2022 MMS Indigenous Development Grant Outcomes

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 round of the Melbourne Medical School Indigenous Development Grants. The scheme, launched in 2021, provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and graduate research students in the School grants to undertake activities which support their career and professional development.

Please join us in congratulating our Melbourne Medical School Indigenous Development Grant recipients for 2022.

Harry DouglasHarry Douglas
Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital

Harry is a proud Gunnai man who has worked in Aboriginal health and aged care for over 20 years and currently works as a research officer in the Department of Medicine – RMH on projects focused on dementia care and quality of life tools for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Harry is passionate about advocating and caring for Aboriginal Elders in Community, and using research to further these aims.

This MMS Indigenous Development Grant will support Harry to conduct his own research project focusing on the care needs of Aboriginal LGBTQI+ Elders, an under-examined area of inquiry to date. It will give him the opportunity to strengthen and further develop his research skills, particularly in the area of Indigenous methodologies, as well as project management and leadership skills.

Karyn FergusonDr Karyn Ferguson
Department of Paediatrics
Investigating prescribing patterns using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and patient records

Karyn is a proud Yorta Yorta woman and a current MDHS Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with the Melbourne Children’s Campus. Karyn completed her PhD in 2021 as one of the one of the inaugural Dhungala Kaiela Fellows through the Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. She also holds a Masters Degree in Health and Social Science. Her research interests are Aboriginal maternal, infant and child health and the application of population data linkage, traditional geo-spatial boundaries and sovereignty practices to strengthen Aboriginal community data governance.

This grant will support Karyn in identifying, curating and linking population data sets to help inform the development and maintenance of frameworks for training clinicians to provide culturally safe, equitable health care for Aboriginal patients. Karyn will utilise statistical and machine learning models to develop data-driven, actionable insights to investigate potential differences in prescribing habits and diagnosis assessment when caring for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients.

Madelyn Huson-BuhagiarMadelyne Hudson-Buhagiar
Department of Medical Education
Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Medical Education

Madelyne (she/her) is a Wiradjuri person who grew up on Arakwal Bundjalung Country, now living and working on Wurundjeri Country. Madelyne is a lecturer in the Wurru Wurru Health Unit in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Melbourne. She also works as a Clinical Psychologist at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. Madelyne is committed to providing First Nations health teaching to health professional students as part of developing a culturally safe workforce.

Madelyne will use this grant to support advancement in her career as a researcher and clinician.  The grant will support Madelyne in collaborating with national and international leaders in the development of a First Nations mental health curriculum with a focus on decolonising and Indigenising.

Congratulations to our 2022 grant recipients. Further information on the Indigenous Develop Grant scheme can be found on the scheme webpage or by contacting mms-research@unimelb.edu.au.