Chief Investigators

Dennis is a Professor at the Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School and co-lead of the NHMRC-funded Centre of Research Excellence in Achieving Health Equity for All People with Disabilities (AHEAD). With extensive expertise in health policy, economic evaluation, and health and social care systems, his research focuses on improving outcomes for disadvantaged groups, particularly people with disabilities. Professor Petrie collaborates closely with policymakers and researchers to generate evidence that informs policies aimed at reducing health and wellbeing disparities. His work seeks to improve the accessibility and quality of care for marginalized populations, with an emphasis on data-driven analysis and assessing the value for money of health and social care interventions.  

Helen Dickinson is Professor of Public Service Research in the Public Service Research Group at the School of Business, University of New South Wales, Canberra.  Her expertise is in policy implementation and evaluation, with a particular interest in disability policies and programmes.  Helen has published twenty books and over one hundred peer-reviewed journal articles on these topics and is also a frequent commentator within the mainstream media.  In 2015 Helen was made a Victorian Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and in 2019 awarded a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.  In 2021 Helen was named one of Apolitical’s 100 most influential academics in government. She has worked with a range of different levels of government, community organisations and private organisations in Australia, UK, New Zealand and Europe on research and consultancy programmes. 

Anne Kavanagh is a professor of disability and health at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne and Director of the Research Alliance in Youth Disability & Mental Health. Her research focuses on health inequalities with specific expertise in disability, gender and employment. Anne leads a research team who use quantitative and qualitative methods to identify policy solutions that address the social and economic disadvantage people with disability experience. Anne regularly contributes to public debate, advocacy and policy development through online media, membership of key committees and advice to government and other stakeholders.

Hannah’s vision is to create a more inclusive society, where everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can flourish. To do this, she investigates how the built environment is connected to health, wellbeing, and inequities in both adults and children internationally, with an interest in populations disadvantaged by the system and inadequate policies. Hannah has a PhD in public health and has been employed in research intensive positions internationally, leading to over 170 research articles and more than $23M in research funding. Hannah is the Director of the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. 

Zoe is a social epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne whose research focuses on describing and investigating the causes of disability health inequalities. She is particularly interested in estimating the impact of interventions to reduce health inequalities, producing policy-relevant evidence which can be translated into action. Zoe has extensive experience working with linked population health data and has a keen interest in improving disability data.

Professor Chen is a health economist who has significantly contributed to the measurement and valuation of quality of life and subjective wellbeing for economic evaluation as well as designing and conducting novel health preference research to quantify health preference. He was awarded an ARC DECRA fellowship to reveal what matters the most for the subjective wellbeing of the Australian population over the life course. Commissioned by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Professor Chen is leading a multi-disciplinary team from Monash University, The University of Sydney and Flinders University to develop a person-centred, preference-based Disability Wellbeing Index (DWI) to assist in the priority setting of disability-related initiatives.

Kate is a McKenzie Fellow in the University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Based in the Healthy Housing Unit within the Centre for Health Policy, Kate’s research interests span the inter-related areas of housing and neighbourhood environments, health equity, and structural determinants of health (e.g. public spending). She analyses large, complex datasets including survey, administrative, geospatial and genetic data, using social epidemiological methods to understand impacts on physical health, mental health, and health-related outcomes such as sleep.

Jodie Ballie is a Senior Research Fellow with the Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney.  She has focused her research on understanding and improving the way our primary health care system delivers health care to socially vulnerable populations. Her program of research uses collaborative and participatory techniques to evaluate and strengthen health systems to improve health outcomes. At the core of her research is a strong health equity agenda, which initially focused on partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to strengthen the quality of health care being delivered and, more recently, working with people with disability.

Sophie Yates is a Senior Research Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU and was previously Research Fellow at the Public Service Research Group, UNSW Canberra and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Her research focuses on value creation in public services, particularly for those from marginalised groups. She is Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues and editorial board member of Public Management Review and the Australian Journal of Public Administration. She has published in top international journals and won several awards for her research.

Dr Disney is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Disability Institute, University of Melbourne, with over 10 years of experience collaborating with governments in the UK, NZ, and Australia to reduce health inequalities. George’s work uses large administrative datasets to inform decisions to enhance social equity for NDIS participants. George has worked with multiple government departments, agencies, and disability service providers on commissioned research projects about how the operation of the NDIS can be made more equitable. He has also helped contribute to the development of the National Disability Data Asset.