Who We Are?

Professor Alison Kitson

Alison is an internationally recognised leader in nursing and knowledge translation research. She is the inaugural Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University. Alison has published more than 300 publications and has a long track record in attracting research income.

Alison is passionate about recognising the impact care has on individual and population health and wellbeing. Her mission is to change the way society thinks about and invests in care and caring solutions. She believes this can be done through innovative and collaborative approaches based on research evidence and in partnership with decision makers and users of care services.

Dr Constance Kourbelis

Constance has a background in epidemiology, ageing and migrant health, with her PhD research providing an epidemiological perspective of the health and wellbeing experiences of European-born immigrants coming to Australia following World War II. Her post-doctoral work focused on providing methodological advice and training to colleagues and students involved in the Acute Care and Cardiovascular Systematic Review Program at Flinders University.

Constance is working on several implementation projects and is passionate about generating KT Education and resources to build and strengthen capacity, increase engagement and impactful research within the CNHS and CFI. Constance’s expertise is in KT Education and Evaluation and Implementation Science.

Dr Sarah Hunter

Sarah has a background in psychology, with her PhD research focusing on family life and qualitative methodologies. Her post-doctoral research has focused on advancing implementation and knowledge translation theories, models and frameworks. This involves collaborating nationally and internationally with clinicians, implementation scientists and health service researchers.

Sarah is passionate about recognising complexity and the importance of working with knowledge users to conduct research that has meaningful impact to improve society and wellbeing.

Dr Michael Lawless

Michael has a background in psychology, with his PhD research focusing on social representations of dementia prevention. His post-doctoral research focused on older adults’ experiences of frailty and long-term condition self-care and self-management to inform health service provision and KT initiatives involving innovative co-design and arts-based approaches.

Michael currently co-leads a longitudinal evaluation of the relationship between transdisciplinary research collaboration and KT. Findings from this research will inform the development of practical resources and education materials to strengthen KT capacity across all levels of the CFI and support collaborative teams with the greatest potentials for impact. 

Dr Maria Alejandra Pinero de Plaza

Dr Pinero holds a PhD in health promotion, consumer behaviour and marketing science; she has post-graduate studies in anthropology and holds a Licentiate 5 year-degree in mass communication, journalism and advertising. Alejandra has experience as a scientific journalist and communication officer and over the last four years, has been advising on consumer engagement within health research and advocating for participatory research within the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Diseases Emergencies (APPRISE NHMRC-CRE), the Adelaide BioMed City Partners, Health Consumers Alliance, South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Health Translation SA (HTSA) and other entities".