Associate Professor Jacqui Macdonald
A/Prof Macdonald chairs Adult Development in the School of Psychology at Deakin University and co-leads the Lifecourse Sciences Theme within Deakin’s Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED). She is an honorary research fellow of both the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. A/Prof Macdonald works with a range of longitudinal studies including the Australian Temperament Project (ATP) Generation 3 Study based at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. She co-convenes the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium; she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Australian Longitudinal Study of Men’s Health and she is a contributing editor of the Australian Fatherhood Research Bulletin. Her research explores intergenerational family processes; developmental factors through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood that are associated with subsequent maternal and paternal caregiving; antenatal and postnatal mental health and men's family and social connectedness. Associate Professor Macdonald conceptualised and leads the MAPP Research Program.
Lauren Francis – MAPP Project Manager
Lauren Francis is the project manager for MAPP. She works with Dr Jacqui Macdonald to manage MAPP project resources and research assistants. Lauren is a PhD Candidate in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. Lauren is particularly interested in fathers’ wellbeing. Her research explores the influence of fathers’ sleep on their mental health and the effect of fathers’ traits on their responses to their infant’s emotions.
Dr Christopher Greenwood - Senior Data Analyst
Dr Christopher Greenwood is a Research Fellow at Deakin University and the MAPP Senior Data Analyst. His research interests include exploratory and risk behaviours, longitudinal data methods, and data management processes.
Associate Professor Richard Fletcher
A/Prof Fletcher is an Australian leader in paternal perinatal mental health and in father-inclusive practice. He is based at the Family Action Centre at the University of Newcastle. A/Prof Fletcher's expertise includes the design and conduct of research into fathers' role in families across diverse settings such as separated parents, new fathers, antenatal support, rough and tumble play with children, and fathers using the web. He has a particular interest in the role of professionals in building father-infant and father-child connection for the benefit of the whole family. His book "The Dad Factor: How the Father-Baby Bond Helps a Child for Life" (Finch 2011) has been translated into five languages. He is editor of the ARACY Fatherhood Research Bulletin and lead investigator on the innovative SMS4dads project funded by BeyondBlue, which uses app-based technology to reach and support new fathers.
Professor Tess Knight
A/Prof Knight is an expert in qualitative research with a focus on adult development. She is also a registered Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia and Head of School of Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy at the Cairnmillar Institute. She has authored and co-authored multiple peer-reviewed scientific papers and presented works at many national and International conferences. Her research interests include barriers to social inclusion and connectedness; depression across the lifespan; and successful or positive ageing. A/Prof Knight has expertise in intergenerational research and is engaged in interventions for parents of children with depression as an investigator on the Australian Research Council-funded Family Options Project.
Professor Jo Williams
Professor Williams is an epidemiologist in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University. She also holds the position of Principal Research Fellow at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and holds honorary positions with the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne and in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. She has 30 years of experience in public health epidemiology and has been a Chief Investigator on several large population based surveys, including the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study and the 2009 Victorian Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey. She is a member of the steering committee for the national men's Health Study, Ten-to-Men. Her research experience encompasses studies from birth to adulthood with a particular focus on associations between social determinants of body weight and mental health.
Professor Jeannette Milgrom
Professor Milgrom is Director of Clinical and Health Psychology at the Parent-Infant Research Institute at Austin Health, Melbourne, and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Melbourne. She has published widely in the area of postnatal depression, infant mental health, parent-infant interventions and health psychology, and has more recently turned her interests to understanding fathers' psychological health during the perinatal period. Professor Milgrom is a past president of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health, Adjunct Professor, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University and Fellow, Australian Psychological Society.
Professor Helen Skouteris
Professor Skouteris is the Monash Warwick Alliance Joint Professor of Health and Social Care Improvement and Implementation Science, Head of the Health and Social Care Unit, and Co-Lead of the Division of Evidence Synthesis, Qualitative and Implementation Methods at Monash University. Her work is focused on establishing long term collaborative research and education/training programs in healthcare improvement, implementation science/health services research. She is an expert in parental and child health and wellbeing; her research has focused particularly on familial and psychosocial determinants of childhood and maternal obesity, the antecedents and consequences of maternal body dissatisfaction during pregnancy and the postpartum, and maternal and paternal mental health and wellbeing during the prenatal period. Her work has also been focused extensively on social service and educational sector improvement that translates to better health outcomes for children, young people, adults and families and is critical to transforming policy across these sectors. Professor Skouteris is a MAPP Research Program strategic advisor.
Professor Craig Olsson
Professor Olsson is director of the Strategic Research Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development in the School of Psychology at Deakin University. He is also the National Convenor of Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) Longitudinal Studies Network, a network that brings together around 20 mature longitudinal studies of child and adolescent health and development in Australia and New Zealand with the aim of informing innovation in prevention practice and policy. He is a Developmental Psychologist with expertise in life course epidemiology and human genetics. He specialises in longitudinal and life-course research with a particular focus on child and adolescent development. Professor Olsson is a MAPP Research Program strategic advisor.