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The Early Career Investigator Committee (ECIC)
Definition of an Early Career InvestigatorCurrent higher degree or current researcher within 10 years from the award of a higher degree (e.g. PhD/Masters). |
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Mission
The mission of the Early Career Investigator Committee (ECIC), formed in February 2017, is to help shape the future of bone and mineral research in Australia and New Zealand by fostering active engagement of early career investigators within the Australia & New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS), supporting professional development of early career investigators and facilitating interactions between junior and senior members of all disciplines.
Objectives
- To act in collaboration with the ANZBMS senior committee and foster active engagement of early career investigators within the ANZBMS.
- To promote activities that engage early career investigators and senior members in open dialogue and collaborative initiatives.
- To increase early career investigator awareness of research trends and application of new technologies in bone and mineral research.
- To increase engagement of clinical trainees and improve training in bone and mineral metabolism.
- Involvement in scientific and social programs at the ANZBMS Annual Scientific Meeting.
- To foster science communication and engagement with the public.
- To facilitate translation of scientific findings to industry and government.
MEET THE 2023 COMMITTEE
John Bridie Cassandra Pamela Jack Albert Hanh Lena Kara Jason Amy Madhuni
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Co-Chairs |
Bridie Mulholand, Cassandra Smith |
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Career Development Representatives |
Jack Dalla Via, Pam Rufus-Membere, Hanh Nguyen |
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Clinical Training Representatives |
Albert Kim, Madhuni Herath, Cassandra Smith |
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Communications Representatives |
Lena Batoon, Kara Anderson |
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Events Representatives |
Bridie Mulholand, Jasok Talevski, Amy Harding |
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ECIC representative to ANZBMS POC |
John Kemp |
Dr Bridie Mulholland
ECIC Co-Chair, Events
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Project Officer, Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong
Researcher, University of Sydney
Twitter: @bridiem123
Dr Bridie Mulholland is a bone biologist at heart, completing her PhD through Griffith University and in collaboration with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Bridie’s PhD explored the relationship between osteoporosis and bone metastatic breast cancer. She is currently a Project Officer (Research) for the Australian Health Services Research Institute, based at the University of Wollongong, and a Researcher with the University of Sydney. Bridie’s current research interests include the improvement of emergency care of hip fractures and the evaluation of how effectively bone health is managed in our healthcare system.
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Dr Cassandra Smith
ECIC Co-Chair, Clinical Training
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute (NHIRI), Edith Cowan University
Twitter: @csmithAEP
Dr Cassandra Smith is a highly passionate clinician-researcher, an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (>10 years’ clinical experience) and Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University. Cassandra received her PhD from Victoria University (2022) which gave her a deep understanding on how the skeleton is regulated across the lifespan. Her current research now focusses on understanding why as we age, we lose bone, yet it accumulates in our blood vessels. She has a specific interest in understanding the role of menopause on this relationship, and whether this may potentially explain the sex disparity in cardiovascular disease.
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Dr John Kemp
ECIC representative to the ANZBMS POC
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NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland
Dr John Kemp is a genetic epidemiologist, and National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellow. His research aims to identify pharmacological targets for osteoporosis intervention by applying innovative statistical and molecular genetic methods to the world’s largest genetic study of osteoporosis.
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Dr Jack Dalla Via
Career Development
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Nutrition Research, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth WA
Twitter: @JackDallaVia
Jack is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute for Nutrition Research at Edith Cowan University. Jack received his PhD from Deakin University in 2020. His doctoral research investigated the role of exercise and nutrition in managing musculoskeletal adverse effects of prostate cancer treatment. His current research focuses on developing and evaluating strategies to provide effective and accessible nutrition, exercise and diet support for cancer survivors and those living with chronic disease.
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Dr Pamela Rufus-Membere
Career Development
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Associate Research Fellow, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria
Twitter: @pamyg5
E: Pamela.r@deakin.edu.au
Dr Pamela Rufus-Membere is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University. She is an emerging leader in the field of osteoporosis assessment and fracture prevention. Specifically, she is part of a team pioneering the sub-field of bone impact microindentation technology in Australia, and is currently leading a global team developing an international reference range for this novel technology.
