Meet Our Team
Dr Michelle Peate | Program Leader & Senior Research Fellow
BSc(Bioinfo), GDipSc, MScMed(RH&HG), PhD Overview As Program Leader, Dr Peate oversees a number of research projects in cancer, psychology & reproductive health. Her main goals are developing resources for people in need and ensuring that they are effective. Her research portfolio includes the development and implementation of many patient resources, including a fertility-related decision aid for young women with early breast cancer and a booklet on breast cancer and early menopause. Dr Peate is a 2011 NSW Young Tall Poppy and a current NBCF Early Career Fellow whose work is both nationally and internationally recognised. Current projects include the development of several decision aids and tools relating to cancer and fertility. To obtain a full description of all studies Dr Peate is conducting refer to Research Studies. For Dr Peate's list of papers click here. Have a look at our resources page for the resources she has been involved in developing. |
Nipuni Gamage | Research Assistant
BAppSc (Psych) (Honours) Overview Nipuni Ratnayake Gamage is a Research Assistant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne/ Royal Women’s Hospital. During her Honours studies she developed a passion for research and decided to begin a career in research and plans to continue her postgraduate studies in the future. In this role she assists the emPoWeR Unit with the development of a number of pilot studies in the areas of fertility preservation, breast cancer & chemotherapy. In addition to working with the emPoWeR Unit, Nipuni also supports the research carried out by the Cancer Epidemiology and Intelligence Division at the Cancer Council Victoria. She has a strong interest in psych-oncology and onco-fertility. |
Emma Steele | Research Assistant
BAppSc (medical Radiations), GradDip(MRI), MPH Overview Emma Steele graduated with a Master of Public Health (University of Melbourne) in 2017, majoring in sexual and reproductive epidemiology. She has a clinical background as a radiographer, and currently works as the MRI supervisor at The Royal Women’s Hospital. Her research interests include women’s sexual and reproductive health and the development of evidence-based tools to measure health status and guide clinical care. She is working with the empower Unit to continue a project she started in the final year of her MPH – the development of a survey to measure the physical, psychological and social needs of women with endometriosis. |
Working With
Prof Martha Hickey| Deputy Head of Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
BA (Hons), MSc (Clin Psych), MBChB, FRANZCOG, MD Overview Martha Hickey is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University, CT and Director of the Women's Gynaecology Research Centre (Royal Women's Hospital). She is in active clinical practice with a research expertise in menstrual disorders and menopause. Professor Hickey continues in active clinical service as a consultant gynaecologist at The Royal Women’s Hospital and her research in reproductive endocrinology continues to grow in the following areas: Abnormal uterine bleeding, Menopause, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Teenage Pregnancy. |
Dr Jane Girling| Senior Research Fellow
Overview Dr Girling is a Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research interests are in uterine biology and women’s health, with a particular focus on common gynaecological problems including endometriosis, abnormal uterine bleeding and uterine fibroids. Dr Girling also has an interest in the impact of menstrual pain and heavy bleeding on girls and their families, and how we can better assist girls and young women to live a full and happy life. |
Dr Jennifer Marino| Research Fellow
BA, BSN, MPH, PhD Overview Dr Marino is an epidemiologist trained at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Washington. She came to Australia in 2008 to join the Robinson Institute to build her expertise in longitudinal studies and life course epidemiology, and in 2011, she joined the Gynaecology Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital. Dr Marino specialises in women’s reproductive and sexual health throughout the lifespan. Her current projects include studies of health-compromising behaviour in the Western Australia Pregnancy Cohort (Raine Study), of sexuality among postmenopausal female breast cancer patients, and of childbearing decisions among participants in Adelaide’s Life Journeys of Young Women Project. |
Dr Mariana Sousa | Early Career Researcher
MD, PhD Overview Dr Sousa has led and collaborated on many projects and has made significant advances in the field of genitourinary and sexual health after breast cancer, emerging as a leading expert in this field. She has published in peer reviewed journals, received many grants and awards and presented at national and international conferences. Her expertise lays in breast cancer, oncofertility, reproductive health, cancer genetics, menopause and services evaluation. Dr Sousa’s goals are to continue delivering novel breast cancer research with impact through large multi-centre trials and to promote translation of research into practice. Her post-doctoral research projects are dedicated to addressing the needs of women with breast cancer and in developing services and testing interventions to support medical, nursing and allied health teams in providing the best possible health care to breast cancer survivors. |
Current Students
Dr Zobaida Edib | PhD Scholar
Dr Edib is a Public Health Researcher and an overseas trained Medical Doctor. She completed her MBBS in 2011 from Dhaka University, Bangladesh and her MPH in 2014 from the International Medical University, Malaysia with distinction. She is currently completing her PhD with the emPoWeR Unit under the supervision of Dr Peate. Her research work mainly focuses on women’s health epidemiology, cancer epidemiology and prevention of non-communicable diseases, although she has worked in diverse research projects throughout her research career. Her research track record includes work on psychosocial health of women with breast cancer and cervical cancer, reproductive health of women, behavioural risk factors for prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases and health promotion research. |
