BScHons in Biochemistry at the University of Bath, UK, followed by a PhD at the University Pierre et Marie Curie, France. Her research team investigates mechanisms of brain plasticity and repair, including preclinical studies of non-invasive brain stimulation in injured and abnormal brain circuits.
Dr Rodger has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals including the Journal of Neuroscience and FASEB Journal and her work is funded by the NHMRC, ARC, Multiple Sclerosis WA and the Neurotrauma Research Program (WA).
Dr Ashkan Ilami
Medical Doctor / Certified Sexologist
Ashkan Ilami, MD, MSexol, is a Medical Doctor and an Interdisciplinary and Certified Sexologist with an interest in Integrative, Holistic and Bio-Psycho-Social approaches regarding sexual issues. He graduated as a medical doctor in 2006 and also was awarded Master of Sexology from Curtin University in 2017.
Professor Johanna Badcock
Research Director - Perth Voices Clinic
Professor Johanna Badcock is co-founder and Research Director of Perth Voices Clinic, a specialist clinical and research service for people with hallucinatory experiences, and an advanced training facility for clinical and neuropsychologists. Jo is also a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. She graduated with a BA in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford, and received her MA (Clinical Psychology) and PhD from the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on extending our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the development of mental illness, with a particular focus on the causes of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
Jo serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Australian Coalition to End Loneliness and as a research advisor for Meeting for Minds, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to research on disorders of the brain in partnership with people living with mental illness. She also has a keen interest in the professional training of students in psychology – the mental health workforce of the future.
Dr Katharina Bense
Principal Project Officer - E-Schooling at Department of Education
Dr Bense is a passionate and highly experienced educator, educational researcher and industry professional in the field of educational technologies and software. She has a strong teaching record across sectors, including secondary, tertiary and adult education with an excellent understanding of pedagogical theories and contemporary educational practices.