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Dr Hanh Nguyen
Career Development
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University
Consultant Endocrinologist, Western Health
Consultant Endocrinologist, Monash HealthTwitter: @DrHanhHNguyen
Dr Hanh Nguyen is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Monash Health and Western Health, and a postdoctoral research fellow in the Bone and Muscle Research Group at Monash University. Currently, she is investigating clinical, genetic and bone architectural risk factors for anti-resorptive therapy related atypical femur fractures.
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Dr Albert Kim
Clinical Training
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PhD Candidate, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney
Endocrinology Research Fellow, Westmead Hospital
Twitter: @AlbertEndoc
Albert is an Endocrinology Research Fellow at Westmead Hospital, Sydney and a PhD candidate at the Garvan institute of Medical Research. His research focuses on cellular changes in response to osteoporosis therapy to improve long term treatment for patients with osteoporosis.
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Dr Madhuni Herath
Clinical Training
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PhD Candidate, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University
Consultant Endocrinologist, Monash Health
Twitter: @MadhuniH
Dr Madhuni Herath is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Monash Health and a visiting specialist at Western Health, in Victoria, Australia. She is also a PhD candidate at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University. Her research focuses on optimising the management of fracture in younger adults.
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Dr Lena Batoon
Communications
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Twitter: @lenabatoon
Dr Batoon received her PhD from the University of Queensland in June 2021. Upon completing a short post-doctoral work at Mater Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, she moved to the US to undertake a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the University of Michigan, USA. Her research endeavours are aimed to better understand osteoporosis and skeletal metastasis with an ultimate goal of developing effective therapeutics. Currently, Lena is working to elucidate the contributions of macrophages in bone regeneration, osteoporosis bone pathology and metastatic bone diseases.
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Dr Kara Anderson
Communications
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Associate Research Fellow at the Epi-Centre for Healthy Ageing, IMPACT, Deakin University
Twitter: @KaraAnderson94
Dr Kara Anderson is an associate research fellow at the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University. Her research focus has centered around epidemiology of fractures, and in particular has involved the assessment of recent technologies for assessing bone health and fracture risk. She is currently working on the Geelong Osteoporosis Study, a longitudinal cohort study of musculoskeletal health.
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Dr Jason Talevski
Events
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Postdoctoral Researcher Fellow, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University
Twitter: @jason_talevski
Jason began his research career as a Research Assistant at Monash University (2012-2017). In 2018, he received an NHMRC Scholarship and began his PhD at the University of Melbourne (conferred in 2021). His PhD established healthcare pathways that optimize quality of life recovery following fragility fracture. Jason is currently undertaking his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Deakin University which aims to co-design a care pathway for the primary care setting to improve rates of osteoporosis diagnosis and initiation of fracture prevention strategies in older adults. His research interests include Osteoporosis, Falls/Fracture Prevention, Health Services Research, Health Literacy and Social Epidemiology.
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Dr Amy Harding
Events
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Research Fellow, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Gold Coast, Queensland
Twitter: @Amy_T_Harding
Dr Amy Harding is a clinical trialist and completed the LIFTMOR-M semi-randomised controlled trial examining the effect of HiRIT on risk factors for falls and fragility fracture in men with low bone mass as her doctoral project. LIFTMOR-M trial findings were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Bone, and Osteoporosis International. Dr Harding was awarded the 2020 ESSA PhD Thesis Medal, the 2019 ACSM Bone and Osteoporosis Network Exchange Young Investigator Award and the 2019 ANZBMS Roger Melick Young Investigator Award. She is currently a research fellow coordinating the NHMRC MRFF-funded STOP FRACTURE! (Strength Training for Optimum Prevention of Fracture. Refocussing A Clinical paradigm That Underutilises Recognised Effective therapy) project at Griffith University.
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