Sherine Sandhu | PhD Scholar
Sherine Sandhu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne. She is also a psychosocial researcher at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Her main area of interest is in developing and evaluating digital health initiatives to educate, and improve users’ health and wellbeing. Ms Sandhu also has a strong interest in female fertility and the option of elective egg freezing. Her PhD research focuses on supporting women considering egg freezing, by exploring their behaviours and evaluating an online decisional support tool. |
Lucy Caughey | PhD Scholar
Lucy Caughey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and is supervised by Dr Michelle Peate, Dr Sarah Lensen and Professor Katy White. She completed a BBehavSc(Psych) with Distinction in 2018 and a BBehavSc(Psych)(Hons) with First Class Honours in 2019, at QUT. Lucy has an interest in increasing knowledge and viable options for women faced with infertility. Lucy’s PhD will examine the psychosocial determinants that affect elective egg freezers intentions to dispose of unwanted eggs. Additionally as there is a shortage of egg donors in Australia and throughout the world, Lucy’s PhD will explore Australia’s elective egg freezers and their potential to be future egg donors. |
Qinying Lan | Masters Scholar
I’m a Master of Biomedical Science student of the University of Melbourne. I’m currently taking a research project in the Royal Women’s Hospital under the supervision of Dr Peate and Dr Marino. My project explores the top three menopause symptoms that women after cancer most want to get rid of through patient report outcome measures. We collect data from the patients who visit the Menopause Symptoms after Cancer clinic in the Royal Women’s Hospital and try to develop a database for further investigation. We believe our project will provide essential information for the clinicians and help them to provide better care for their patients. |
Cassandra Ong | Masters Scholar
I am a Master of Biomedical Science student at the University of Melbourne. With a passion for oncofertility research in a clinical setting, I decided to pursue a research project with the emPoWeR unit under the supervision of Dr Peate and Dr Marino. My research project, “Fertility Choices”, represents the first study to develop and evaluate a low health literacy online decision aid relating to fertility preservation for younger women with early breast cancer. We hope that our research will facilitate informed decision-making among patients with low health literacy, ultimately improving the quality of life in this underserved population. |
Louis Taffs | Honours Scholar
After completing his Bachelor of Science (Neuroscience) in 2019, he joined the emPoWeR unit to continue the EndoNeeds Project for his honours year. He is investigating the needs of young endometriosis sufferers across the whole of Australia, a currently under-researched demographic. The data collected from this investigation will be used to create a robust unmet needs instrument; a tool that can improve the lives of all people with endometriosis. Louis currently works in community health with Cohealth and is passionate about the delivery of health services to all members of the community, in the ways that work for them. |
Niamh Waters | Honours Scholar
I completed my bachelor of science in 2018 at the University of Melbourne and this year I will be undertaking my honours year within the emPoWeR unit, under the supervision Dr Peate and Dr Marino. I will be working on the EndoNeeds project, working to explore the physical, social and psychological needs of people with endometriosis. I will be focusing in particular on those who have been diagnosed more than 10 years ago. Hopefully, this work can be used for the subsequent development of an endometriosis specific unmet needs instrument and improve quality of life for those living with endometriosis. |
Daniella Salib | Honours Scholar
I completed my Bachelor of Biomedical Science with Distinction at Deakin University in 2019, I joined the emPoWeR unit at the Royal Women’s Hospital to complete my Honours degree under the primary supervision of Dr Jennifer Marino and Dr Michelle Peate. My project will explore the unmet needs of women living with ovarian cancer and their experiences in Australia in all aspects of their quality of life through interviews. The interviews can help identify any missing domains and needs in their quality of life from their ovarian cancer experience due to poor diagnosis and is often an overlooked cancer population. |
Past Students - 2019
Simren Seychell | Honours Scholar
I completed by Bachelor of Science in 2018, majoring in human physiology at the University of Melbourne. I am currently completing my honours year with the emPoWeR unit at the Royal Women's Hospital under the supervision of Dr Peate, Dr Marino and Dr Girling. I am working on the EndoNeeds project, where we are looking to explore the varied unmet needs of women with endometriosis. The aim of this study is to develop a tool that can determine the unmet clinical and psychosocial needs of women with endometriosis. This will be the first unmet needs survey for a benign gynaecological condition in the world. |
Maree Pasvanis | Honours Scholar
I completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Monash University in 2018, with a focus in developmental biology. I am currently completing my Honours year under the primary supervision of Dr Jennifer Marino and Dr Michelle Peate. My project will involve statistical analysis and data interpretation of the OvarianNeeds project, supported by Ovarian Cancer Australia for the assessment of care priorities within the Australian ovarian cancer population. The study aims to identify whether age plays a significant role in the differences observed in patient experiences. We hope that this study can offer some insight into ovarian cancer patient and survivor experiences to aid in improving their quality of life. |
