Dr Gozde Aydin is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics, Monash University. She has managed several national disability-related projects and has experience working with government organisations, including the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the Department of Social Services (DSS). She holds a PhD in Public Health Nutrition and applies mixed-methods approaches in her research. Her work focuses on co-design in health settings and on strengthening the measurement and use of quality of life and health preferences to inform policy and practice.

Molly Saunders is an experienced policy and research professional committed to evidence-based advocacy and community-led change. She is a Research Associate at the University of New South Wales, where she works to make research and policy processes accessible and responsive to people who are often excluded from decision-making spaces. Molly is also a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU), where she co-leads the ANU Disability Research Network and continues to support a multi-year co-design project with young people with disability and young carers. Molly’s research interests include the socio-cultural dimensions of gender and disability in public policy, feminist disability theory and inclusive participatory research methodologies.

Dr Manasi Murthy Mittinty, a Harvard-trained physician-scientist and South Australia State Winner of the Women & Leadership Awards, is a leading voice at the intersection of chronic pain and mental health. With a commitment to personalizing healthcare, Dr Manasi Murthy champions strategies that integrate cultural, gender, and racial perspectives to improve the physical and mental well-being of patients and their families. She has recently joined the Disability and Health Unit as a Senior Research Fellow, where she continues to lead efforts toward more inclusive, impactful, and person-centred care.

Karen Villanueva is a Research Fellow at RMIT’s Social Equity Research Centre and an Honorary Research Associate at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her place‑based research examines how urban neighbourhoods shape children’s health and developmental outcomes, with a growing focus on children and young people with disabilities. She has a track record in mixed‑methods research on child liveability (including big data, spatial analysis and qualitative methods) and is currently involved in creating and applying neighbourhood built environment spatial indicators to investigate how supportive neighbourhood environments can enhance mental health and wellbeing for young Australians with disabilities. Her work aims to support disability‑inclusive, equitable urban planning and policy.