Past Students - 2018
Emily Bellis | Honours Scholar
I completed my Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne in 2017, and decided to pursue an honours year with the emPoWeR unit under the supervision of Dr Peate. I am currently working on the MenstrualNeeds project with Anna, looking specifically at the unmet needs of the parents of adolescent girls with heavy menstrual bleeding and pain, and their perceptions of their daughter’s needs. We hope that our research will inform further investigation in this area and be used to design interventions, ultimately improving the quality of life in this population. |
Anna Li | Honours Scholar
I completed my Bachelor of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne in 2017 and decided to pursue a research project in my honours year with the emPoWeR unit under the supervision of Dr Peate. My project focuses on exploring the physical, psychological and social needs of girls with heavy menstrual bleeding and/or pain. I have been working closely with Emily on this project and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience so far. As it is a qualitative study, we hope that our research will contribute to a deeper understanding on the experiences of these girls and ultimately help improve their quality of life. |
Greer Waters | Honours Scholar
I completed my Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne in 2016 and I am currently undertaking an honours year with the emPoWeR unit at the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital. My research project explores how we present information about fertility preservation to parents of children receiving a cancer diagnosis as well as evaluating a fertility decision aid for families. It has been an immensely rewarding experience so far and I ultimately hope that this research will contribute to improved onco-fertility information resources for these families. |
Tessa Clegg | MDRP Student
I am a Doctor of Medicine student at the University of Melbourne. As part of my final year research project, I am supervised by Dr Peate in collaboration with Dr Raelia Lew and Dr Karin Hammarberg (at VARTA) to investigate knowledge and attitudes of female university students towards elective egg freezing. I chose this project because I am interested in fertility education and the social context in which modern women must make decisions regarding their fertility. Driving my own project has been a steep learning curve, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the support of the emPoWeR Unit. |
Past Students - 2017
Emma Steele | Masters Scholar
I completed my Masters of Public Health at the University of Melbourne, majoring in sexual and reproductive health and epidemiology. My other main interests are women's health and health program evaluation. With a background in medical imaging, I worked as a MRI Supervisor at The Royal Women's Hospital while completing my Master’s Degree. My project, 'EndoNeeds', explored the unmet clinical and psychosocial needs of women with endometriosis through the development and administration of an online survey. It is hoped that the results of the survey will be used to direct future research and interventions in this area. |
Sherine Sandhu | Honours Scholar
I completed my Honours year under the supervision of Dr Peate and Dr Hucker. My project explored the unmet needs of women who are considering egg freezing for non-medical reasons, as well as the development of a decision-aid to help women decide if egg freezing is right for them. My experience was both challenging and enjoyable. I was lucky enough to work with such a passionate and supportive team who helped me develop my knowledge and research skills within this area. |
Janelle Leong | Honours Scholar
I was privileged to complete my Honours year (Bachelor of Biomedicine), under the supervision of Dr. Michelle Peate and Dr. Jennifer Marino. My project explored the Unmet needs of women living with ovarian cancer after first-line treatment. This project unveiled needs not captured by current needs tools, and a potential development in this area of research. It was an arduous but extremely fruitful and rewarding journey. The tremendous support from my supervisors was invaluable. I plan to continue my studies by completing a post-graduate (Doctor of Medicine) at Flinder's University. I hope to contribute to this area of research in the future. |
Past Students - 2016
Sadunee Jayasuriya
I completed a BMedSc (Hons) in 2016 under the supervision of Dr Michelle Peate and her co-supervisors. My research explored acceptance and regret in families being offered fertility preservation at the Royal Children’s Hospital. I chose this project as I’m interested in Women’s and Children’s health and paediatric oncofertility is the perfect way to combine the two! In the future, I hope to continue delving into research whilst practicing medicine. I have thoroughly enjoyed my honours year and working with the emPoWeR Unit. I would recommend it to all students considering research. |
Catherine Allingham My undergraduate degree inspired a passion for medical research in a clinical setting and I was fortunate to be able to undertake an Honours year with the emPoWeR research group at the Royal Women's Hospital and Royal Children's Hospital. As part of my project I worked on a prototype fertility preservation decision aid – a tool to help parents of children with cancer whose fertility may be at risk. It was a challenging, but exciting project. The support and mentorship of supervisors and fellow researches, who are passionate about their research, was invaluable. In the future, I hope to be able to contribute to clinical research both as medical student and later as a physician. |
